The disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips and local writer Bruno Pereira has weighed heavily on President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) entourage, who arrived in Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas this Thursday, and Justice Secretary Anderson Torres said that a will meet with his representative. The British government will explain what has been done about it.
Torres, who is part of the presidential delegation on the tour, will meet with Vick Ford, Department of Justice, Deputy Secretary for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean at the British Foreign and Development Office in the US city. he said, confirming the information originally published by Reuters.
“The meeting will update the British authority on the measures and actions of the Brazilian government regarding the disappearance of native Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in the Amazon,” the ministry said.
Witnesses said they last saw the freelance reporter writing for the Guardian, Washington Post and other publications on Sunday and with Pereira, who previously served as coordinator at the National Indian Foundation (Funai). They were on a reporting trip to Vale do Javari, a remote region of the Amazon rainforest home to the world’s largest number of uncontacted indigenous people, as well as cocaine trafficking gangs and illegal hunters and fishermen.
A source from the Brazilian delegation in Los Angeles said, “I had great concern, mainly from the Ministers of Environment, Justice and Itamaraty. Anything could happen in that area and we don’t have any information yet.” is following the issue closely.
The Brazilian government was working on the possibility of the case being brought up by US President Joe Biden during a bilateral meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro this Thursday. Increasing demand from the US government in recent days has led Biden to pressure the Brazilian government to provide information.
Brazil’s response will be to show what the government has done to find Phillips and Araújo, although there is no definitive information yet, the source told Reuters. The source stated that more than 1,000 soldiers from the Armed Forces and Federal Police agents are currently traveling in the area.
“They’re networking everywhere to find something,” he said.
Investigators investigating the disappearance focused on individuals involved in illegal fishing and illegal hunting on indigenous lands in the region, the three police officers told Reuters. “So far, the main criminal hypothesis is that those involved (and the motivation) were related to illegal fishing and hunting activities on Indigenous lands,” one federal police officer said.
Melanie Hopkins, the British Ambassador to Brazil, said on her Twitter account that the British government was “deeply concerned” that the journalist and local had not yet been found.
“The British Government is providing consular support to Mr Phillips’ family and is in close contact with the highest level officials in Brazil to follow up the search and rescue efforts. We understand the remote location of the area poses significant logistical challenges and ask the Brazilian government to do everything possible to support the investigation of the case. We’ve already asked for it. We appreciate the help so far.”
source: Noticias
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