Kurimá In the 1970's the military government treated the Amazon as if it was an "empty place" that should be "civilized" and "integrated" to the rest of the country. They built a highway system and farmers claimed plots of land. They cut down the trees, depleted the soil and dried out the water from the air and from the rivers. In the first half of the 21st century the ecosystems began to collapse.
Pedro This area in Brazil, around the Indigenous Xingu Reservation, became know as the "Death Hug". The cities built to support the farms, like Canarãna, started to fail.
Kurimá We saw that animals were losing their home and the rivers were sad. But we spoke different languages and lived in a different system. The white farmers didn’t hear us.
In the early 2000’s deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon accelerated to an average of 139 hectares per hour. 99% of it was illegal. Font: Elida Oliveira in G1, May 2020
Copyright National Institute of Space Research (INPE). “PRODES deforestation." Accessed through Global Forest Watch on 05/15/2021. www.globalforestwatch.org