FAB helicopters transported the armed troops to strategic locations on the border strip within the TIY
Op Ágata Frt N, by Lieutenants Zóia (MB)/Renata (EB)
In the context of Operation Agate Operation Northern Border, the Armed Forces began, on Wednesday morning (14), the mobilization of military personnel from the Brazilian Navy (MB) and the Brazilian Army (EB), using aircraft from the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), to carry out preventive and repressive actions to combat illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory (TIY).
The FAB helicopters transported the armed troops to strategic locations on the border strip inside the TIY. One of the objectives is to intensify the presence of the State, helping agents of the Federal Police (PF) and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Resources (IBAMA) in the destruction of camps that could still be used as base if of support to illegal mining in the country’s largest indigenous reserve.
Army General Costa Neves, Commander of Operation Ágata Fronteira Norte, spoke about the new phase that has begun: “We have significantly increased the number of troops we have here, so that we have combat power and the capacity to be present in the Indigenous Territory, guaranteeing stability in the region and combating crimes and environmental crimes.
The Agate Operations
The first Ágata Operation was a joint action between the Brazilian Armed Forces and the security and inspection agencies to intensify the fight against cross-border crimes in the regions bordering Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia in 2011. Since then, Operation Ágata has become periodic, with subsequent operations that have expanded the scope and breadth of actions, involving more resources and partners, including security and inspection agencies from Brazil and other South American countries.
Since its first edition, Operation Ágata has played an important role in strengthening security on Brazil’s borders and in the fight against transnational organized crime. Currently, Operation Ágata Fronteira Norte has as one of its main objectives to stabilize the border strip in TIY in order to allow the bodies and agencies to have freedom to carry out their actions.
Transition
In addition to its coercive character, Operation Ágata Fronteira Norte will continue the humanitarian actions, started in Operation Yanomami, to tackle the public health crisis that has affected the indigenous population in Roraima. Together, the two operations have distributed more than 500 tons of food supplies, corresponding to about 23,200 food baskets, and have provided more than 2,100 medical services through the FAB’s Hospital de Campanha (HCAMP) and aeromedical evacuation actions.
Photos: Operation Agate Northern Border *** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***