How Brazil’s far-right tries to muffle discussions about the Dom Phillips-Bruno Pereira murder

The police on Wednesday night found two bodies in the area close to where journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing on June 5. Investigators will perform DNA analysis on the human remains to confirm their identity, marshals said in a press conference.

“We are now going to identify the human remains with the most dignity possible,” lead detective Eduardo Fontes said. “When the remains are proven to be those of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, they will be delivered to the families.” 

The announcement brings a sad ending to an 11-day search for the two men that outraged Brazilians and laid bare the lawlessness which reigns in remote areas of the Amazon as a result of government inaction. 

The two men who confessed to the double murder were local fishermen. Days before the crime, Mr. Pereira apprehended tons of valuable fish (which were illegally obtained) in the possession of the suspects. The police believe the fish were part of a money-laundering scheme linked to drug trafficking gangs. (Editor Euan Marshall explains how these schemes work, on our podcast.)

As we revealed on Tuesday, documents show that the Brazilian government ignored at least four warnings about the “imminent dangers” in and around the Vale do Javari indigenous reserve, which is close to where Messrs. Phillips and Pereira disappeared.

Meanwhile, supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro have engaged with a ridiculous piece of misinformation to shift social media discussions away from the disappearance — which inevitably ended up with criticism of the Brazilian government and its...