The government of Brazil is expelling 10,000 illegal gold prospectors from a reserve on the Venezuelan border belonging to the Yanomami indigenous people.
An official from the National Indigenous Foundation (NIF) said that 250 NIF officers, aided by 50 federal police and army and air force personnel, will seek out the garimpeiros, who frequently carve clandestine airstrips into the dense jungle.
In addition to gold, prospectors are searching for diamonds and other precious stones on the nine million hectare reserve.
The $1.5 million “Operation Free Jungle II”, expected to last 120 days, is being financed by Brazil’s justice ministry.
In addition to the actual evictions, the government’s long-term goal is to organize a permanent monitoring system in the region to keep uninvited prospectors off the reserve.
From now on, only authorized aircraft will be permitted to fly over the indigenous reserve. Unauthorized planes will be subject to government confiscation.
— From Inter Press Service.
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