Brazilian Indigenous Leader Chief Raoni Hospitalized with Digestive Hemorrhaging

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Raoni Institute announced through a note that Chief Raoni, hospitalized in Mato Grosso, was suffering from digestive bleeding.

“He began presenting symptoms of dehydration eight days ago and was transferred from his village in the Capoto-Jarina Indigenous Territory to a hospital in Colíder on Thursday, July 16th. Due to his age, his state of health inspires care, and so far the cause of his severe anemia has not yet been determined,” the organization said.

The country’s best-known indigenous leader, Chief Raoni, is hospitalized in Mato Grosso after his health condition worsened. Last month, the Caiapó leader lost his wife, Bekwyjkà Metuktire, and since then had been in a depressed condition. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, Raoni was admitted to a local hospital, but was transferred to a hospital with ICU facilities in Sinop, Mato Grosso, after his condition worsened.

According to the clinical report released on Saturday, July 18th, Raoni is awake, but he has difficulty eating and complains of weakness. The deterioration of his condition is due to the worsening of anemia and renal function.

“Raoni has been transferred to Sinop where he will undergo further tests. I’m very worried about my uncle. We will do everything to make him well,” said Raoni’s interpreter, his nephew Megaron Txucarramãe.

In September last year, Raoni was in Brasilia where he met with the Chamber president Rodrigo Maia to discuss the rights of indigenous peoples. One day before this visit, President Jair Bolsonaro had directly criticized the Chief. “Mr. Raoni’s monopoly is over,” he said, quoting YsaniKalapalo, an indigenous leader who traveled with Bolsonaro to the United States.

In June last year, in an interview with Estadão newspaper, Raoni harshly criticized the way the Bolsonaro government has been conducting indigenous policies and said his people are in danger of disappearing if nothing is done. “We want to dialogue with the government, show it that we indigenous people do not accept what Bolsonaro thinks of us, we do not accept the violation of indigenous rights and indigenous territories. This management is against the indigenous people,” he said.

The Chief tried to meet with Bolsonaro to bring the indigenous community’s plea to the President, but his request for a meeting was denied by the President. “The indigenous peoples are concerned. They believe that Bolsonaro can destroy our people. We want to talk, to show the government the pressure we have been suffering from loggers and prospectors. They need to respect our rights.”

Since the inception of the Bolsonaro government, the demarcations of indigenous lands in the country have been paralyzed. The aim is to open up the current areas for exploitation, which today is legally banned. An icon of the struggle of the indigenous Brazilians, Raoni gained international notoriety in the late 1980s.

In 1987, British musician Sting began a number of trips through the Amazon, where he met the Chief in 1989.

His friendship with the leader of the caiapós tribe led Sting to engage in the ecological cause and the struggle for the demarcation of indigenous lands in the Xingu. The partnership led to the creation of the Rainforest Foundation, an organization that works to protect the forest and its traditional peoples.

“To this day we are partners and friends,” said Raoni, mentioning his friendship with the former lead singer of The Police. “We should see each other soon,” he said at the time.

Source: UOL