At first glance, the story looks a bit like a detective novel mixed with adventure films and detective novels, style In pursuit of the green diamond Where The Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dom Philipps is a 57-year-old British journalist. Bruno Araujo Pereira is one of the best Brazilian specialists of the peoples of Amazonia. Since Sunday, June 5 in the morning, they have literally disappeared, while they were researching in a very isolated region, in the heart of the Amazonian forest, the Javari Valley. It is west of the Amazon, near the area known as the three borders between Brazil, Peru and Colombia. It’s a strange place, fascinating, but a kind of end of the world, with also a lot of traffic of all kinds.
In the morning, the two men were expected in the town of Atalaia do Norte. They never arrived even though they know the area very well and were perfectly equipped: a satellite telephone, a new boat with fuel reserves (the boat is the means of transport par excellence on these small tributaries of the Amazon in the middle of the forest). Since news of their disappearance, native trackers have searched for the two men non-stop, without success.
The relatives of the two men are very worried. Dom Phillips’ wife, the British daily The Guardian, which employs him, the International Committee to Protect Journalists, all say they are very concerned and call on the Brazilian authorities to do everything possible to find the two missing persons. The two men had received threats, the wife of Dom Philipps confirmed it. And they investigated, as often, the incursions of miners, gold washers, hunters, loggers on the lands reserved for the natives.
In the region, there are about twenty tribes that remain totally isolated. In recent months, violent incidents have multiplied in the region: miners and loggers in particular covet this land, to exploit the subsoil or the wood. Funai, which is the Brazilian organization responsible for the protection of indigenous people, has been attacked several times in this Javari valley. Three years ago, one of the members of Funai had also been killed.
And so there is a political background to this case because since coming to power three years ago, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has continued to attack indigenous rights. He had also had this formula during his previous campaign: “we must no longer give them a centimeter of land”. He therefore halved the budgets of the Funai, brought to its head a soldier won over to the cause of agribusiness, frozen all projects for new reserves. And Bolsonaro, who is seeking a second term next October, intends to endorse new mining and agricultural activities in the already existing reserves, about 13% of the surface of Brazil.
Opposite, the former left-wing and returning president Lula, also a candidate and favorite in the ballot next October, takes the opposite position. He promises, if he returns to power, the creation of an Indigenous Ministry and the cancellation of all Bolsonaro’s decisions on the subject. Last night, Lula, in turn, therefore logically denounced the disappearance of Dom Philipps and Bruno Araujo Pereira. This disappearance is definitely much more than a simple police enigma.