Brazil sends help after Indigenous report illegal miners

By DÉBORA ÁLVARES
Associated Press

BRASILIA, BRAZIL (AP) — Brazilian authorities say they are sending reinforcements to protect an Indigenous group’s territory in the Amazon that was recently invaded by illegal miners. The Ministry of Justice said Friday that the operation to protect the Xipaya Indigenous Land in northern Brazil involves bolstering teams from the Federal Police, a joint military-civilian police unit, the government’s Indigenous affairs body and environmental inspection agencies. Members of the Xipaya group denounced the invasion Thursday night on social networks. Chief Juma Xipaya said in a video that a large raft with machinery usable for gold mining had come down the Iriri River toward their territory. About 200 Indigenous people live in the Xipaya reserve, which covers 179,000 hectares (690 square miles).