The images of malnourished, sick or dead Yanomami children that spread across the world’s media in early 2023 are some of the most striking ‘monuments’ to Jair Bolanaro’s time as Brazil’s president.
Bolsonaro’s government did little to stop illegal miners bringing malaria, contamination by mercury – used to clean gold – and violence to the country’s largest Indigenous territory, located in the state of Roraima. In fact, Bolsonaro demobilized law enforcement and made speeches that encouraged mining companies.
