Brazilian army and police have ramped up security in the northern town of Humaitá in the Amazon region after illegal gold miners set fire to the offices of government environmental watchdogs, officials said on Sunday. The buildings of Brazil's Environmental Protection Agency (Ibama) and the Chico Mendes Institute of Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio) in the northern Brazilian town of Humaitá were hit. Ibama acts as an environmental monitoring group to protect Brazil's natural resources while ICMBio is in charge of forest reserves. Gold miners have decimated parts of the forest and poisoned the rivers with mercury and other toxins while also involving human trafficking and prostitution, according to federal prosecutors.
The attacks came after a crackdown on illegal mining operations with a government taskforce burning about 30 boats worth about $20,000 each in a prohibited area near a forest reserve on the Madeira River early Friday morning. Illegal miners - or "garimpeiros" as they are known - and up to 5,000 protesters took to the streets after the operation. Aurelio Herraiz, a professor at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Amazonas State, who has worked on a project with garimpeiros in Humaitá for years, feared the conflict would get worse.
The attacks have raised concerns of further violence from illegal miners who often look for gold in protected areas or indigenous lands amid rising tensions over land ownership. ICMBio and Ibama explained, "Usually associated with several other crimes such as smuggling and tax evasion, illegal mining finances land grabbing and has contributed to increased violence in the countryside."
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