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It happened because President Jair Bolsonaro promised a pivot in a permissive approach to deforestation.
The Brazilian government says police burned 131 boats used by illegal gold miners in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
The operation marked a change of direction for the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, which has had one increasing deforestation after the initial weakening of environmental protections and after a more permissive view of gold miners taking advantage of the region’s natural resources.
In a Twitter post on Monday, Justice Minister Anderson Torres said the attack was “quick and effective.” Federal police were assisted by Brazilian naval agents and IBAMA environmental enforcement agencies, officials said.
Most of the fires were in eastern Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, in a dense forest region.
According to the Associated Press news agency, smoke started flowing over the Madeira River on Saturday, where images taken over the past week gathered hundreds of boats while miners searched for gold.
Miners have historically been known for polluting the rivers of the Amazon and opening roads to woodcutters and ranchers, which bring destruction to untouched areas.
Local media said they had jailed three people and seized an unspecified amount of gold in the operation.
‘Only the clothes they wore’
Meanwhile, many citizens complained that the attack left them trapped in the jungle.
Luiz Henrique Ribeiro said police burned his boat on Saturday.
He said officers did not allow him to take his belongings out of the vessel before setting it on fire. Many miners live on their own boats, often with satellite TV, hammocks and pets.
“Federal police came by boat and told everyone to get out – they used pepper spray and told us to go back. They left only the clothes they were all wearing,” said 26-year-old AP Ribeiro, who denied doing illegal mining in the river.
An Amazon state prosecutor said in a statement that authorities must coordinate a plan within 30 days to end the presence of mining vessels in Madeira.
Simao Peixoto, an ally of the town’s mayor and miners on the banks of the Borba River, said he would meet with federal authorities and lawmakers to discuss the issue.
“You’re a worker, you don’t deserve to live what you lived there. Thrown in the mud like beasts, ”Peixoto said.
From August 2020 to July 2021, the Brazilian Amazon lost 13,235 square kilometers (5,110 square miles) of forest. 22 percent jump the same period as the previous year and the largest annual loss of deforestation since 2006.
In early November, Bolsonaro attended the United Nations COP26 climate summit in Scotland. a range of new climate commitments and policies to combat deforestation.
However, rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, immediately rejected the change of tone because it lacked an immediate operational plan.
Bolsonaro has also been criticized for not stating how his government wants to meet its 2028 commitment to end illegal deforestation in the country.
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