New airstrip should increase aid to Yanomami

Brazil’s Minister of Defense José Múcio said Thursday (Feb. 9) that the airstrip located in the region of Surucucu, in the northern state of Roraima, should be ready in 15 days. It will allow access to larger aircraft, which should expand services provided to the Yanomami community.

“The Surucucu airstrip should be ready in the next two weeks and it will make it easier not only to carry the indigenous people who are well, but also to airlift whoever needs assistance over to [state capital] Boa Vista. It should also help carry basic food baskets,” the minister told Agência Brasil after visiting the region.

Among the challenges facing the government today is joining efforts with multiple agencies to prevent illegal mining from returning after the operation, the minister said.

“There have been several similar operations without a proper follow-up. It can be more difficult because we have to bring together the state government, politicians, and society to see how we can deal with it. [But first we have to be] sure that the illegal mining won’t ever come back,” he noted.

According to the Brazilian Air Force, 4,090 food baskets and over 78 tons of groceries and medicines have been shipped. In addition, after the field hospital was set up, consultations have exceeded a thousand for clinical medicine, pediatrics, pathology, orthopedics, gynecology, dentistry, general surgery, and cardiology. A total of 33 care providers work at the hospital.