Indian Brazilian protesters on Tuesday defeated a court order and blocked for the second time in 24 hours a major highway for opening the case with federal police earlier in the day.
The people of Kayapó Mekrãgnotire first blocked a major highway near the town of Novo Progresso in the northern state of Para on Monday, demanding health care, medical supplies and food to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
They also demanded the end of deforestation and illegal activities in their areas, according to a statement obtained by CNN from the Kabu Institute, an NGO created to manage inland villages and inspect the region’s forests.
Later that evening, a federal judge ordered Protestants to clear the roads or receive a daily fine of 10,000 rubles ($ 1,800).
By Tuesday morning, the indigenous Protestants reopened the main road, but warned that if the government failed to hold talks on its demands, they would block it again.
Brazilian Representative Joenia Wapichana released an official letter to Brazil’s Vice President Hamilton Mourão on Tuesday, urging him to enter into a dialogue with the people of Kayapó Mekrãgnotire regarding their demands.
Why they chose the highway: Indian leaders claim that the nearby road brought the coronavirus to their villages, the Kabu Institute told CNN on Monday.
The first cases of coronavirus among the Kayapó Mekrãgnotire occurred as a result of their contact with urban populations and the presence of illegal miners in their reserves.
At least 21,000 indigenous people in Brazil have been infected with Covid-19 and more than 600 have died, according to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB).
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