A top Brazilian Amazon expert Rieli Francisco,56, murdered on Wednesday in north-western Brazil where he was struck in his chest while on a mission to defend an isolated indigenous group from aggressive encounters from outside.
He was there as a part of his job to keep an eye on the government indigenous agency, Funia.
A police witness explained he ran 50m helplessly and died in a miserable state while managing to remove the arrow from his chest.
The tribe he was observing is known as the Cautoria river isolated group. Although the tribe is believed to be a very peaceful one unfortunately Reili had to face five armed equipped men and this was probably because all such groups living in the amazon are not welcoming to any outsider
Amazon is one of the world’s largest rainforest comprising more than 100 indigenous groups.
One of the major NGO of Brazil known as Kaninde ethos environmental defense association claims that these indigenous groups cannot discriminate between any outsider thus they are most likely to treat everyone the same
Indigenous people are under greater threat from miners, farmers, loggers. These incidents have become more frequent since the time Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro took the position of presidency.
Many believe that the president shall be held responsible for all such casualties as he has claimed that his government will pour their efforts towards developing amazon and reducing the size of indigenous reservations by opening up safe areas for farming and mining.
Rieli, an Amazon expert, was dedicated to his cause of protecting indigenous isolated indigenous groups for more than 30 years. He was committed to his services and in those efforts, he laid his life.
The legacy of Amazon experts for the protection of these groups shall always be remembered. This is indeed an eye-opening incident for us.
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