Outrage and solidarity with the families of the indigenous rights activist and journalist murdered in the Brazilian Amazon
Our CLACSO Working Groups, articulated in the Inter GTs Network “New Frontiers of Critical Thinking and Struggles for Emancipation from Latin America”We, the organizers of the Forum “Territories, Struggles, and Resistances: Community Horizons in the Face of the Reproduction of Capitalist Inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean,” join the families of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous rights activist Bruno Pereira in expressing outrage at their murders in the Vale do Javari region and in the fight for justice. We stand in solidarity with their families and denounce the complicity of Jair Bolsonaro’s government in the crime and the multiple forms of violence in the Amazon and throughout the country. In this regard, like the União dos Povos Indígenas do Vale do Javari (UNIVAJA), we denounce the murders of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips as political crimes that must be investigated and prosecuted, and those responsible punished.
Bruno Pereira has been one of the leading Indigenous rights activists in Brazil, deeply dedicated to the struggle for the rights of Indigenous peoples and the defense of their ancestral lands. A former employee of FUNAI (National Indian Foundation), he was dismissed after suffering persecution from the Bolsonaro government, which was characterized by its sabotage of Brazilian institutions and organizations dedicated to defending human rights and the environment.
Dom Phillips, a reporter deeply committed to the fight against injustice in Brazil, was writing a book about how to save the Amazon. For over a year, he had dedicated himself to listening to the voices of those directly fighting to save the rainforest from the destructive forces of extractive industries. That's why Dom was with Bruno and the Indigenous people of the Javari Valley, to help amplify their voices in the struggle for the Amazon.
To offer direct support to their families, please consult the following links:
https://www.vakinha.com.br/vaquinha/unidos-por-dom-e-bruno
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-dombruno-missing-in-the-amazon-rainforest
As we expressed in our «Political declaration against extractivism confronting the struggles in defense of life and for environmental justice in Abya Yala"The violence of extractive companies with the participation of governments, and the mafia links between drug trafficking and extractivism, are growing forces throughout Latin America, which in turn promote destruction, deaths and the collapse of territories and ways of life.
It is urgent to organize with the struggles of the territories and the peoples. Together we must fight for justice and demand that the Brazilian government fully respect the rights of the peoples and organizations that defend life.
June 15th, 2022
CLACSO Working Groups
Territorialities in dispute and r-existence
Political ecology(ies) from the South/Abya-Yala
Anti-capitalisms and emerging sociability
Indigenous peoples, autonomies and collective rights
Borders, regionalization and globalization
Latin American critical geographical thought
Critical studies of rural developmentl
This statement expresses the position of the aforementioned Working Group and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
