Cacique Raoni, 90, spokesman for the natives of Brazil hospitalized for two days for a state of great weakness, was transferred Saturday by plane to a better equipped hospital to undergo a series of examinations. The people's leader Kayapo was transferred "with some urgency" from the small hospital in the town of Colider where he was admitted on Thursday, to a more modern establishment in that of Sinop (also in the center-west), because of " a worsening of his condition, "announced the first establishment.
"He presented today (...) an increase in his anemia and a deterioration of renal functions (...) probably because of a digestive hemorrhage," said in a bulletin the hospital Santa Inês de Colider where the indigenous chief defender of the Amazon rainforest was admitted on Thursday.
This Mato Grosso State hospital "does not have an intensive care unit, he was transferred with some urgency to another establishment" of the same state "in case his clinical condition worsens". The latter, the Dois Pinheiros hospital, said in the evening that the world famous chef at the labial plateau presented "signs of improvement", in particular a rise in his blood pressure, after first aid. Raoni could suffer from a gastric ulcer, a track that would explain the bleeding he complained of and which will be explored with exams, including an endoscopy, starting on Sunday, said the hospital, where he should stay "at minus three days. "
Defender of indigenous rights and lands
Raoni Metuktire, known worldwide for his tireless fight for the defense of indigenous rights and lands, had been flown from his village to Colider, suffering from "weakness, difficulty breathing, loss of appetite and diarrhea", said Santa Inês Hospital.
The establishment added that the cacique was in a depressed state since the death of his wife Bekwyjka on June 23, of a cerebrovascular accident. Bekwyjka was his partner and advisor for more than 60 years. Other sources, such as the Raoni Foundation or Gert-Peter Bruch, president of the French NGO Planète Amazone, confirmed that the cacique had been extremely affected by the disappearance of his wife.