Federal Police arrest five Tenharim Indians

Five Indians from the Tenharim people were arrested Thursday (Jan. 30) by federal police officers in the Tenharim-Marmelo reserve, about 150 kilometers from Humaitá, south of the Amazonas state. The Indians are charged with the disappearances of three people who were passing across the Tenharim reserve on December 16.

After a large-scale operation supported by the Army and the National Security Force, the Tenharim detainees were taken to a local Federal Police unit in Porto Velho, Rondônia.

Tension between whites and Indians has built up in the region following the death of chief Ivan Tenharim on December 3. Initially, suspicions revolved around a motorcycle accident. Three days later, however, Ivan Bocchini, regional coordinator of the National Foundation for Indigenous People (FUNAI) at the time, raised the possibility that he had been murdered.

Later that month, the disappearances of sales representative Luciano Ferreira Freire, teacher Pinheiro Stef, and energy utility employee Aldeney Ribeiro Salvador on December 25 gave rise to suspicions of involvement of the Indians. The incident angered residents of Humaitá, who torched 11 cars, the local FUNAI office, and several toll collection areas set up by Tenharim people along the Trans-Amazon Highway. They also blocked the Indians from leaving the reserve.

On January 13, a federal government committee was sent to Humaitá in an attempt to come up with solutions to settle the controversy and find out the whereabouts of the missing people.

Translated by Mayra Borges