Invasions of informal gold miners, so-called garimpeiros, into TI Vale do Javari have been reported since at least 2009 and have steadily augmented in the following. For example, there there is increasing presence of garimpeiros along the Jutaí river, home of the Kanamari and Tsohom Djapa indigenous groups. Mining is carried out from floating dredges and with other machinery that is harmful to the riverbeds, causes deforestation along the riversides and pollutes waters with highly toxic mercury from the gold extraction process. Also plastic waste has increased. Contact with invaders has caused deaths among the indigenous population which lacks immunity to common diseases and remains largely excluded from public medical assistance. For example between 2012 and 2019, 17 children and six adults died from infectious respiratory diseases in just one village of relatively isolated Kanamari and recently contacted Tsohom Djapa. Also contagious diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, and malaria have dramatically augmented. Moreover, communities face new social problems linked to the introduction of drugs, alcoholism and prostitution. Garimpeiros have also entered indigenous villages and attempted to coopt community members, promising improvements in living standards for the consent to mining activities. Invading men have reportedly harassed indigenous women, including incidences of sexual abuse, and threatened the community, often drunk. [8][9][10][11][12] There is now also strong outward migration to nearby towns such as Atalaia do Norte (located north of the territory) and an increase in suicides, both, particularly among the young population. More than 30 suicides were counted just in the Kanamari community between 2005 and 2019 [8]. In urban centers, in turn, indigenous people face strong discrimination and prejudices – such as that they would “only take government money” and “possess too much territory” [13]. 

Gold prospecting has also taken over along the Jandiatuba river, aggravating especially since 2016 and 2017 according to a local protection guard. Indigenous communities received death threats after denouncing invading dredges. [6][14] Illegal mining along the Jandiatuba concerns not only the upper part located within the TI Vale do Javari, but also the middle and lower parts of the river, a non-demarcated indigenous land inhabited by communities of the Kambeba, Kokama and Ticuna groups as well as isolated tribes. [1]

Dredges operating illegally in the indigenous territory receive regular material supply from nearby towns such as São Paulo de Olivença, which has become a hotspot for illegal gold trade in the region, closely linked to the trafficking of drugs and arms. As the Javari region lies along a contested international cocaine trafficking route, money is often laundered through mining activities and gold is traded for arms and cocaine. Illegal gold miners have become a powerful political force in the municipality, as also in Benjamin Constant and Tabatinga, often controlling the local economy and enjoying the support of deputies and mayors. [5][15] Locals also openly report to have been practicing hunting and fishing in the indigenous territory for a long time, but that since its demarcation, their way of sustaining themselves has become illegal. More recently they have however started selling food to newly arrived garimpeiros as well as to Peruvian and Colombian markets. [7][13]

FUNAI protection guards confirm that hunting invasions are on the rise and nowadays take place professionally and predatory rather than just for local self-supply, with all kinds of animals - from monkeys over taipirs to deers - being killed and sold locally and certain fish species even being exported to China. Illegal hunters use indigenous trails to navigate in the inaccessible area and leave plastics waste, salt bags and used ammunition along the way. In addition, there is increasing presence of loggers linked to Peruvian timber companies in the area, particularly extracting valuable trees such as sumaúma, cedar, marupá and uruúpa. They typically let extracted trunks float downstream to be then collected outside of the indigenous territory, using false certificates. [16]

Besides garimpeiros, hunters and loggers, also evangelic missionaries have repeatedly entered indigenous villages of the Javari territory without permission of indigenous leaders and authorities, with the latest incident in November 2019. The south of the territory, on the other hand, is increasingly seeing invasions from people who practice farming and completely lacks public protection. [17a][17b]

The invasions have escalated in violence against indigenous people and their defenders. In 2017, two massacres occurred in the territory. 18 to 21 people of the isolated Warikama Djapar indigenous tribe were reportedly killed in the area of the Jutaí and Jataizinho rivers. The attack was supposedly ordered by farmers who had been invading the lands in the south of the Javari territory. The killings were first reported to the Kanamari community by a worker of the farmer, who then fled. The group then found further indications and denounced the massacre to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF). The concerned area had been invaded by farmers, hunters and miners for a longer time, but recently the situation has become more critical. A Kanamari leader reported, among others, about ongoing illegal timber extraction and the increasing presence of hunters who invade the territory from the south and sell meat and turtle eggs in the town of Eirunepé, located about six days by feet and boat away. The indigenous group had been desperately waiting for support from federal authorities but was mostly left alone to defend itself as public territorial protection activities do not reach the area. [6] In the same region, shacks of isolated tribes were found burned down at the end of 2016. [15] 

Months after, at least ten indigenous people of an unidentified isolated group, known as “flecheiros” (archers), were supposedly murdered by invading hunters in the area of the Jandiatuba river, in an area where a monitoring station had been deactivated shortly before. Suspicions arose after locals in São Paulo de Olivença had spotted invaders with objects from indigenous people. Public authorities then seized phones and found audio material with reports about the massacre. The hunters, who were supplying invading garimpeiros with food, had apparently assassinated indigenous people that were collecting turtle eggs and then dumped the dead bodies into the river. Authorities conducted hearings with suspected men but investigations in the area of the reported massacre were not started for several months due to the difficult access and did not lead to firm results. FUNAI and the Federal Police did not officially confirm the massacre and had almost no information about the affected “flecheiros” tribe, while the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) saw clear evidences and attempted to arrest suspects, which was however turned down by a judge. Accused garimpeiros and hunters later denied their involvement to the media and disparaged the indigenous population. The MPF expressed its preoccupation about the risk of indigenous genocide and also pointed to the ongoing pollution and environmental degradation caused by illegal mining as well to its adverse social impacts in the region, ranging from precarious working conditions to an increase in prostitution, trafficking, crime, and violence. [14][15][13][18]

Despite increased police interventions since 2017, the conflict intensified again at the end of 2018 with the election of Bolsonaro. Invaders seemingly saw political power shifted to their side and exchanged fire with the police and started attacks on the FUNAI monitoring base on the Ituí river, which is considered the most crucial one for the protection of isolated indigenous communities in the territory. Attacks occurred repeatedly in the following months – as it was assumed, by hunters and fishers in revenge of operations against illegal poaching of turtles and piracatinga and pirarucu fish, which are sold to miners and on international markets. [5][7][16][19][20][21]

This was accompanied by public threats against protection guards and a general political discourse rather supportive of loggers, land grabbers and illegal miners than of the protection of indigenous rights. In September 2019, the protection guard and indigenous defender Maxciel Pereira dos Santos was assassinated in Amazônia’s border town of Tabatinga. [5][21] Santos had been working for FUNAI for over twelve years, the largest part of that time in Vale do Javari, coordinating actions to protect isolated tribes and combat illegal invasions. Most recently, Santos worked at the previously attacked monitoring base on the Ituí river, which protects one of the main entry areas to the reserve, and was about to become the new coordinator of CGIIRC. Indigenous leaders attended the funeral and expressed their preoccupation about the current situation. Also FUNAI and the association of protection guards (Indigenistas Associados; INA), the Union of Indigenous People of Vale do Javari (UNIVAJA), and many other indigenous and civil society organizations lamented the killing and demanded immediate police investigations. [5][17a][21][22][23] After the assassination, INA in a public note demanded better working conditions and protection for guards in indigenous territories, pointing to the increasing intimidation and violence. Several protection guards in Vale do Javari, in fear of their life, asked to leave their posts and called for immediate government support. A Kanamari leader reported about widespread fear also in the indigenous community and an increase in death threats. Two Korubo adolescents became injured in an attack by fishers in October 2019. As of November 2019, the Itaí-Itacoaí base was about to be abandoned as no more staff was willing to stay for security reasons after the government had not responded to calls for help and the base had already suffered a total of eight attacks by armed hunters within just one year – half of them in the previous month. Indigenous leaders then announced that they would organize a group to occupy protection bases themselves. [7][17a][24][25][26]

Local groups and various indigenous organizations had repeatedly denounced illegal mining and other invasions, threats and violence in the area, which has led to some public intervention but also to further threats and violent responses, as described above. [1][5][17a] FUNAI now receives regular support of the Public Ministry, Brazil’s military and the Federal Police to combat invaders, initiating for example the destruction of illegal dredges in the conflictual Jandiatuba region, where also a closed down monitoring base became reactivated after the attacks in 2017. More dredges were destroyed on the Javari, Ituí, Itacoaí and Jutaí rivers. [5][15][27][28] In one of the most recent operations right after the assassination of Maxciel Santos, the Federal Police, FUNAI and the environmental protection agency IBAMA destroyed 60 mining dredges in proximity to isolated groups within the territory. Other operations, for example in 2018 and 2019, focused on poaching, confiscated large numbers of fish and turtle eggs and destroyed hunting and fishing equipment. [2][16][21][29] 

In December 2019, the Ministry of Justice – after a protest letter of UNIVAJA and initiative of the MPF – condemned the Brazilian State for insufficient protection measures in Vale do Javari, issuing a fine of R$ 10 million as well as a decree that allowed for the intervention of the National Public Security Force in Vale do Javari and the temporarily augmenting of financial resources to protect isolated tribes and the monitoring bases of the territory. [26][30][31]

In the context of this new series of violent invasions in Vale do Javari and other parts of the Amazon, indigenous and civil society organizations such as APIB, COAIB, FOIRN, CIMI, CTI and Survival publicly blamed Brazil’s government for a series of political assaults on indigenous rights and livelihoods. At the United Nations assembly in New York in April 2019, Beto Marubo, representative of UNIVAJA, called international attention to the aggravating situation and indigenous rights violations in Vale do Javari caused by recent government measures. [32] Critique concerns, in particular, the ongoing dismantlement of FUNAI, which was initiated by the Temer government and has seen a further continuation under Bolsonaro, accompanied by an increasingly anti-indigenous discourse and policies that attempt to advance the mining and agricultural frontiers. [1][17a][18][22][33] 

In fact, Brazil’s indigenous affairs have suffered from budget cuts since 2013, which even worsened under the Temer government at the beginning of 2017, drastically reducing the operating capacities of numerous FUNAI compartments, including CGIIRC, whose budgeting was cut by 40 percent in just two years, and the territorial protection front of Vale do Javari. Lack of funding and accumulated high debts subsequently led to the shutdown of offices, the canceling of operations and new hirings, an increasing flexibilization and casualization of monitoring and protection work, and, by 2019, even troubles to pay electricity and water bills. Qualified personnel committed to indigenous peoples became controversially fired and replaced with administrators tied to the government while remaining employees reported about increasing mental and physical exhaustion. [5][6][9][15][34a][34b]

As a result, five protection bases for isolated and recently contacted indigenous groups, so-called Bases de Proteção Etnoambiental, were closed due to a lack of funding, including two bases within TI Vale do Javari. Out of the 14 remaining bases in entire Brazil, another six bases remained at risk of closure. [1][15][18][35] In Javari, an area larger than Austria, only one base was maintained with ten permanent guards (compared to 25 in previous years) and two more remained used by indigenous collaborators who were however not prepared to monitor the area, while the rest of the staff was withdrawn. Thus, also remaining monitoring activities were cut back and bases, which are all situated in the north of the territory, had to run at a minimum level under precarious conditions. Also, activities of FUNAI’s regional coordination offices were seriously in danger. [6][14][35][36] A FUNAI coordinator in the town of Eirunepé stated: “We don’t receive a cent […] There are invasions, they guys are coming in and hunt, but we cannot go because we don’t even have fuel to move around.” [6] 

Concerns were however also raised against FUNAI itself, as over the last years, indigenous groups such as the Kanamari and the Matís have repeatedly demanded more participation in territorial management as well as better medical assistance, leading to indigenous protests and occupations, for example of the regional FUNAI headquarter in 2011 and 2016. In one of the most recent mobilizations in 2019, 300 indigenous people from Vale do Javari protested in Manaus against Bolsonaro’s plans to municipalize health affairs and abolish the Special Secretary for Indigenous Health Care (SESAI). [3][8][37][38][39][40]

Indigenous communities in Vale do Javari moreover face threats from a planned railway between Cruzeiro do Sul (in the state of Acre) and Pucallpa (in the Peruvian Amazon), which would increase access to the isolated Juruá valley located south of TI Vale do Javari (see related conflict in the EJAtlas), as well as from ongoing oil and gas explorations in the Peru-Brazil border region, traditional territory of the Matsés group (officially named Mayrouna), which has provoked strong mobilization from both indigenous communities and civil society. Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency (ANP) in a controversial public bidding – whose effects were later suspended by court injunctions – offered nine exploration lots in an area south to the TI Vale do Javari (see related case in the EJAtlas for a part of this conflict). [3] [36][37][41]

Monitoring and indigenous protection bases operated by FUNAI, so-called Bases de Proteção Etnoambiental (BAPES), are situated only in the north of TI Vale do Javari and form part of the Frente de Proteção Etnoambiental do Vale do Javari (FPEVJ), the territorial protection front. Three bases are located along the Ituí, Quixito and Curucá rivers, while a fourth station on the Jandiatuba river was closed in 2014 and reactivated after the attacks in 2017. At that point, FPEVJ had ten employees responsible for the protection of a territory of 85,445 km ² – an area of about the size of Austria [14][35].

The FPEVJ is part of the General Office of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples (CGIIRC), a sub-agency of FUNAI responsible for the protection of so-called “isolated” and “recently contacted” indigenous groups. CGIIRC operates in twelve regions of the Brazilian Amazon where there is confirmed presence of isolated indigenous people, the larger part of them in demarcated indigenous territories. In many cases, Brazilian authorities have only little information about the tribes, their languages, and cultures. Isolated tribes often already had contact with other parts of Brazilian society in the past, suffered from violence and oppression, and opted for living in isolation. FUNAI is supposed to adopt special protection measures for “isolated” and “recently contacted” tribes, which are highly vulnerable to diseases and often under the risk of violent attacks. In some cases, authorities regard it moreover necessary to establish contact as a means of protection, as for example with a part of the Korubo tribe that had entered into conflict with other indigenous groups in Vale do Javari [3][42][43]. Among the recently contacted isolated tribes in TI Vale do Javari are the mentioned Korubo tribe as well as tribes that belong to the Tsohom Djapa, Matís, Matsés, Kanamari, Marubo and Kulina groups [20][32].