Despite the operations carried out by the Federal Government to fight off illegal activities in the Amazon area, such as illegal mining and timber extraction, reports of armed violence promoted by groups connected to such activities continue to appear in several states. Recently, attacks apparently perpetrated by land grabbers and illegal loggers took place in Pará and Amazonas.
Attack in Pará
On Saturday (22/04), armed men invaded the regional office of the National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS), in Belém, Pará. They attacked at dawn and, according to employees, the criminals stole money and equipment, including computers, television, and digital antennas used in a project to provide connectivity to indigenous people, extractive communities and quilombola territories.
The criminals threatened CNS members and told them to stop denouncing issues related to land invasions and land grabbing. They would have said that if their orders were not followed, they would return to execute everyone.
Attack in Amazonas, Javari Valley
On Sunday (16/04), four hooded men armed with automatic rifles threatened indigenous people in the Javari Valley. The invasion took place in the middle of the afternoon, in the village of Irari 2, which belongs to the Kanamari people, in the Amazon Forest. The case would have happened after a Federal Police (PF) operation that seized illegally extracted wood in the region. The invaders, who spoke Spanish, were looking for the chief of the indigenous village, who was not at the site.
Bruno Pereira and Dom Philips
The indigenous land of Vale do Javari became the center of international debates last year, after the assassination of indigenist Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips. They were killed while investigating illegal fishing in the region. At the time, indigenous organizations and specialists denounced the increase in violence and the presence of organized crime in the region, related to irregular fishing and logging activities.
Our Analysis:
News disclosed in the past few months indicate that the scenario of conflicts in the Brazilian countryside is not very far from what has been reported in recent years. However, a few changes were observed. Among the changes noticed there is the increasing reactivation of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) land invasions. In addition, organized crime seems to be more and more connected to other illegal activities in the Amazon Forest, with strong relations between them and the mining and logging industries. Another activity that leads criminal groups to the Amazon is cocaine drug trafficking, which is booming in Latin America, achieving records in import volume. The Javari Valley is right next to the triple border between Brazil, Peru, and Colombia, where Insight Crime recently reported the presence of the most powerful Brazilian gang, the First Capital Command (PCC), which is reportedly helping the local group “Crias” to fight a war against the Red Command (CV), a national rival of PCC. Colombian group would be involved in the fights too. The “Crias” would be receiving help from the “Coqueteños”. Other groups would also be involved in the fights, the Border Command and the Carolina Ramírez Front, two factions of the ex-FARC mafia. The prize is the control of the triple border, through where a lot of drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods pass. Some of the major locations disputed in this fight are Letícia and Tabatinga, a Colombian city and a Brazilian city respectively. These cities are quite close to the Javari Valley.
