Lula Accuses Former President of ‘Genocide’ Against Remote Amazon Group

Brazil’s government has declared a health crisis among an Indigenous group. They live in the Amazon rainforest. Gold miners have looted the group's villages. That's causing people to go hungry. It's also spreading disease. The group is the Yanomami people. Hundreds of children and others have died or fallen ill. 

New Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the region. He goes by Lula. Lula was just elected. He accused his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, of genocide against the tribe. He said the former president allowed human rights abuses. Miners are reported to have raided the villages. Some claim the raids were violent.

The Yanonami are the largest native population in Brazil. There are about 30,000 to 35,000 people in the tribe. They live in villages in the Amazon.

Lula visited a health center. Lula said that Bolsonaro had removed health services for the people. Lula said he didn't protect the tribes. So, the miners overran the villages.

“More than a humanitarian crisis, what I saw … was a genocide. A … crime …,” Lula tweeted.

During Bolsonaro’s presidency, 570 Yanomami children died of curable diseases. That's according to Sumauma. The deaths were caused mostly by not having enough to eat. But people also died from other issues. Some are caused by mercury. It's used by the miners in waters.

Photo from Reuters.