What is known about the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips and Amazonian expert Bruno Pereira

The search for the British journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenous expert Bruno Pereiradisappeared in a remote region of the Brazilian Amazon, enters its tenth day on Tuesday amid questions and persistent international pressure to solve the case.

The missing

Philips57, is a contributor to the British newspaper Guardian and works in Brazil for 15 years.

LOOK: Crime and impunity in the Yavarí Valley, the place where a journalist and his companion disappeared

Passionate about the Amazon, about which he wrote dozens of reports, the journalist had been in the region for several days working on a book on environmental conservation and local development, with the support of the American Alicia Patterson Foundation.

Pereira41 years old, a expert from the Brazilian government agency for indigenous affairs (Funai) and recognized defender of the rights of these communities, accompanied him as a guide, on his second trip to the region since 2018.

LOOK: Personal belongings of missing British reporter and expert found in Brazil

He was regional coordinator of the Atalaia do Norte Funaimunicipality where he was going with Philips when they disappeared. His work in defense of indigenous peoples earned him frequent threats from criminal groups operating in the area.

Both are married and Pereira is the father of three children.

The circumstances

Phillips and Pereira They were last seen on Sunday morning, June 5, in the Sao Gabriel community, not far from their destination, Atalaia do Norte, where they were sailing down the Itaquaí River.

They were traveling in a new boat, with enough fuel to reach their destination. Their journey had begun days ago at Lake Jaburu, where they had interviewed residents.

A “complex” region

The journalist and the expert disappeared in the Yavari Valleya dense area of ​​Amazon jungle where 26 indigenous peoples live, many of them isolated.

The authorities warned of the “complexity” of the environment due to the presence of illegal miners, loggers and fishermen who invade protected lands to exploit their resources.

In addition, the drug trafficking has had a growing presence in recent years, using the region as a major corridor for the transport of drugs produced in the Peru Y Colombiacountries that share a border with Brazil.

A detainee and some findings

The searches are conducted by indigenous groups and by the security forces.

These last On Sunday they found personal belongings of both: a backpack, clothes, shoes and Pereira’s health card. According to firefighters, the objects were found submerged near the house of Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, only detainee so far related to the case.

This 41-year-old fisherman was seen by witnesses in a boat following the boat in which they were traveling at high speed Phillips and Pereirabefore disappearing.

The police found a trace of blood in a detainee’s boatwho denies involvement.

Blood and an “apparently human” material found in the search area are being analyzed. Results are expected this week.

President Jair Bolsonaro stated on Monday that “human viscera were found floating in the river”, something that “leads to believe that they did something evil” with Phillips and Pereira. It is unknown if the president was referring to the material reported by the police.

The indigenous people involved in the searches denied that they were human organs.

At the request of the police, “we cannot report what type of human material was found”, but “they are not viscera, there was never any viscera”, assured Eliesio Marubo, legal representative of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javarí Valley (Univaja).

criticism and confusion

The search for the two disappeared continues, as well as for their boat.

A great deal of confusion arose on Monday after relatives of the reporter were informed by a Brazilian diplomat in London of the discovery of two bodies awaiting identification.

The Federal Police, official spokesperson for the investigations, denied this information.. Indigenous people participating in the search also denied the discovery of two bodies.

The federal government has received criticism from activists, international organizations and the Brazilian justice system for the alleged slowness and lack of coordination in the search efforts.

Bolsonaro had initially said that Philips Y Pereira They had embarked on an “adventure not recommended” for circulating without an escort through a dangerous area, arousing the anger of civil organizations that came out in defense of the work of both in favor of the preservation of the Amazon.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.