The objective was to deliver food baskets to the Kululu village, together with agents of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI)
Agência Força Aérea, Tenente Wanessa Liz
The Amazon Joint Operational Command (Cmdo Op Cj Amz) sent a multidisciplinary team to the Kululu village, in the region of Auaris and located in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, 445 kilometers from Boa Vista, capital of Roraima (RR). The goal was to carry out, along with agents of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), the delivery of food baskets already distributed by the aircrafts of the Armed Forces that operate in Operation Yanomami.
During the meeting, in addition to humanitarian assistance, parallel activities took place in order to enhance the aid to the indigenous people, such as meetings with local leaders, contact with the Special Indigenous Health Secretariat (Sesai) and medical care to the community.
The humanitarian aid and the meeting with leaders are crucial to guarantee the survival of the indigenous people, preserve their culture and identity, and protect the richness and biodiversity of the Yanomami land.
The personal contact with Sesai agents in the village was productive, as the understanding was reciprocal, thinking of the indigenous wellbeing, and enabling efforts for social coexistence, becoming a link between operational and tactical level. The on-site medical care further strengthens the relationships of trust and friendship between the Armed Forces soldiers and the natives themselves.
Humanitarian aid in these situations has the ability to mitigate problems by providing resources and assistance to protect the health of the Yanomami, and provide clean water and nutritious food.
Cmdo Op Cj Amz supports transporting Indians back to Yanomami Land
About 40 indigenous people, including children and adults, affected by the health crisis registered with the populations on Yanomami land boarded the FAB’s H-60L Black Hawk.
In response to a request from the Ministry of Health to provide support in transporting indigenous people who have been medically released from Surucucu, in Roraima (RR), to their village of residence, the Amazon Joint Operational Command (Cmdo Op Cj Amz) used its resources to fulfill the mission.
More than 40 indigenous people, including children and adults, affected by the health crisis among the Yanomami populations embarked in the helicopter H-60L Black Hawk, belonging to the Seventh Squadron of the Eighth Aviation Group (7/8th GAV) – Hárpia Squadron, of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). The rotary wing aircraft have been used intensively in Operation Yanomami Shield 2023, due to their flight characteristics for taking off and landing in places of difficult access, a reality of the Amazon region.
From the Surucucu Base Station, which houses the Brazilian Army’s Fourth Special Border Platoon (4th PEF), the indigenous people, already in stable health conditions, who presented with malnutrition, verminosis, malaria, diarrhea They were treated by professionals from the FAB’s Hospital de Campanha (HCAMP) and Casa de Saúde Indígena (Casai), in Boa Vista (RR), and boarded the aircraft, which then headed for the villages of Wathoú, Aracaça, Xitei/Tirei, Yaritobi, Minaú and Xereu.
The Commander of Cmdo Op Cj Amz, Air Major Brigadier Raimundo Nogueira Lopes Neto, stressed the importance of the mission, which was in support of the Ministry of Health, but especially for the situation of returning to the villages, with indigenous people in better health conditions. “This is a very gratifying mission, for returning the indigenous people to their villages. In addition, we remain focused on the mission, on two basic premises of Operation Yanomami, which are the humanitarian aid and the fight against illegal mining with specific actions to control the airspace and also support the Federal Police and IBAMA, government agencies responsible for the part of the Judicial and Administrative Police within this operation, “he explains.
Support from Cmdo Op Cj Amz to the health network
The representative of the Emergency Operations Center (COE) – Yanomami in Boa Vista, Hernane Santos, explains the importance of accomplishing the mission, with support from Cmdo Op Cj Amz in Operation Yanomami. “The involvement of all actors in the emergency actions is fundamental, because the intention is to guarantee the best quality of health care for indigenous people,” he concludes, explaining that the Ministry of Health and SESAI also have aircrafts hired for the removal of indigenous people.
Yanomami Operation
Published on January 20, 2023, Decree No. 11,384 established the National Coordination Committee for Confronting the Unassisted Health Care of Populations in Yanomami Territory. On January 30, 2023, Decree No. 11,405 was published, which provides for the measures to confront the Public Health Emergency of National Importance and to combat illegal mining in Yanomami territory to be adopted by federal administration agencies, with action from the Ministries of Defense, Health, Social Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger and Indigenous Peoples.
On February 3, 2023, through the GM-MD Ordinance No. 710, the Ministerial Directive was approved, which guides the support of the Armed Forces for actions to confront the Public Health Emergency of National Importance and to combat illegal mining in the Yanomami Territory. The document activated the Joint Operational Command Amazon (Cmdo Op Cj Amz) to act in the area of the state of Roraima and the portion of the state of Amazonas.
The action of the Armed Forces is composed of military personnel from the Brazilian Army (EB), the Brazilian Navy (MB), and the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), carrying out missions to launch and distribute food baskets; sending supplies to rebuild the runway at the Surucucu Airfield (RR); Aeromedical Evacuations (EVAM) to attend the Hospital de Campanha (HCAMP); control and supervision of air space with the creation of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ZIDA); supply of intelligence data; and logistical air transport for the teams from the Federal Police, Ibama, and other federal public administration agencies and entities that participate directly in neutralizing aircraft and equipment related to illegal mining.
The following aircraft are being used to meet these demands: the FAB’s A-29, E-99, R-99, C-98 Caravan, KC-390 Millennium, C-105 Amazonas, H-60 Black Hawk, and H-36 Caracal; the EB’s HM-2 and HM-4; and the MB’s UH-15 Super Cougar.
Photos: Cmdo Op Cj Amz – Video: Captain Craveiro / BABE and Sergeant Ronan / CECOMSAER
*** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***