A British journalist and an expert on indigenous issues has disappeared in a remote part of Brazil’s Amazon region, a local indigenous association said Monday. The area is marked by violent conflicts between fishermen, poachers and government agents.
The House of Phillips, a regular contributor to the Guardian, and Bruno Araujo Pereira were last seen at 7 a.m. local time Sunday in the Sao Rafael community, according to the Univaja Indigenous Association in Vale do Javari, for which Pereira was advisor.
They returned by boat from Vale do Javari and traveled to the town of Atalaia do Norte, about an hour away, but never showed up.
Pereira, who is currently on leave from his position with Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Agency, is one of the most experienced employees working in the Vale do Havari area. He oversaw the agency’s regional office and the coordination of isolated indigenous groups before taking leave. He receives a steady stream of threats from illegal fishermen and poachers and usually carries weapons.
Uniwaja said the couple was threatened during their current reporting trip.
They disappeared as they were returning from a two-day trip to the Lake Jaburu area, where Phillips was interviewing locals, according to Univaja. Only the two men were on the boat, according to the association.
A journalist is writing a book on tropical forest conservation
Phillips is writing a book on the conservation of the Amazon with the support of the Alicia Patterson Foundation, which awarded him a one-year environmental scholarship that continued in January.
The Ithaca River flows through the Vale region to Havari in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, on the border with Peru. This is the area where the couple disappeared. (Fabiano Maisonnave / Associated Press)
The place where they disappeared is the main access road to and from Valais to Havari, where several thousand indigenous people live in dozens of villages. People in the area say they are unlikely to get lost in the sector.
“He is a cautious journalist with an impressive knowledge of the complexity of Brazil’s environmental crisis,” said Margaret Engel, executive director of the Alicia Patterson Foundation, in an email. “And he’s a handsome writer and a wonderful man. The best of our business.”
Brazil’s federal prosecutors said in a statement that they had launched an investigation and mobilized the federal police, the Amazonas civilian police, the National Guard and the Navy. The latter will coordinate the search effort, according to the statement. In a separate statement, the navy said it was sending a search and rescue team.
The footprint and manpower of the army are much larger than those of the navy in the region. He did not respond to an email from the Associated Press asking for comment on Monday afternoon’s progress.
The Guardian quoted a spokesman as saying he was “very concerned and urgently seeking information on Mr Phillips’ whereabouts and condition. We are in contact with the British Embassy in Brazil and local and national authorities to try to establish the facts.” As soon as possible “
Phillips, who currently lives in El Salvador, Bahia, also contributed to the Washington Post and the New York Times.
“I hope they are found soon to be well and safe,” former Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on Twitter, recalling that Phillips interviewed him in 2017.
Unstable region
The Vale do Havari region has experienced repeated skirmishes between hunters, fishermen and official security agents who have a permanent base in the area, known for the world’s largest indigenous population. It is also a major route for cocaine produced on the Peruvian side of the border, then smuggled into Brazil to supply local cities or ship to Europe.
In September 2019, an employee of the Indigenous Peoples Agency was shot dead in Tabatinga, the largest city in the region. The crime has never been solved.
“It is crucial that the Brazilian authorities allocate all available and necessary resources for the immediate conduct of the search to ensure the safety of the two men as soon as possible,” said Maria Laura Canino, director of Human Rights Watch in Brazil. on Monday.
Journalists working for the Amazon regional media have been killed in recent years, although there have been no such cases among national or foreign journalists. However, there are several reports of threats and the press has limited access to several areas dominated by criminal activity, including illegal mining, land grabbing and drug trafficking.
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