Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

The coronavirus that rages in Brazil does not spare the natives of Amazonia, a pandemic of which their emblematic spokesman, the cacique Raoni, accused president Jair Bolsonaro of wanting to "profit" to eliminate his people.

"Bolsonaro wants to take advantage of this disease and he says that the native must die, that we must be done with him", accused Raoni Metuktire, of the Kayapo people, in an interview with AFP carried out on video from his village of 'Amazon.

A tireless defender of the rights of his people, the nonagenarian does not mince his words against this far-right president whose departure he has already called for and who made contemptuous remarks for the natives.

While the coronavirus has killed more than 34,000 people across Brazil, "President Bolsonaro does not think of us natives," he accuses.

"Here in Brazil, the authorities never think of transporting a native to treat him in a hospital in Brasilia, so that he can return, once cured, to his village", continues the old chief with the traditional headdress of yellow feathers and the labret which distends her lip.

"We don't know what they think (in Brasilia) about improving healthcare for indigenous peoples, so far I haven't heard of it," he insists.

- "I keep them in the village" -

"This pandemic is very dangerous. It has started to kill people from my people in every region." The old chief confined himself to the forest, in his village of Metuktire, in the state of Mato Grosso.

"I'm not moving from my village, I'm waiting for the pandemic to end," says Raoni, who has traveled the world to meet heads of state. "Afterwards, I will go to France, to see my friends".

"I worry a lot about my people and I don't let anyone go out to go to the cities, I keep them all in the village," he explains in his Kayapo language.

"But some have continued to go to town, like my fellows from the village of Kateté, and they have reported the disease in their villages. Same with my fellows from Gorotire", also in Para State, where "five died ", laments the cacique.

The French NGO Planète Amazon has raised two thirds of a 60,000 euros appeal for funds to secure the self-containment of indigenous communities.

But for three weeks, 10 tonnes of basic food and hygiene products for Kayapos have been blocked by suppliers, according to Amazon Planet, whose president Gert-Peter Bruch denounces "a criminal increase in bureaucracy". Because for lack of products, the natives must go to the cities.

Similarly, the supply of medicines by NGOs to the natives was complicated by a circular from Brasilia on May 20.

According to the APIB (Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil), at least 211 indigenous people have died from the coronavirus, out of 2,178 cases of contamination.

- Land demarcation -

The "unexpected illness" prevented Raoni from going to Brasilia to defend another essential cause of the natives: the demarcation of their lands.

The cacique wanted to meet the head of Funai, the National Indian Foundation, a public body responsible for indigenous affairs.

A recent Funai ordinance authorizes with immediate effect the dismantling of 237 indigenous lands which have not yet been demarcated by presidential decree.

These are lands in the area of ​​Portugal that can be occupied and dismembered.

"No, that is not possible!" Protests Raoni. "Our land cannot be occupied by invaders", farmers, loggers and illegal gold panners.

"And he, as president," he continues about Jair Bolsonaro, "must delimit these lands which are not yet so that my people live and feel good there."

"The Funai belongs to the Indians. It cannot speak against us (...) It must do its work and have the indigenous lands which are not yet demarcated."

© 2020 AFP