Eco-Business.com reports that indigenous leaders and human rights advocates are highlighting the rising violence against indigenous people and environmental activists in the shadow of the Olympic Games in Rio.
In June, Global Witness reported that Brazil is the most dangerous country in the world for environmental activists, with the killing of 50 people involved in struggles to defend their lands, rivers, and forests from hydroelectric dams, logging, cattle ranching, and other industries in 2015 alone.
Catholic Church-affiliated Indigenist Missionary Council (CIMI) reports that 33 indigenous Brazilians have been killed so far in 2016.
From the Eco-Business.com report:
The grim reality of violence against indigenous people and environmental activists in various regions of Brazil stands in contrast to the multicultural image being presented to the world by the Olympic host country in the lead up to tomorrow’s opening ceremony, the activists maintained.
“The findings released by CIMI and Global Witness show that the image Brazil is presenting to the world masks the violent reality of our daily lives as indigenous peoples,” Sonia Guajajara, the national coordinator of Brazil’s Association of Indigenous Peoples (APIB), said in a statement.