The cacique Aritana Yawalapiti, one of Brazil's main indigenous chiefs, died of Covid-19 on Wednesday at the age of 70, his nephew Iano Yawalapiti told AFP.
Aritana Yawalapiti, who suffered from hypertension, was admitted to an intensive care unit and put on artificial respiration two weeks ago, in a hospital in Goiania, the capital of the state of Goias (center-west), in due to respiratory distress related to a severe form of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
A staunch defender of indigenous rights and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest, the cacique was an important official in the region of Xingu National Park, in Mato Grosso, where the emblematic chief Raoni Metuktire also hails.
Weaker immunity to coronavirus
The coronavirus, whose death toll will cross the 100,000 dead mark in Brazil in the coming days, has hit the natives hard, killing several hundred among them, due to weaker immunity and difficulty of Health care access.
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