Brazil's government declared a public health emergency [9]on Jan. 20 for the Yanomami indigenous people, now plagued by rising death rates from malnutrition and curable diseases such as malaria, flu and diarrhoea. President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva flew to the remote Yanomami territory in Roraima state after horrifying photographs [10] emerged of emaciated Yanomami children and adults. The trip coincided with an an emergency airlift of 16 starving Yanomami to receive urgent treatment. After his visit, Lula tweeted [11]: "More than a humanitarian crisis, what I saw in Roraima was genocide: a premeditated crime against the Yanomami, committed by a government insensitive to suffering."
This was a reference to the previous far-right government [12] of Jair Bolsonaro, under whose presidency gold miners and illegal loggers flooded into Yanomami territory, bringing new diseases and destroying the forest that the people depends on for sustenance. The settlers have opened fire [15] on Yanomami who have sought to prevent them from entering their reserve. Lula’s interior minister, Flávio Dino, stated [13] that he will order a federal investigation into "strong indications" the Yanomami had suffered crimes including genocide–meaning the deliberate attempt to partially or completely destroy an ethnic, national, racial or religious group. (The Guardian [16], BBC News [17], Mongabay [14], TNH [18])
