Environment

The tensions within the Amazon’s Vale do Javari reserve

A journalist and an on-leave government official have disappeared in a massive reserve coveted by wildcat miners, illegal fishermen, and drug gangs

The meandering Javari River, which forms the western boundary of the Vale do Javari indigenous reserve. Photo: Sashamol/Shutterstock

At the time of publication, British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira have been missing for more than two days in the Vale do Javari, one of the remotest corners of the Brazilian Amazon.

The pair were last seen sailing down the Itaquaí River on Sunday morning, on the two-to-three-hour journey to the town of Atalaia do Norte. No trace of the men or their boat has been reported since. 

Dom Phillips, a regular contributor to British newspaper The Guardian, visited the region to research his upcoming book on the Brazilian Amazon, with the help of longtime companion and colleague Bruno Pereira, formerly the regional coordinator of Brazil’s indigenous foundation Funai in the Vale do Javari.

For his work protecting indigenous communities in and around the reserve, Mr. Pereira received regular threats of violence. 

The Vale do Javari indigenous reserve is among the biggest areas of untouched rainforest in the world, measuring larger than the size of Austria.
The Vale do Javari indigenous reserve is among the biggest areas of untouched rainforest in the world, measuring larger than the size of Austria. Photo: Nowaczyk/Shutterstock

Speaking to The Brazilian Report, a representative of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Vale do Javari (Univaja) — which first reported the pair’s disappearance — explained that a group of indigenous volunteers were held at gunpoint and threatened in the forest by illegal fishermen earlier last week.

On Saturday, according to another Univaja representative, Messrs. Phillips and Pereira encountered a group of indigenous people being threatened by armed men. The journalist reportedly took photographs of the scene as part of his research. The fear is that the pair may have run afoul of this same group, led by a man nicknamed “Pelado,” on their journey back to Atalaia do Norte.

The same Univaja representative shared a prior threat received by the organization which cites Bruno Pereira by name, with the criminals saying that they “know who they are and will find them...

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