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Read our privacy policy The short documentary The Path shows how Rodrigo Hiroyuki Ito worked on providing connectivity to isolated communities in Amazonas.  Huawei and the local carrier Veloso Net have been expanding coverage in the region. According to IBGE data 28 million Brazilians still do not have internet at home 30% of residents in the northern Amazon area have 4G connectivity and major cities in the state enjoy comprehensive coverage “Huawei worked with Veloso Net to build networks in the state of Amazonas transforming lives and boosting the local economy,” says Atilio Rulli vice president of public affairs at Huawei in Latin America and the Caribbean Veloso Net partnered with Huawei to install broadband networks in communities and cities located along the Solimões River which runs 1,700 kilometers from Tabatinga capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. The regional carrier plans to install 71 new transmission sites by the end of summer 2024 The goal is to serve mainly riverine communities along the 1700 kilometers of the course of the Solimões River – from Tabatinga “I want to be part of the evolution,” Ito says referring to the efforts to bring connectivity to the region.  One of the new 4G base stations towers over a community The metropolis of Sao Paolo is a world away from Amazonas The impact of broadband on lives in these communities is transformative – for local businesses the approximately three thousand residents today have online medical care ambulances that serve the region can be summoned more easily Brazilian officials are investigating two reported cases of violent contact between indigenous groups that shun contact with wider society and outsiders who entered their territory illegally Both incidents reportedly occurred in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory a huge area encompassing 85,444 square kilometers (32,990 square miles) in Amazonas state bordering Peru and home to the largest concentration of isolated indigenous people in the world One case involved gold miners operating dredges illegally on the Jandiatuba River reports began circulating in the town of São Paulo de Olivença on the Solimões River near Brazil’s borders with Peru and Colombia of an encounter between miners and isolated people that occurred in late July or early August four dredges on the Jandiatuba River were destroyed in a raid by the Brazilian Army Federal Public Ministry and Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) IBAMA also fined a group of miners about $340,000 for environmental damage in the region miners in São Paulo de Olivença had shown off a bow an arrow and a carved paddle taken from a canoe as proof of the indigenous encounter according to sources familiar with the investigation There also were reports that as many as 10 indigenous people were killed according to a press release issued September 11 by FUNAI Brazil’s national indigenous affairs agency no material proof has been found to prove the alleged massacre so it is impossible to confirm the veracity of the [reports of] deaths,” the FUNAI statement said It is difficult to confirm deaths in cases of violent encounters with isolated groups because victims’ bodies are almost never found Reports of such cases generally come from the outsiders involved — like the miners in this case or loggers or hunters who invade an isolated group’s territory — or from a neighboring tribe a Kanamari community on the Jutai River reported an attack against a group of Wakinara Djapar people — a tribe of the same language group as the Kanamari — possibly carried out by people who are farming illegally in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory That report is under investigation but has not been confirmed FUNAI staff saw the charred remains of an isolated group’s maloca or communal house but it is unknown whether the burning was related to incursions by outsiders Even when the encounter itself is not violent contact with outsiders can be devastating to isolated groups which have no resistance even to common diseases such as colds or flu machetes or other items carried off from a settled village or a logging camp — can cause an epidemic that decimates a group The two new reports of violence come at a time when isolated tribes in the Amazon basin are under increasing pressure from drug traffickers especially along the border between Brazil and Peru and deforestation for farming and ranching a former FUNAI official who has mapped the threats “This model of development is the greatest risk factor for isolated indigenous people and those in recent contact,” Vaz said at an Amazonian anthropology conference in Lima Although most of the isolated groups reported in Brazil Ecuador and Venezuela live in protected areas that does not mean they are safe from unwanted contact with outsiders Isolated groups are unaware of official borders and sometimes move back and forth across them Even when they remain inside protected areas lack of law enforcement makes them vulnerable to incursions by outsiders like the illegal miners on the Jandiatuba River Budget reductions and a transfer of some areas of responsibility such as indigenous people’s health care and education have weakened the agency’s ability to protect indigenous people who is a member of the Terena indigenous people as well as a lawyer for the Coordinating Group of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Articulaçao dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil) A bloc of legislators, the bancada ruralista, aligned with large landholders, agribusiness and ranchers is also aggressively seeking to redraw the boundaries of indigenous territories and hundreds of requests for territorial demarcation are now on hold Road construction in the Amazon is another major threat to indigenous groups A road built in Brazil in the 1970s near the border with Venezuela led to a gold rush into territory of the semi-nomadic Yanomami people where miners killed 16 members of the tribe in 1993 “There are groups that are coming into contact because they no longer have the possibility of remaining isolated.” FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] On the morning of September 10, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the communities of São Sebastião do Curumitá and Campo Novo in Tefé and Manaquiri, near Manaus, where he spoke with the local population about the impacts of the drought in Amazonas alongside the governor and several mayors from that state he announced measures in Manaus to combat widespread fires and drought in the region The event took place at the headquarters of the Manaus Free Trade Zone’s Superintendent’s Office [Superintendência da Zona Franca de Manaus/SUFRAMA] six cities in Amazonas affected by the drought were officially recognized by the Federal Government to be in a state of emergency this status has been recognized for 21 municipalities due to the climate disaster The measure allows for the rapid release of resources and support The announcement pertains to the public bidding processes for four maintenance dredging operations in the Amazon and Solimões rivers a total of BRL 500 million (approximately USD 88.27 million) will be invested to ensure navigability and maintain the flow of supplies mitigating the impact of the severe drought affecting the region A contract was also signed regarding the resumption of work on the BR-319 highway The projects are part of federal actions in response to the worst drought the Amazon has faced in 45 years The president justified the importance of the federal delegation's visit to the state "Many people do not understand the effort we make to visit a community made up of 19 families in Amazonas those who do not live in the capital cities regardless of their social status,” said Lula “I speak without fear of being wrong: I doubt that any president has invested as much in the Amazon — and the mayors have never been treated as well — as during my administrations,” added the President The maintenance dredging and nautical signaling works will take place on four stretches of the Amazon River: Manaus - Itacoatiara; Coari - Codajás Benjamin Constant - Tabatinga and Benjamin Constant - São Paulo de Olivença is occurring amid one of the worst droughts in the Amazon since mid-2023 The region is facing extreme weather conditions which increase the likelihood and intensity of wildfires More than 330,000 people have already been affected by the state of emergency in the municipalities of the Legal Amazon impacted by the fires beaches and rock formations begin to appear dredging is necessary to remove the accumulated sediment in the navigable channel and re-establish the minimum safe depth for navigation The dredging is carried out in specific areas known as critical points—locations where sediment has accumulated and not along the entire riverbed In compliance with environmental licensing the removed sediment is deposited at another location in the river is another measure that aims to increase safety and provide guidance for the vessels regarding the paths that must be followed and the dangers to be avoided CROSS-CUTTING ACTION – The Minister of Integration and Regional Development recalled the government’s cross-cutting actions during the crisis last year “We contributed with almost BRL 90 million to humanitarian aid plans drawn up by the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development [Ministério da Integração e Desenvolvimento Regional] alone This was in direct support of municipal governments through dialog with members of Congress and mayors It is already a practice of President Lula’s government to be close to the suffering population at these times and to establish direct relationships with local authorities and governments,” he stated President Lula instructed Minister Rui Costa to set up a specific Situation Room to deal with the drought in the Amazon — involving several ministries — and has already held meetings with all governors and teams from ministries and state governments We will continue to support what is a common rule: food fuel for where it is still possible to help employability of Ministry of Defense [Ministério da Defesa] equipment and mainly water,” added Góes BRINGING FORWARD THE BOLSA FAMÍLIA — In the same vein the Minister of Social Development and Assistance federal recognition of emergency situations is necessary in order to quickly help the population "We're bringing forward the payment of Bolsa Família to September 17 Caixa Econômica Federal will already be making R$494 million available to be paid to 656,000 families throughout the state of Amazonas" Minister of Health Nísia Trindade pointed out that the issues raised by local administrators throughout last year revealed the scale of the challenge to be faced “We have a lot of work to do together in this reconstruction funds were transferred to this region; part of them were a single emergency installment and part of the BRL 225 million were to balance out the entire field of ​​medium and high complexity care,” she highlighted Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara explained some of the struggles faced by indigenous people it is the fish that die and are no longer there it is smoke that causes all these respiratory diseases because many of the rituals are carried out in the water - and to reaffirm our commitment: that we will continue working together to combat this drought," she stressed Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva highlighted that the Amazon Fund [Fundo Amazônia] is going to assign over BRL 737 million in incentives to the 78 municipalities that reduce deforestation has reduced deforestation in these municipalities by 42% since 2023 This partnership with municipalities is towards environmental and land regularization and sustainable development plans,” she stated Silva also spoke about a new proposal: a global fund for countries that keep their forests alive “This fund will provide resources in the order of USD 300 million so that those who preserve forests can receive the equivalent of the preserved forest at the G20 and will be presented again in Azerbaijan with several sectors and sovereign funds,” reiterated the minister said that the visit by President Lula and his ministerial entourage was a clear demonstration of the federal government's concern about the current situation in the state "We had a very productive and very important agenda alongside ministers who occupy important positions and who have the power to make decisions to alleviate the suffering of our population visited communities and had the opportunity to see how low the river has fallen and the suffering that our most vulnerable population is facing at this time of difficulty in accessing water," he said MAYORS — The Mayor of Rio Preto da Eva and president of the Amazon Association of Municipalities [Associação Amazonense de Municípios/AAM] anderson Sousa recognized the Federal Government’s efforts in dealing with the crisis “We are certain that we will be able to appease and alleviate the suffering of our population So I am happy and grateful for the President always serving the state of Amazonas Last year was a great year and I am certain that our demands will be met and that we will not leave empty-handed,” he said Highlighting the importance of the dredging work paid tribute to the victims who lost their lives due to the drought “Not only do we suffer from the catastrophes and the hardship in managing them with the sandbars that form in our rivers and lakes,” he said DREDGING — The Brazilian Ministry of Ports and Airports [Ministério de Portos e Aeroportos/MPor] earmarked BRL 92.8 million for the dredging of the Manaus - Itacoatiara section of the Amazon River The remaining stretches announced on Tuesday are in the contracting phase — final amounts and companies will be known after the bidding process is completed The contract values are estimated at BRL 129.1 million for Section 2 (Coari-Codajás); BRL 139.8 million for Section 3 (Benjamin Constant - Tabatinga); and BRL 112.3 million for section 4 (Benjamin Constant - São Paulo de Olivença) all other dredging operations are concentrated in the Solimões River All announced operations will be carried out by the National Department of Transportation Infrastructure [Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes/DNIT] over the course of five years BR-319 — The contract term establishing the resumption of construction of BR-319 Amazonas Lote C was signed by representatives of the National Department of Transportation Infrastructure and the company LCM Construções OTHER ACTIONS — Other actions underway to mitigate the effects of the drought and dry spell in the Amazon region include the dredging of the Travessia of the Madeira River section in Humaitá in the state of Amazonas (contract value of BRL 7.8 million); another dredging operation on the Madeira River this one in the critical stretches between Porto Velho (state of Rondonia) and Manicoré (state of Amazonas) and the section where the river is crossed by the BR-230 highway Another action front includes the dredging of the Navigation Canal of the Tapajós River in the critical section between Itaituba and Santarém (state of Pará) with an estimated contract value of BRL 117.3 million during the visit of the Federal Government delegation to the communities of São Sebastião do Curumitá and Campo Novo distribution of 150 portable water purifiers to the population facing difficulties in transporting water was also announced The equipment was donated by private companies and produced by the São Paulo startup PWTech Transported by the Brazilian Air Force [Força Aérea Brasileira/FAB] the purifiers are already at the Manaus Air Base The severe drought is hampering the logistics of transporting water to the municipalities affected by the disaster — a problem that will be alleviated by the donations The purifiers are made with advanced technology The same purifiers were also used to serve the population of Rio Grande do Sul affected by the floods at the end of April The President was accompanied by the governor of Amazonas Jair Aguiar; senators Eduardo Braga and Omar Aziz; and by the delegation of ministers Rui Costa (Staff Office House/Casa Civil) Waldez Góes (Integration and Regional Development/Integração e do Desenvolvimento Regional); Wellington Dias (Social Development and Assistance Family and the Fight against Hunger/Desenvolvimento e Assistência Social Família e Combate à Fome); Marina Silva (Environment and Climate Change/Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima); Nísia Trindade (Health/Saúde) and Sonia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples/Povos Indígenas); Silvio Costa Filho (Ports and Airports); and José Múcio (Defense) A paddle and bad recording of a bar-room conversation were all investigators had to go on when claims surfaced of killings deep in Brazil’s Javari Valley last year Algenor Costa fishes and hunts along the Jandiatuba River he has often headed into the Javari Valley a vast indigenous reserve where such activities are forbidden “Everybody enters there to fish and hunt.” sold his catch and prey to the crews of illegal gold dredgers – known as garimpeiros – who used this town as a support base before heading deep into the reserve sucking up gold from the Jandiatuba River and pumping poisonous mercury into its muddy waters Last year, however, Costa was at the centre of an inquiry into the alleged massacre of up to 10 tribespeople from an uncontacted group in the reserve and forced the Brazilian government – who had already been alerted about the garimpeiros’ mining activities – into action Burnt communal houses of uncontacted tribespeople that could be signs of an earlier massacre in the Javari Valley Photograph: Courtesy of FunaiIn late August a pre-planned army operation destroyed four dredgers and seized another near the town Funai staff joined a second army operation that blew up ten more mining barges and headed into the reserve to look for evidence that a massacre had occurred A flight over the area found burnt maloca longhouses – a common practice by local isolated tribes after a deathBut they were unable to find anything conclusive while prosecutors are still to close their investigation the case has exposed the vulnerability of isolated groups in the Javari Valley the prejudice indigenous people face in communities around them and the difficulties of such investigations in areas of inaccessible wilderness Locals said it was the third time the garimpeiros had set up in São Paulo de Olivença The garimpeiros barges’ were located days by boat from the town the garimpeiros [would buy] some things from us,” Costa says the presence of outsiders nearby is potentially fatal as they have no immunity from even common diseases like flu were named in an anonymous denunciation received last August by Funai which included a badly recorded conversation and a photo of Costa with a paddle The tip-off said the men had boasted of killing up to 10 indigenous people and had stolen the paddle and other artefacts Other evidence led credibility to the denunciation A flight over the area found some maloca longhouses had been burnt – common practice after a death in local tribes Prosecutors in Tabatinga – a city six hours away by boat – opened an investigation and requested arrest warrants for the three men A judge turned these down and authorised searches of their properties instead Interviewed by TV Globo’s national news programme Jornal Nacional the three men denied the accusations that they had been responsible for a massacre Castro said he had not seen the indigenous people but that he and Costa had found two paddles in a canoe and taken one Costa refused to say any more to the channel Costa refuted being on the recording and said that he and Manoel Bida had found the paddle two years earlier in a canoe at a place called Três Bocas near footprints an isolated group had left crossing a river Algenor Costa in São Paulo de Olivença Photograph: Dom Phillips/The Guardian“We didn’t see them Costa alleges that the supposed massacre had been devised by those who want to force the authorities to act over gold dredging He says it would be impossible to kill so many light-footed indigenous people and survive that the isolated tribe practises cannibalism Indigenous people around São Paulo de Olivença routinely face discrimination but prejudice against them has increased since the denunciation talking anonymously after receiving threats some local people say they feel indigenous people receive too much money in government benefits and believe the reserve is too big for the indigenous population that live there Funai staff were threatened when they reached the town in November 2017 for a joint operation with army and environment agency officials Three months had passed since the original tip-off – a delay criticised by Sydney Possuelo a former Funai president who had been instrumental in gaining protected status for the Javari Valley Funai officials quizzed crews and left the soliders working to reopen one of the agency’s bases on the Jandiatuba River Brazilian soldiers destroy barges belonging to illegal gold miners in the Javari Valley Photograph: Courtesy FunaiThis was important to deter garimpeiros from entering the area an indigenous leader working to raise international attention over the threats to the Javari Valley’s 16 isolated tribes the isolated Indians who roam this territory become vulnerable,” he says The Funai group carried on up the Jandiatuba River they found no sign of the killings – though what evidence would have remained after three months is unclear Funai has avoided contact with isolated tribes – who have attacked and killed employees in the past and been decimated by viruses passed on by outsiders Trekking inland in search of signs that the tribe was healthy they came across a plantation of fruit and vegetables Because of the seriousness of the denunciation they decided to enter and found fires still smouldering temporary thatched-roof shelters called tapiri wild boar and alligator that had been cooked and eaten it was unlikely that this established settlement would still be there This conclusion is shared by Daniel Mayaruna an indigenous man from Javari who was also on the expedition Daniel saw a community of his “relatives” in good shape but says the abandoned mining barge just 10km away was profoundly worrying “There are a lot of isolated relatives in this region and my concern is that garimpeiros could kill them,” he says Recent image of the last known survivor of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon state of Rondônia spotted for first time in more than two decades “We didn’t find any indications of a massacre,” he says Accusations of massacres are not unknown in the Javari Valley the Funai official responsible for monitoring its isolated groups led an expedition in the south of the reserve following reports of another mass killing related by an indigenous man Mol brought a drone along – equipment that Funai did not have The agency has been decimated by budget cuts under the austerity regime of President Michel Temer As the expedition headed along the Jutaí River around the area where the killing allegedly took place they came across a small camp on the side of the water that the isolated group had just vacated Then Mol’s drone spotted the main village just a kilometre away reasoning that the group would have moved had they suffered a massacre “The drone footage gave us the intel we needed,” says Mol Members of the Funai expedition team use an axe to remove a fallen tree from their route: this particular obstruction took 1.5 hours to clear Photograph: Gary Calton/The GuardianBoth cases underline just how hard it is to investigate allegations of possible crimes in such remote regions federal prosecutor Pablo Beltrand says the tip-off over the supposed Jutaí River massacre was “not such a reliable report” and presented “contradictions” On the alleged massacre involving the tip-off Beltrand has just received Funai’s report on the expedition and is analysing it The agency had been reluctant to share sensitive information That the isolated tribe has stayed in the region is “something to be considered in the investigation” smaller wooden mining barges are now reportedly being built beside a river in São Paulo de Olivença