Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday called on the world to ensure that the struggle of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian expert Bruno Pereira is not in vain, on the first anniversary of their assassination in the Amazon as they were documenting environmental crimes.
The two men disappeared on June 5, 2022 in the Javari Valley, an indigenous reserve in northern Brazil, near the borders with Colombia and Peru, where drug traffickers, illegal gold diggers and poachers operate. .
“I want to pay tribute to Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, and to all those who have lost their lives defending the environment,” Lula said at an event in Brasilia, where hundreds of people paid tribute to the two men to loud applause.
“The best way to pay tribute to them is to ensure that their struggle was not in vain,” he added, announcing measures to combat deforestation in the Amazon, which has exploded under the administration. of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).
Indigenous leader and activist Raoni Metuktire was also present, along with relatives of the victims, First Lady Rosangela da Silva and Ministers of Environment Marina Silva and Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara.
Three fishermen suspected of being linked to a drug trafficking ring have, according to the inquest, confessed to shooting the two men, cutting their bodies into pieces and hiding them in the jungle, where the remains were found after ten days of research.
The alleged mastermind, Rubens Villar, a drug lord suspected of being involved in the illegal fish trade, was arrested in July and then placed under house arrest. He was charged last week, according to TV Globo.
On the beach of Copacabana, in Rio de Janeiro, several dozen people also gathered around the widow of Dom Phillips, the Brazilian Alessandra Sampaio, who launched an NGO to continue the fight of her husband.
“We need to learn more about what is going on and stop exploiting the forest like predators,” she said on this emblematic beach where the journalist liked to do stand-up paddle.
At his side, the indigenous leader Beto Marubo assured that the situation had not changed in the Javari Valley since the double assassination: “The Brazilian State owes an explanation to the whole world, because the whole world has been moved by the murders,” he said.
Gatherings were also planned elsewhere in the world and in particular in London, as well as in Atalaia do Norte, in the Javari valley, where traditional songs were sung in memory of the two men.
Dom Phillips, 57, a renowned journalist who had published in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Financial Times, was working on a book called “How to Save the Amazon”.
He accompanied Bruno Pereira, 41, a senior official of the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples, FUNAI, who had taken unpaid leave and was working as a consultant to help indigenous groups protect their lands against illegal fishing or gold panning, a commitment that had earned him death threats.
Their disappearance sparked an international flood of condemnations, from rock band U2 to Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo to football legend Pelé.
Relatives have launched a fundraising campaign to help complete the book undertaken by Dom Phillips, while the journalistic platform Forbidden Stories sponsors reporting projects to continue the work of the two men.
The fight to protect the Amazon, a key primary forest in the race to fight climate change, gained new momentum in Brazil with Lula’s victory over outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.
But it has just suffered a setback by Parliament, which withdrew from the Ministry of the Environment its powers in terms of the cadastre of rural land, an essential lever for combating deforestation. The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples has lost responsibility for the demarcation of new indigenous reserves.
06/06/2023 01:20:59 – Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
