Deaths of 6 Amazon Indians prompt probe in Venezuela: Prosecutors suspect 2 children slain

By Christopher Toothaker, AP
Thursday, April 15, 2010

Venezuelan prosecutors probe Amazon Indian deaths

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan authorities are investigating the deaths of six Yanomami Indians, including two children, in a remote community in the Amazon.

Prosecutors believe that four adults — a man and three women — died after drinking water contaminated by illegal miners, and that the two children were apparently killed, the Attorney General’s Office said Thursday.

An estimated 28,000 or more Yanomami live in communities on both sides of the Venezuela-Brazil border, holding on to their native language and many traditions despite increasing encroachment by outsiders and modern development.

Gold miners use mercury to separate gold from rocks and often dump leftover mercury into the rivers in Amazonas state, deep in the forests of southern Venezuela.

Prosecutors who interviewed Yanomami in the community through an interpreter believe the two children were killed by unidentified people who sprayed them with a toxic substance, according to a statement released by the prosecutor’s office.

Investigators did not provide additional details and have not determined exactly how long ago the children were attacked or when the adults died.

Amazonas state’s top prosecutor, Joselyn Mata, declined to provide additional details when reached by phone, saying prosecutors first need to advance in their investigation.

Fiona Watson, a research and field director for London-based Survival International, which supports the rights of tribal peoples internationally, said she had no knowledge of the recent deaths. But Watson said the impact of gold miners on the Yanomami “is becoming very serious.”

Increasing numbers of “Brazilian miners are working in the border area and possibly in Venezuela, too,” adding to the number of outsiders coming into contact with the Yanomami, Watson said. Survival International plans to urge Venezuelan authorities to take measures to prevent miners from entering the territories of indigenous communities, she said.

The Yanomami are known for their traditional face paint and wooden facial piercing.

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