Despite the time that has elapsed since their disappearance, the federal police and the army still have hope of finding alive the journalist Dom Phillips, 57, a regular contributor to the daily The Guardian, and Bruno Pereira, 41, a recognized expert on indigenous peoples, brought disappeared in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.

"For now, we are talking about a disappearance," said Wednesday at a press conference Eduardo Alexandre Fontes, head of the federal police of the state of Amazonas (northeast).

But "we are not ruling out any leads," he said.

According to Mr. Fontes, the area where the two men were reported missing, the Javari Valley in the far west of the state of Amazonas, is "quite dangerous, with high criminality: consequent cross-border drug trafficking due to proximity to Peru and Colombia, but also illegal mining, logging and fishing".

The two men left Atalaia do Norte, in the state of Amazonas, to interview residents around a Funai base - a government body responsible for indigenous peoples - and reached Lake Jaburu on Friday evening.

They headed back on Sunday morning but did not return as planned to Atalaia do Norte, after a stop in the community of Sao Rafael, where Bruno Pereira had scheduled a meeting with the local chief.

Suspect arrested

Six people have been questioned and a man has been detained as a "suspect" by police who are trying to determine if he has a connection to the disappearance.

Witnesses said they saw him speed past in a boat in the same direction as Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira when they were last seen.

Police said he was arrested in possession of illegal caliber ammunition and drugs.

"We are investigating to find out if there is a link between him and what happened but, for the moment, we do not know anything about it," said Wednesday Carlos Mansur, secretary of security. Amazonas in charge of the local police.

According to him, the police seized certain "materials" in search of "traces of blood" but for the moment it is only about "suspicions".

The Javari Valley, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, where the journalist Dom Phillips disappeared, and Bruno Pereira, recognized specialist in indigenous peoples EVARISTO SA AFP / Archives

“We are concentrating on the search with the hope of finding them alive, whether they had a problem with the boat, whether they entered an arm of the river or are somewhere in the jungle”, he added.

The operation in this hard-to-reach area mobilizes some 250 police, military and rescue workers, as well as two planes, drones, sixteen boats and various vehicles.

Threat

Pressure has increased on the government of President Jair Bolsonaro accused of delays in starting research, while in such cases the first 48 hours are often considered crucial.

This disappearance triggered the mobilization of personalities and groups defending the environment and human rights.

"The fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the protection of indigenous groups belongs to all of us," legendary Brazilian footballer Pelé posted on Instagram, accompanied by a video posted Tuesday of Dom Phillips' distraught wife choking back tears. as she pleaded with the Brazilian authorities to help her.

The Brazilian president on Tuesday described the expedition of the two men as "an unsavory adventure".

"It may be an accident, they may have been executed," he said.

The NGO Greenpeace said in a statement that the disappearance of the two men was the consequence of the "environmental setback that the Bolsonaro government has vigorously encouraged in protected areas and against environmental activists".

The far-right president is accused of encouraging invasions of indigenous lands for the development of agribusiness and mining.

"Indigenous peoples in Brazil have never been attacked as much as in the past three years," Greenpeace said, citing a report of 20 murders of environmental activists in 2020.

© 2022 AFP