Indigenous leaders in Brazil’s western Amazon say organised crime groups are effectively taking communities hostage along the Brazil-Peru border. They report that armed men enter villages, intimidate residents, and search for specific people, while criminal networks expand influence across the region.
According to leaders, a delegation is being sent to Brasília after an incident earlier this month in Apiwtxa, a village in the Kampa do Rio Amônia Indigenous Territory. Masked men armed with semi-automatic weapons reportedly entered homes, threatening and pressuring residents and looking for targets.
Indigenous spokespeople also allege that criminal groups are destroying parts of the Amazon Forest, constructing roads, and trafficking drugs as they move through Indigenous territories. They describe these actions as part of a broader effort to control land and populations, leaving communities with limited protection.
The reports describe the situation as escalating violence and criminal activity affecting Indigenous peoples in remote border areas, prompting calls for government attention and action.
