Why Brazil’s Yanomami are being decimated by disease, mining

By ELÉONORE HUGHES and EDMAR BARROS
Associated Press

BOA VISTA, Brazil (AP) — Severe malnutrition and disease, particularly malaria, are decimating the Yanomami population in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and on Jan. 20 the federal government declared a public health emergency. While many in Brazil were left wondering how the calamity could materialize seemingly overnight, it didn’t come as a surprise to those who are familiar with the Yanomami’s circumstances, who have issued warnings for several years. The AP explains how the Yanomami reached this tragic point.