{"id":1157393,"date":"2019-12-27T15:07:48","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T21:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1010125"},"modified":"2019-12-27T18:07:48","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T00:07:48","slug":"leo-dicaprio-slams-brazilian-government-for-failing-to-protect-indigenous-land-against-illegal-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1157393","title":{"rendered":"Leo DiCaprio slams Brazilian government for failing to protect Indigenous land against illegal mining"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LeonardoDiCaprio\/?epa=SEARCH_BOX\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"social media post (opens in a new tab)\">social media post<\/a> slamming the Brazilian government for its lack of protection of Indigenous territories against artisanal mining.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In his post, DiCaprio points out that despite Brazilian laws that make mining on Yanomami Indigenous land illegal, thousands of gold miners have recently entered Yanomami Park,&nbsp;a nine million-hectare indigenous reserve spanning the northern states of Roraima and Amazonas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Based on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"information and images (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@socioambiental\/we-dare-not-sleep-e38a62486416\" >information and images<\/a> provided by Brazil\u2019s Social Environmental Institute, the celebrity activist said gold panners are contaminating rivers with mercury and spreading malaria.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe invasion comes after the budget for Amazon law enforcement operations in Brazil was slashed, leaving protected areas vulnerable to exploitation,\u201d DiCaprio\u2019s post reads. \u201cThe last time there was an invasion of this scale was during the 1980s, when around one-fifth of the indigenous population died from violence, malaria, malnutrition, mercury poisoning and other causes.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Screen-Shot-2019-12-27-at-1.54.18-PM.png\" alt=\"Leo DiCaprio slams Brazilian government for failing to protect Indigenous land against illegal mining\" class=\"wp-image-1010134\" width=\"450\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Screen-Shot-2019-12-27-at-1.54.18-PM.png 900w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Screen-Shot-2019-12-27-at-1.54.18-PM-300x191.png 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Screen-Shot-2019-12-27-at-1.54.18-PM-768x488.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to internal government data collected by opposition party Socialism and Liberty and made public by Reuters, the budget for the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, known as Ibama, was <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"cut by 25% this year (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-brazil-environment-ibama-exclusive\/exclusive-as-fires-race-through-amazon-brazils-bolsonaro-weakens-environment-agency-idUSKCN1VI14I\" >cut by 25% this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ibama is the Ministry of the Environment\u2019s administrative arm, which means it is under the supervision of Minister Ricardo Salles who, since 2017, is <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"the subject of a probe (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/brasil.elpais.com\/brasil\/2018\/12\/09\/politica\/1544379683_286039.html\" >the subject of a probe<\/a> by S\u00e3o Paulo state prosecutors for allegedly altering the management plan for a protected area in the Tiet\u00ea River with the intention of benefiting mining operations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said earlier this month that a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"controversial bill (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/brazils-bolsonaro-says-bill-to-open-indigenous-reserves-to-mining-agriculture-ready\/\" >controversial bill<\/a> allowing mining, agriculture and cattle farms on protected Indigenous reserves was ready to be sent to Congress for consideration.<\/p>\n<p>Such statements and the general stand of Bolsonaro\u2019s administration towards Indigenous peoples and the environment has resulted in some 20,000 illegal miners entering Yanomami territory, a <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@socioambiental\/we-dare-not-sleep-e38a62486416\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"full report (opens in a new tab)\">full report<\/a> published by the Social Environmental Institute states.<\/p>\n<p>The situation has started to spark conflicts across the board. Latentes, a journalistic project to map conflict areas in Brazil, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"found (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/brazils-bolsonaro-says-bill-to-open-indigenous-reserves-to-mining-agriculture-ready\/\" >found<\/a> that 200 conflicts are brewing on Indigenous lands.<\/p>\n<p>But the Yanomami and the Ye\u2019kwana are aiming for a peaceful approach to deal with Bolsonaro. Following a meeting of 120 leaders from 26 regions, the Social Environmental Institute reports that the northern tribes sent a letter to the executive and judicial powers outlining problems caused by illegal mining.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Among the issues they denounced are polluted rivers and the scarcity and contamination of fish, lack of game meat, the return of malaria which, in 2019, caused six deaths along the Uraricoera River, and the lack of social and healthcare services.<\/p>\n<p>In their manifesto, the Yanomami and the Ye\u2019kwana wrote that, based on what happened 30 years ago due to the lack of protection of Indigenous territories, they fear that a new massacre could be looming and this is what they want to avoid by protesting peacefully and presenting their demands to Bolsonaro.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The celebrity activist took it to social media to support the demands of Brazil&rsquo;s northern tribes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1157393"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1157596,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157393\/revisions\/1157596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1157393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1157393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1157393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}