Brazil's Indigenous Community Deprived Of Relief Amid COVID-19 Outbreak - Opposition Party

Brazil's indigenous peoples living in the Amazon region are effectively deprived of medical assistance and access to health care even though the coronavirus death rate is among the highest in the country, Gleisi Hoffmann, leader of Brazil's leading opposition force, the Workers' Party (PT), has told Sputnik, adding that the government has not been effective in assisting indigenous communities amid the outbreak

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2020) Brazil's indigenous peoples living in the Amazon region are effectively deprived of medical assistance and access to health care even though the coronavirus death rate is among the highest in the country, Gleisi Hoffmann, leader of Brazil's leading opposition force, the Workers' Party (PT), has told Sputnik, adding that the government has not been effective in assisting indigenous communities amid the outbreak.

On Thursday, Greenpeace International slammed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over failing to provide health care assistance to the indigenous people and leaving them "in a deadly situation." The leading environmental organization also criticized Bolsonaro for his consistent attempts to deprive the indigenous community of their lands and human rights.

"We are very concerned because the indigenous population is practically deprived of medical assistance. After the Cuban doctors were insulted by Brazil and namely by Bolsonaro, we no longer have doctors in the indigenous health communities and it worries us a lot. Consequently, the child mortality rate in these communities has increased," Hoffmann said.

The lawmaker also accused the president of trying to use the ongoing pandemic as an opportunity to strip the indigenous population of their lands, which are rich in natural resources.

"Bolsonaro is not concerned with people's lives and health, whether they are indigenous or not. But in the case of indigenous people, he has a greater prejudice. He really wants to take away their lands and lend them to business groups for exploitation. That is why Bolsonaro is reluctant to take effective action to combat the coronavirus in the Amazon region of Brazil. In the Amazon state, for example, we have the largest number of infected and highest death rate, especially in indigenous communities. So, Bolsonaro can use this situation to advance his project of granting wealthy indigenous lands for economic interests," Hoffmann added.

Earlier in April, a 15-year old boy from Brazil's indigenous group of Yanomami died from coronavirus-related complications, according to media reports. Brazil's nonprofit Socio-Environmental Institute has warned that the virus might have been transmitted to the Yanomami people by illegal miners who operate in the conservation areas.