In the most recent episode that highlights the risks for those who defend the Amazon, the respected indigenous woman Neidinha Suruí, her daughter and fellow activist Txai Suruí, the filmmaker Heydon Prowse and the artist Thiago Mundano were taken hostage for several hours, on Sunday, around of 50 men in the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau indigenous land.
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In a threatening tone, the men – who carried machetes and appeared to be concealing firearms – insisted that they should continue using the surrounding land, which violates its status as an Indigenous Land recognized by the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai), said Neidinha Suruí.
“They knew our names, mine and Txai’s. It was very clear that it was something to catch me and Txai,” she stated.
Briton Prowse, who is working on a project about Mundano and his environmental activism, was filming with his team and a group of indigenous people, Suruí told AFP.
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According to her, they were all detained for almost four hours by the men, who approached them in a remote region of the Amazon, with no cell phone signal.
“Everything suggested that everything had been planned long before,” pointed out the 63-year-old activist, who has already received death threats for her work in defense of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous peoples.
Suruí filmed part of the incident with his phone. The video shows a large group of men surrounding their own group. One of them warns that a “tragedy” could happen if his demands are not met.
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Neidinha and Txai Suruí, well-known indigenous rights activists in Brazil, co-produced the documentary “O Território” (2022), by National Geographic, which shows the struggle of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau to protect their lands against invasions by loggers, miners and farmers.
Mundano, who describes himself as an “artivist”, is known for his work in favor of the environment, especially when painting with ashes from burnt trees in the Amazon.
Prowse is an activist, journalist, comedian and director famous for the BBC's satirical program “The Revolution Will Be Televised” (2012), which was awarded a Bafta.
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Brazil is the deadliest country in the world for environmentalists and indigenous people, according to the group Global Witness, which recorded 342 murders of these activists in the last decade.
The victims of the ambush reported what happened to the Federal Police (PF), which did not immediately respond to AFP's questions.
For Suruí, the incident could have been worse if a foreign film crew had not been present. She recalled the international media attention surrounding the case of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous man Bruno Pereira, murdered in the Amazon in June 2022.
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“I think the only reason there was no physical violence was because I was with the English journalist,” he said. “We could all be dead.”
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