Lula orders emergency actions in the Yanomami Land

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held a meeting today (30) to address emergency actions for the protection and assistance to the Yanomami people, who live a health crisis that has already resulted in the death of 570 children from malnutrition and preventable causes in the last four years.

Among the actions planned are nutritional and health assistance, with food suitable to the indigenous people's habits, and the guarantee of the security necessary for health teams to be able to work in the villages. Another priority is to quickly guarantee access to drinking water through artesian wells or cisterns, and to measure mercury contamination in the rivers and in people.

The Yanomami Indigenous Land is the largest in the country and suffers from the invasion of miners. The contamination of the water by the mercury used in mining and deforestation impacts the security and availability of food in the communities.

"The president has determined that all of these actions must be taken as soon as possible to stop the killing and help Yanomami families," the president said in a statement.

To combat illegal mining and other criminal activities in the region, initiatives must be adopted to prevent air and river transport that supplies criminal groups.

"The actions also aim to prevent the access of people not authorized by public authorities to the region seeking not only to prevent illegal activities, but also the spread of diseases.

Representatives from eight ministries as well as the commander of the Air Force, Marcelo Damasceno, and the president of FUNAI, Joenia Wapichana, attended the meeting with the president.