Cenarium Magazine – Ed. 60 - June/2025

RORAIMA IN CÁRMEN LÚCIA'S HANDS

Appeal in the impeachment case of Governor Antonio Denarium, stalled in the TSE for ten months, awaits an order from the court’s president to return to trial

www.revistacenarium.com.br/en/ | June 2025

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Adrisa de Góes

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Editorial

When justice is delayed, injustice rules

At the end of the 19th century, Rui Barbosa warned: “Delayed justice is not justice; it is nothing but qualified and manifest injustice.” The warning, issued in another era, fits like a glove to the reality of Roraima under the government of Antonio Denarium. We are faced with a governor who has already been impeached four times, the author of an appeal whose trial has been suspended for ten months at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), awaiting a decision from the president of the Court, Justice Cármen Lúcia.

The slowness in judging a case with such significant electoral and social implications puts at risk what Rui himself called the “fundamental guarantee of democratic order.” The Denarium case is not merely an episode of accusations. It has become a portrait of a state adrift, weighed down by investigations, scandals, and rights violations, especially against Indigenous peoples and all users of the SUS in Roraima. A governor who has already been accused of using social programs and public funds [such as the R$70 million distributed to political allies in an election year] should not remain in power while endlessly appealing to the courts.

By keeping the case shelved, the TSE fuels distrust. Ruy Barbosa himself said that the judge’s “moral firmness” was more important than any legal technicality. In this sense, the Court’s hesitation not only weakens its authority but exposes Roraima’s democracy to the mockery of those who manipulate it with populist methods and questionable practices.

There is a real Brazil that Rui already recognized, the one where justice does not reach the most vulnerable. In Roraima, we see it in every makeshift classroom in Indigenous communities, where children are deprived of the basics: a roof, books, teachers. We see it in the chaos of public health, in suspicious contracts, in Federal Police operations, in the governor’s statements comparing Indigenous people to “animals.” How can we expect justice to reach those who need it most if it does not even judge those at the top?

When Rui Barbosa wrote that “the worst dictatorship is that of the judiciary,” he did not do so out of contempt for the judiciary, but as a cry against the silence that, when it comes from the courts, silences more than any censorship. It is now in the hands of Justice Cármen Lúcia to decide whether the TSE’s silence will be complicit in omission or if it will have the courage to put an end to a delay that has already turned into mockery.

To judge is no longer a choice, it is a moral duty to the Constitution, to the electorate, and to the memory of the jurist who taught Brazil that justice is not about waiting, but about standing up with courage in the face of the injustice that silences the people of Roraima.

Paula Litaiff General Director

An answer for Roraima

Roraima has been experiencing a sui generis situation. It is a state governed by a governor who has already been removed from office four times and remains in power because legislation allows him to stay while awaiting the judgment of appeals. The governor in question is Antonio Denarium (PP), who has been the target of rulings by the Regional Electoral Court of Roraima (TRE-RR) for abuse of political and economic power, using government funds and resources to secure his re-election, which he achieved in 2022. The fate of Denarium, and of Roraima, thus depends on the decisions regarding these appeals, which, whether upheld or denied, must provide the state with an answer and some degree of stability. The delay in ruling on these appeals generates legal, political, and administrative insecurity, institutional instability, and may lead the state’s population to lose trust in the Electoral Court.

Denarium’s administration has been marked by scandals of mismanagement, investigations of fund misuse, corruption allegations, arrests of government officials and family members, incompetence in handling Indigenous affairs, and precarious public services. This highly unfavorable scenario led to his inclusion among the worst governors in the country, according to the Atlas Ranking Governadores survey from August 2024. Roraima also stands out negatively with the municipality of Uiramutã being ranked as the worst in the country in quality of life, according to the 2025 Social Progress Index (IPS) from the Institute of Man and the Environment of the Amazon (Imazon). This top spot in the negative ranking is yet another reflection of Denarium’s administration, which, despite the annulments, could still complete his term.

In one of the proceedings that led to Denarium’s annulment, an appeal has been stalled in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) for ten months. The appeal reached the stage of being judged in a session that was suspended, returned to the docket in the following session, which was canceled, and by the time this edition closed, it had not returned to deliberation, with its inclusion depending on a decision by the Court's presidency. The situation places the future of Roraima’s government in the hands of Justice Cármen Lúcia, the president of the Court.

The Electoral Court’s delay in delivering a definitive answer to the people of Roraima, and Denarium’s trajectory as governor, are the themes of the cover story of our 60th edition. As the setting of complex challenges, the state is in dire need of stability in its governance, tranquility that hinges on a decision from the TSE.

Márcia Guimarães Content Manager

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Credit: Ricardo Oliveira Cenarium

‘Society will foot the Devastation Bill’

Climate Observatory spokesperson and other environmentalists warn of impacts from weakened environmental licensing

Marcela Leiros – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – The approval of the new Environmental Licensing Bill (PL) by the Senate was strongly criticized by environmentalists, public policy experts, and civil society organizations, such as the Climate Observatory. Speaking to CENARIUM, the deputy director of the Democracy and Sustainability Institute (IDS) of the institution, Marcos Woortmann, was categorical in stating that society will foot the bill for

the ecological imbalance caused by the deregulation. Nicknamed the “Devastation Bill” by environmentalists, the proposal was approved on May 21 of this year by the Senate with 54 votes and now awaits review by the Chamber of Deputies.

According to Woortmann, the weakening of environmental regulations creates an environment conducive to corruption and the legalization of deforestation, while shifting the social and environmental costs of an unsustainable development model to the population. The bill is referred to as the “Devastation Bill” and the “mother of all boiadas.”

“You’re inviting a massive corruption process to happen, where entrepreneurs think they will benefit, but they are the ones who will pay the bill. But they won’t pay the bill alone, they’ll pay for the corrup-

tion, and society will pay for the ecological imbalance that’s already happening,” said the Climate Observatory spokesperson to the report.

APPROVAL

On May 21 of this year, the Senate approved Bill 2.159/2021, also known as the “Devastation Bill,” criticized for weakening environmental licensing rules while reducing corporate accountability for the social and environmental impacts of their activities.

Before the Senate's approval, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) issued a public note expressing concern over the proposal, warning that it undermines the environmental licensing process and renders the State’s control over environmentally impactful enterprises ineffective, as

Credit: Vinicius Loures | Chamber of Deputies | Antonio Cruz | Agência Brasil | Ralf Vetterle Pixabay | Lucas Oliveira | Cenarium

Deputy Director of the Democracy and Sustainability Institute (IDS), Marcos Woortmann

well as over the rights of traditional peoples and communities.

One controversial aspect is the provision that activities such as agriculture and livestock may be exempt from environmental licensing if registered in the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) or included in the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA). The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) warned that these instruments do not assess impacts such as excessive water use, soil pollution, and pressure on preservation areas, potentially legitimizing significant harm without technical evaluation.

“The simple validation of the CAR, the Rural Environmental Registry, could serve as a valid environmental license. It’s completely absurd. If we look at the Amazon, for example, and the entire ongoing deforestation process there — and not only in the Amazon, but especially there — 98% of the deforestation is illegal. We are talking about artifices to begin legalizing deforestation. Soon, we’ll be hearing those false narratives claiming that illegal deforestation is being tackled. But it’s not being tackled, it’s being legalized through these instruments,” emphasized Marcos Woortmann.

The expert also recalled the case of Cubatão (SP), once considered the most polluted city in the world and known as the “Valley of Death.” In the 1980s, the city’s industries discharged approximately one thousand tons of air pollutants per day.

Cimi considers it a “death blow”

Ana Cláudia Leocádio – From Cenarium BRASÍLIA (DF) – For Cimi, the bill was worsened by senators, becoming “a new death blow” to the country, the Federal Constitution, and to Indigenous peoples and traditional communities, as it virtually eliminates environmental licensing.

“With amendments to the original proposal, the Senate managed to worsen a bill that originated in the Chamber of Deputies and was already intended to favor private interests and definitively push through the herd over the hopes for the future of Brazilian society as a whole,” Cimi emphasized.

In addition to the points already criticized by Funai, the Catholic Church’s Indigenous organization also expressed concern over the creation of a Special License for activities or enterprises deemed strategic by the Government Council, even when such projects have clear or potential environmental degradation impacts.

“PL 2159 fails to consider the environmental impacts on quilombola and Indigenous territories that have not yet been fully regularized. In the case of Indigenous lands, this represents about 65% of all such territories,” the note states.

Atlantic Forest Law under threat

The SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation also issued a public statement against the environmental licensing bill, highlighting the inclusion of a “rider” that effectively dismantles the Atlantic Forest Law.

“The measure repeals paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 14 of the current legislation, allowing areas of primary forest, secondary forest, and those in an intermediate stage of regeneration – precisely the most mature and strategic portions of the biome – to be cleared without prior analysis by state or federal environmental agencies.”

According to the organization’s assessment, “the change creates loopholes enabling any municipality, even those

without technical infrastructure, a master plan, or an environmental council, to authorize deforestation of these areas. The decision eliminates long-standing protection guarantees and directly threatens the remaining 24% of the Atlantic Forest’s original coverage, especially the 12% of remaining mature forest.”

“The base text of the bill already represented a serious threat to the environment, as it weakens or even eliminates the requirement for licensing of projects with potential impact, such as the construction of tailings dams – the same type that collapsed in Mariana and Brumadinho, leaving a trail of death and destruction,” the statement reiterates.

According to Cimi, PL 2159 “paves the way once and for all for the advancement of agribusiness and mining, including within territories that, until now, have been protected.” “It allows for the acceleration of projects like oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River, the Ferrogrão railway, or potash extraction in the Madeira River (AM), among many other projects presented in an outdated manner as progress but which, in reality, threaten the survival of peoples and communities,” the statement continues.

Cimi argues that instead of advancing with strong policies to address the environmental collapse, Congress has chosen to go against these urgent needs. “It’s not just denialism; it’s a commitment to a necropolitics that fueled past governments and remains alive in the current legislature.”

“Indigenous peoples and traditional communities continue to show the way. Coexistence and democracy are built through daily relationships, respect for diversity, and commitment to the common good. Only a conscious and organized civil society will be able to envision other possible paths, another horizon,” Cimi concludes.

“By excluding Funai’s involvement in nondemarcated Indigenous territories and restricting the participation of Indigenous peoples in decisions regarding projects with socioenvironmental impact, Bill No. 2.159/2021 violates the right to free consultation” Funai, in a statement.

The pollution of water, soil, and air, along with the lack of environmental legislation at the time, caused numerous deaths from respiratory diseases and anencephaly — a condition in which the brain and skull do not develop.

“We’re talking about babies born without brains, cancer rates nearing 90% throughout the population, entire communities poisoned by the petrochemical and heavy industries, by heavy metals, arsenic, lead, and mercury. We’re talking about all of this, which, during the big leap of the 1970s, was seen as development. People at that time didn’t have the knowledge we have today. But now we do. Now we’ve seen the results of having and not having environmental licensing,” he said of the city that became a symbol of environmental recovery.

TECHNICAL NOTE

The approval of Bill 2.159/2021, by 54 votes in favor and 13 against, was considered by the Climate Observatory as “the greatest attack on environmental legislation in the past four decades, since the 1988 Federal Constitution.” In a technical note, the organization analyzed that the main setbacks present in the version approved in 2021 by the Chamber of Deputies remain in place.

According to the assessment, the bill threatens to intensify pollution, deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss, as well as social inequalities. The text, according to the Observatory, creates legal uncertainty.

“It is full of unconstitutionalities, promoting regulatory fragmentation between states and municipalities and creating a scenario of legal insecurity that is likely to generate, as one of its main effects, a flood of lawsuits. Instead of establishing clear, legally cohesive, and effective rules, as expected of a General Law, the bill paves the way for regulatory chaos and increased environmental degradation,” states the technical note.

The note highlights the exemption of environmental licensing for several agricultural and livestock activities. In most cases, filling out a self-declared form becomes the norm. “It’s a measure that favors the most predatory agribusiness, weakens the

State’s role, and opens the way for conflicts, environmental damage, and legal uncertainty for the producers themselves,” the text states.

Another critical point is the decoupling of environmental licensing from water use permits and land use. “It is precisely the

water use permit that integrates environmental licensing with water resource management. Isolating licensing from permits and land use will increase conflicts and is likely to worsen impacts related to water in the context of climate events,” the Climate Observatory emphasizes.

Funai points to threats

Ana Cláudia Leocádio – From Cenarium BRASÍLIA (DF) – The National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) and the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi) have expressed concern over the consequences brought by Bill 2.159/2021, the so-called “Devastation Bill,” which establishes the General Law on Environmental Licensing and poses serious setbacks in protecting Indigenous rights and environmental preservation. The SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation also released a statement denouncing the threats posed by the new text.

According to Funai, the bill also violates the Federal Constitution and international treaties ratified by Brazil, as well as the Brazilian State's obligation to promote sustainable development with socio-environmental justice.

Among the international treaties potentially affected by the new legislation under discussion in Congress is the fulfillment of commitments under Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which ensures the free, prior, and informed consultation of Indigenous peoples.

Funai expressed concern over the removal of the role of environmental councils in setting environmental standards

and the creation of the Environmental License by Adhesion and Commitment (LAC) as proposed in the Senate-approved text, a modality that allows the implementation of medium-sized enterprises through self-declaration by the entrepreneur, without prior impact studies.

Other key concerns include “the exemption from licensing for emergency works, without defining what qualifies as an emergency work; the restriction of participation by involved agencies, including Funai, which will only be consulted in the case of officially demarcated Indigenous lands, an item that constitutes a major rollback of its responsibilities; and additional measures that threaten the rights of Indigenous peoples.”

“By excluding Funai’s involvement in non-demarcated Indigenous territories and restricting the participation of Indigenous peoples in decisions regarding projects with socio-environmental impact, Bill No. 2.159/2021 violates the right to free, prior, and informed consultation, as provided for in ILO Convention No. 169, as well as reaffirmed by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR/OAS),” the agency emphasized in its statement.

Indigenous peoples express concern over the measures set forth in the “Devastation Bill”

Credit: Ricardo Oliveira e Ana Jaguatirica | Cenarium

In letter, UN denounces ‘Devastation Bill’ and warns of violations

MANAUS (AM) – The approval of the Environmental Licensing Bill (2.159/2021) by the Senate sparked outcry from citizens and politicians, including statements from international bodies such as the United Nations (UN), which condemned the proposal and called on the Brazilian government to take action. On June 1st, protests against the bill, nicknamed the “Devastation Bill” and called “the mother of all cattle drives”, were held in cities across the country.

In a letter sent on May 26 to President Lula’s administration—one day before Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva was attacked during a Senate Infrastructure Committee session—various

UN human rights groups denounced the bill, as reported by UOL and Poder 360. The protest came at a time when parts of the Executive Branch appeared sympathetic to a proposal that effectively eliminates environmental licensing.

The UN’s letter warned of violations that the Devastation Bill would cause if passed in its current form. It was signed by the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; the Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of Human Rights in the context of Climate Change; the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy

and Sustainable Environment; and the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation.

In the letter, the UN emphasizes that the proposed revisions alter and remove “essential elements related to environmental protection in the environmental licensing process, affecting Human Rights, especially the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Quilombola Communities.” The letter states that “these changes could cause serious and irreversible damage to the environment, worsening the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and toxic pollution.”

(*) With information from Clima Info.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres

‘People’s Summit’ marked by criticism

Indigenous leader says Pará governor ‘is a fraud’ and criticizes COP30

Fabyo Cruz – From Cenarium

BELÉM (PA) – Indigenous leader

Auricélia Arapium delivered a strong speech against Pará governor Helder Barbalho (MDB) and the Brazilian government's handling of the climate crisis. The statement was made during a political act of the People’s Summit toward COP30, held on May 30 at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) campus in Belém. Arapium, president of the Deliberative Council of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab),

stated that the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), scheduled for this November in the Pará capital, does not represent Indigenous peoples.

“COP30 is as much of a fraud as the governor of this state, who is a fraud. And it’s a fraud that attacks the rights of Indigenous peoples and nature every day,” Auricélia declared before an audience composed of representatives from social movements, Indigenous organizations, and environmentalists. Her speech was one of the most applauded at the event, which symbolizes the mobilization of civil society in the face of the lack of genuine listening and participation in the official UN Climate Conference processes.

The leader said that the People’s Summit — one of the main preparatory parallel

events to COP30 — represents the legitimate space for building solutions to the environmental crisis. “We have the solution. If they had the solution, we wouldn’t be on the brink of the end of the world like we are,” she said.

Auricélia also mentioned the occupation of the Pará State Department of Education (Seduc) in January of this year as the true start of the struggle for a fair and popular COP. She reinforced that Indigenous peoples do not feel represented in official negotiation spaces, where their rights continue to be violated.

“Rights are not negotiable. Rights must be guaranteed. And we do not believe in the illusion of participation the government is selling to our relatives. The real COP is ours [People’s Summit],” she said.

Auricélia Arapium, president of the Deliberative Council of Coiab, and the Governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho

Credit: Sandro Barbosa | Image provided to Cenarium | Agência Pará | Composition by: Paulo Dutra | Cenarium

“COP30 is as much of a fraud as the governor of this state, who is a fraud. And it’s a fraud that attacks the rights of Indigenous peoples and nature every day”

Auricélia Arapium, Indigenous leader, president of the Deliberative Council of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab).

BELÉM (PA) – Over 60 organizations, networks, and social movements from Brazil and other countries participated on May 30 in the political act “From the Amazon to the World: Climate Justice Now!” The event took place at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) campus in Belém, as part of the People’s Summit programming toward COP30, and brought together Indigenous leaders, parliamentarians, prosecutors, researchers, and federal government representatives as a counterpoint to the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will take place in the Pará capital this November.

During the event, participants criticized Bill 2159/2021 — also called the “Destruction Bill” by environmentalists — which loosens environmental licensing rules, and the recent installation license for the rock removal at Pedral do Lourenço in the Tocantins River.

The measure plans the blasting of approximately 40 kilometers of submerged rock between the municipalities of Itupiranga and Marabá, in southeastern Pará, to allow navigation of large cargo vessels along the Araguaia-Tocantins waterway. For the movements present, the intervention threatens aquatic ecosystems, riverside populations, and traditional ways of life in the region.

Representing the division within the Presidency’s General Secretariat (SGPR) focused on COP30, Mila Dezan stated that the federal government has been working to create mechanisms to strengthen civil society participation in climate discussions and acknowledged that the UN’s official forums are still distant from the groups most affected by climate change.

“It’s necessary to give voice to those who have historically been marginalized from these spaces. Civil society brings new

perspectives and must be part of building the solutions. We can’t keep repeating the same old COPs,” said Mila Dezan.

CONCRETE LEGACY

State representative Lívia Duarte (Psol-PA) said COP30 must leave a concrete legacy of equity and inclusion for the Amazonian population. “The real discussion is not about where the princes will sleep, but about where the quilombolas sleep who are defending their territories from invasions. We don’t want oil in the Amazon River mouth, nor rock removal at Pedral do Lourenço. UFPA must be a counterpoint to COP30’s blue and green zones — we’re building the Street Zone,” she said, referring to the UN event’s restricted-access areas.

The harshest speech came from Auricélia Arapium, president of the Deliberative Council of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab). In a fiery address, she criticized the National Congress and Governor Helder Barbalho (MDB) for their stance on environmental issues.

“The Pará government sells itself as a leader in confronting the climate crisis, but it’s the first to attack the environment and the rights of our peoples. COP30 is as much of a fraud as the governor of this state, who attacks nature every day,” she stated.

Regional federal prosecutor Felício Pontes, of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), highlighted the impact of the rock removal license on the Tocantins River and paid tribute to activist Matheus Otterloo. “This is a natural monument, a nursery for unique species. We are going through a moment of mourning. But seeing the movements gathered here is a balm. The hope for COP30 lies in the People’s Summit. It’s this pressure that will make a difference,” he said.

She also warned of the risk of disillusionment among Indigenous peoples who believe they will have a voice at the conference: “My fear is the disappointment our people will feel. We’re already feeling it. And we won’t allow Helder Barbalho to once again use COP to promote himself through the same old politics.”

Among the main points of criticism is the Pará government’s support for infrastructure projects that Auricélia considers threats to Indigenous territories, such as Ferrogrão, the Belo Sun hydroelectric project, and the rock removal project at Pedral do Lourenço in the Tocantins River.

“We will be here to respond to him [Helder Barbalho]. We will be here to resist, so that the Tapajós River is not excavated, so that the Tocantins River remains free, so that there is no Belo Sun,” Auricélia said, concluding her speech with the cry, “Demarcation now!”

PEOPLE’S SUMMIT

The People’s Summit brought together grassroots movements, Indigenous, quilombola, and riverside leaders, and climate justice experts as a counterpoint to the institutional agendas of COP30.

At the end of the event, a coordinated effort was announced to formally present the People’s Summit proposals to the National Congress on June 10.

CENARIUM requested a statement from Governor Barbalho, mentioned in the Indigenous leader’s speech, but as of the publication of this material, no response had been received.

People’s Summit, in Belém

Opposition to the ‘Destruction Bill’ and river project in Pará

Fabyo Cruz – From Cenarium

Credit: Sandro Barbosa | Image provided to Cenarium

The explosion of a river

Environmentalists warn of risks from the rock removal at Pedral do Lourenço, in Pará

Fabyo Cruz – From Cenarium

BELÉM (PA) – The authorization by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (Ibama) for the start of the rock removal at Pedral do Lourenço, in the Tocantins River, in Pará, has raised an alert among environmentalists, social movements, and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF). Considered essential for the consolidation of the Araguaia-Tocantins waterway, the

project is also seen as a direct threat to the environment and the riverside populations of the region.

The installation license was signed on Monday, the 26th, and allows intervention in about 40 kilometers of submerged rock formations that hinder the navigation of cargo vessels in the stretch between Itupiranga and Marabá, in southeastern Pará. The goal is to make navigable, year-round, the waterway of more than 1,700 kilometers in length, which connects the city of Peixe, in Tocantins, to Belém, in Pará.

The governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho (MDB), celebrated the decision. “After about eight years of waiting, the environ-

mental license for the beginning of the rock removal at Pedral do Lourenço has finally been issued. Those from Pará know how important this work is,” he said in a video on social media. The governor also said that, in the coming days, he should go to Itupiranga to sign the service order that marks the effective start of the works.

The measure was also celebrated by the federal government as a decisive step for logistical integration between the Midwest and the North of the country. “It is a historic milestone, a decision that should bring socioeconomic development to the Center-North of the country, in addition to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, since the development of waterways is the

Pedral do Lourenço, in the Tocantins River

Credit: Reproduction | Governo do Pará

“In the land of COP30, Ibama has just authorized the start of the rock removal works at Pedral do Lourenço, without prior consultation with traditional communities.”

Lívia Duarte (Psol), state representative.

main means to fulfill the Paris Agreement,” said the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho.

WARNING OF VIOLATIONS AND IMPACTS

Despite official enthusiasm, the granting of the environmental license generated strong reactions from social organizations and members of parliament. The Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) also criticized the decision in a public statement. For the movement, the project directly compromises the livelihood of thousands of riverside and indigenous families, threatening the ecological balance of the region.

“The project will cause a decrease in the amount of fish, water contamination, disappearance of species, among other disturbances, with no forecast of compensation compatible with the size of the damage,” the statement says.

According to MAB, the impacts are not only environmental. “The project is justified by the need to enable full navigation of the Tocantins River to transport commodities, under the discourse of so-called ‘progress’, at the expense of the lives and well-being of so many families living on the riverbank,” says the statement. The movement also recalls that many of those affected by the project still suffer from the

lack of compensation for the construction of the Tucuruí hydroelectric plant, located upstream from the stretch.

State representative Lívia Duarte (Psol) harshly criticized Ibama’s authorization. In a post on social media, she classified the project as “a direct attack on the environment and the peoples of the Tocantins River,” pointing to the use of underwater explosives over 35 kilometers of rock without prior consultation with traditional communities, as required by Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

“In the land of COP30, Ibama has just authorized the start of the rock removal works at Pedral do Lourenço, without prior consultation with traditional communities. There is no climate justice with the destruction of territories and the silencing of riverside and indigenous populations,” wrote the parliamentarian.

MPF POINTS TO ILLEGALITY

The criticisms of the license also reached the legal field. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) considers the authorization illegal due to the failure to comply with conditions established by the preliminary license itself and for violating a court decision currently in force.

According to the agency, the project was authorized without presenting the required

fishing landing studies, in addition to ignoring the legal obligation of free, prior, and informed consultation with traditional populations.

“The destruction of natural habitats will affect aquatic fauna and flora, altering the river’s flow dynamics and causing changes in sedimentation, which can destabilize banks and ecosystems. Ignoring the reality of traditional peoples who inhabit the region and depend on the river for their subsistence is a serious violation of human rights,” highlighted the MPF in an official statement.

“After about eight years of waiting, the environmental license for the beginning of the rock removal at Pedral do Lourenço has finally been issued. Those from Pará know how important this work is.”

Helder Barbalho (MDB), governor of Pará.

State representative Lívia Duarte

Credit: Marcos Barbosa

Denarium’s fate ‘shelved’

The appeal of the governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium, has been stalled at the TSE for 10 months, awaiting a decision by the president of the court, Minister Cármen Lúcia, to be brought back to trial. Denarium has been removed from office four times by the TRE-RR for using public funds for electoral purposes

Ana Cláudia Leocádio – From Cenarium

BRASÍLIA (DF) – The trial of the first ordinary appeal filed by the governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium (PP), and his vice governor, Edílson Damião Lima (Republicanos), reached ten months on June 20, without being rescheduled for a plenary session at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) by the president of the Court, Minister Cármen Lúcia. In a ruling dated the 9th of this month, the case’s

rapporteur, Minister Isabel Gallotti, stated that she cannot take any action to resume the trial, as the responsibility to place the matter back on the agenda lies with the presidency of the Court. Denarium has been removed from office four times by the Regional Electoral Court of Roraima (TRE-RR) for misuse of public funds and state resources for electoral purposes. He remains in office while appealing the rulings.

It is up to the president of the TSE, Minister Cármen Lúcia, to schedule for trial the appeal of Antonio Denarium in which he tries to reverse his removal from office

Credit: Wilson

Reis

Agência

Brasil

| Alberto

Ruy

Secom TSE

Luiz Roberto TSE

In this case, where Denarium’s appeal has awaited judgment for ten months, the governor and his vice were removed from office by TRE-RR in August 2023 for abuse of political and economic power during the 2022 elections, in which they ran for re-election.

The appeal’s review at the TSE began but was suspended on August 13, 2024, after the reading of the case report by rapporteur Minister Isabel Gallotti and the oral arguments of the parties’ lawyers. In that session, TSE president Cármen Lúcia promptly announced that the trial would be suspended following the oral arguments, promising to reschedule it on another occasion, when the rapporteur's vote would be read, followed by the votes of the other members.

The case was initially included on the agenda for the following session, scheduled for August 20, but the agenda was canceled at 8:38 a.m. that day, according to the Court’s official website, and has not returned since. Although the cancellation was officially registered on the TSE portal in the morning of the 20th, the news outlet G1 had already published a report about the decision at midnight on the same day, more than eight hours before the official update.

In a ruling issued on June 9 of this year, after reviewing the appeal’s procedural history, rapporteur Minister Isabel Gal-

ADVOGADO: EDUARDO BORGES ARAUJO - OAB/DF41595

ADVOGADO: FELIPE BOTELHO SILVA MAUAD - OAB/DF41229

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RECORRIDA: COLIGAÇÃO RORAIMA MUITO MELHOR

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ADVOGADO: ALISSON EMMANUEL DE OLIVEIRA LUCENA - OAB/PE37719-A

DESPACHO

Trata-se de petição (id. 163854013) apresentada pela Coligação Roraima Muito Melhor na qual sustenta que “[...] decorridos mais de nove meses desde a retirada de pauta, a ausência de definição quanto à retomada do julgamento causa insegurança jurídica, instabilidade institucional e contribui para o descrédito da população no sistema de Justiça Eleitoral [...]” (fls. 1/2) e requer “[...] a inclusão do presente feito em pauta de julgamento, com a brevidade que o caso requer, para que se dê continuidade ao julgamento já iniciado” (fl. 2).

Rememoro que o processo foi por mim liberado para julgamento em 1º/8/2024, tendo sido incluído em pauta na sessão jurisdicional de 13/8/2024. Naquela oportunidade constou da certidão de julgamento (id. 162153964) que “após a leitura do relatório e a realização das sustentações orais, o julgamento do processo foi suspenso”.

A Presidência deste Tribunal incluiu o processo na sessão de 20/8/2024 (id. 162170950), mas o retirou de pauta.

Nesse contexto e, considerando que a inclusão do processo em pauta para julgamento é de competência da Presidência do TSE, não há providência a ser adotada por esta Relatora.

Publique-se. Intimem-se.

Brasília (DF), data registrada no sistema

assinado eletronicamente

In response to a petition filed by the “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition, the rapporteur of the appeal, Minister Isabel Gallotti, stated that it is the responsibility of the TSE Presidency to reschedule the case for trial

lotti responded to a petition filed by the “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition, which requested the inclusion of the appeal in the agenda to resume the trial already initiated in August 2024. In the petition, the coalition argued that “the lack of a defined timeline for the trial's resumption causes legal uncertainty, institutional instability, and contributes to public distrust in the Electoral Justice system.”

Gallotti replied that the inclusion of the case on the trial agenda “is under the jurisdiction of the TSE Presidency,” and that there are no actions she can take in that regard.

Listed in the case as Antonio Oliverio Garcia de Almeida, Denarium and his vice, Damião, had their mandates revoked by TRE-RR, which ruled in favor of the Electoral Judicial Investigation Action (AIJE)

R$ 70 million

One of the accusations against Governor Antonio Denarium involves transfers of R$ 70 million to 12 municipalities during the election year, which is prohibited by law.

MINISTRA ISABEL GALLOTTI Relatora

The governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium, and the vice-governor, Edilson Damião, delivering food baskets

Credit: Carmen Competence Dispatch

Minister Isabel Gallotti, rapporteur of Denarium’s appeal against removal

filed by the “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition. This coalition, formed by MDB, PL, PSB, and PMB, backed the opposition ticket headed by former Boa Vista mayor Teresa Surita (MDB), who lost the election.

In addition to the officeholders, the parties Progressistas and Republicanos also filed appeals with the TSE to overturn the penalties.

In the 2022 elections, Antonio Denarium was re-elected for a second term with 163,167 votes, securing 56.47% of the valid votes. Surita received 118,856 votes (41.14%), which was 44.3 thousand fewer than Denarium. A businessman connected to agribusiness, Denarium previously held the position of federal intervener in the state, appointed by then-president Michel Temer in 2019.

An outspoken supporter of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Denarium benefited from this political alignment to get elected and to maintain controversial proposals such as the legalization of mining. He even sanctioned a law that prohibited the destruction of machinery seized during police operations.

The delay in the TSE’s judgment of the governor’s appeals has already prompted protests from five federal deputies from Roraima in Brasília. On January 13, 2024, the scheduled trial date, deputies Albuquerque (Republicanos), Duda Ramos (MDB), Gabriel Mota (Republicanos), Helena Lima (MDB), and Nicoletti (União Brasil) held a press conference in the Green Room of the Chamber of Deputies, demanding a decision from the Court.

“What we want here is not the removal of Governor Antonio Denarium. What we want is legal certainty and an answer from a court that must provide transparency about the cases it holds, whether he will be acquitted or convicted,” Nicoletti stated to the Folhabv portal at the time.

FOUR CASSATIONS

The governor has already been removed from office four times by the TRE-RR since August 14, 2023, when the first decision was issued ordering the annulment of his and his vice governor’s mandates, with ineligibility applied only to the governor and the holding of supplementary elections for the government of Roraima. It is the appeal

163,167 votes

In the 2022 elections, Antonio Denarium was re-elected for a second term with 163,167 votes, reaching 56.47% of the valid votes.

“What we want here is not the removal of Governor Antonio Denarium. What we want is legal certainty and an answer from a court that must provide transparency about the cases it holds, whether he will be acquitted or convicted.”

Nicoletti, federal deputy from Roraima, to Folhabv portal.

against this first annulment that both are awaiting a final ruling on by the TSE. The second annulment, on December 7, 2023, was overturned by the TRE-RR itself. Other appeals by the governor to the Court in Brasília remain pending, in addition to those filed by the opposing coalition.

In the appeal pending review by the TSE, four accusations weigh against the ticket that was reelected for the Government of Roraima in 2022, which may constitute abuse of political and economic power

Credit: Reproduction

under Law 9.504, of 1997. In total, nine accusations were made against the officeholders by the opposing coalition before the elections took place, but the full bench of the Regional Electoral Court of Roraima accepted only four.

The Deputy Prosecutor General for Electoral Affairs, Alexandre Espinosa Bravo Barbosa, issued an opinion for the rejection of the appeal and the upholding of the TRE-RR’s decision, on July 11, 2024, a little over a month before the case was added to the docket by Minister Isabel Gallotti.

Before the trial was suspended, on August 13, 2024, the rapporteur minister read the report on the appeal with the arguments of the parties and the Electoral Public Ministry (MPE). What remains is the reading of the vote that will indicate whether she will accept or reject the appeal. If accepted, she will state whether it is in full or in part. Then, the president of the TSE calls the other ministers to present

their votes, with the possibility of a request for review, with a return deadline of up to 30 days.

Denarium remains in office until the appeals are ruled on. If he is unable to overturn the annulment at the TSE, he can still appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

If the annulment of Denarium and his vice governor is upheld, new elections must be held and the government will be temporarily assumed by the president of the Legislative Assembly of Roraima (ALERR), a position currently held by state deputy Soldado Sampaio (Republicanos).

THE ACCUSATIONS

According to the opinion of the Office of the Prosecutor General for Electoral Affairs (PGE), the first accusation against the governor and the vice governor refers to the creation and execution of the social program “Cesta da Família”, which, in

addition to basic food baskets, also guaranteed a credit card in the amount of R$200 to beneficiaries. The governor’s defense argues that this program was the result of the merger of two pre-existing ones, “Renda Cidadã” and “Cesta da Família”, with no electoral purpose and that it did not significantly increase the number of beneficiaries, as it was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Venezuelan migration crisis.

For the PGE, “Cesta da Família” is a new, permanent program established by a law approved in 2022, which is prohibited by Electoral Law. Moreover, it increased the number of beneficiaries from 10,000 to 50,000, causing a financial impact far greater than what had been applied the previous year.

“In the present case, the harm is not minimal. On the contrary, there was intense and repeated promotional use of a new social program that delivered money (credit

TSE plenary session

Credit: Luiz

Roberto Secom

TSE

card) for free use by a significant number of people (50,000 families), voters in the middle of an election year, creating a clear and evident imbalance in the electoral competition,” stated Prosecutor Barbosa.

The second charge of electoral crime involves the “Morar Melhor” program, which consists of renovating the homes of selected beneficiaries but was carried out without legal authorization, as required by Electoral Law. Initially aiming to renovate 1,000 homes, the state government increased the number to 10,000 renovations during 2022, with plans to continue the program the following year. For the Electoral Public Ministry (MPE), this indicates a need to reelect the ruling ticket to ensure the program’s continuation.

The defenses of Denarium and Damião denied any electoral intent and argued that the Federal Constitution and Federal Law 11.888/2008 provide legality to the program without the need for specific legislation. According to the PGE, “the legal framework requires a specific law that contains the rules and schedules for the execution of the benefit, which was not observed in this case.”

Additionally, the fact that the Government of Roraima only submitted to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Roraima (ALE-RR), in January 2023, after the winning ticket had taken office, the bill that created the “State Housing Program 'Aqui Tem Morar Melhor'” and the “State Policy for Technical Assistance in Social Interest Housing”, shows that the assistance project had no specific regulation as required by law and was only developed after the 2022 elections.

R$ 200

In the execution of the “Cesta da Família” social program, in addition to basic food baskets, the government of Roraima also provided beneficiaries with a R$ 200 credit card. The program was created in an election year.

“In the present case, the harm is

not

minimal. On the contrary,

there was intense and repeated promotional use of a new social program that delivered money (credit card) for free use by a significant number of people (50,000 families), voters in the middle of an election year, creating a clear and evident imbalance in the electoral competition.”

Alexandre

Espinosa Bravo Barbosa, Deputy Electoral Prosecutor General.

“In this context, the appellants’ arguments justifying the program’s execution based on Law No. 11.888/2008 are not relevant, since that law is a general federal law and not specific to the execution of the said program at the state level, and the legal system requires a specific law containing the rules and schedules for the execution of the benefit, which was not observed in this case. In the end, 1,400 homes were served in 2022.”

Transfers totaling around R$70 million, during the election year, to 12 municipalities — which is prohibited by legislation — were the third accusation that led to the revocation of Denarium and Damião’s mandates. In their defenses, both argue

that the governor cannot be held responsible because he merely complied with the decision approved by ALE-RR, which responded to mayors’ calls for aid due to damage caused during May and June 2022.

During the oral argument at the TSE, the lawyer for the “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition stated that the targeting was so evident that, out of the 15 municipalities in the state, the three excluded were those whose mayors opposed the governor. That year, the municipalities of Alto Alegre, Amajari, Bonfim, Cantá, Caracaraí, Caroebe, Iracema, Normandia, Pacaraima, Rorainópolis, São João da Baliza, and Uiramutã were included. The capital, Boa Vista

Governor Antonio Denarium at an event of the “Morar Melhor” program, one of the targets of lawsuits that led to four removals from office

— the largest electoral district — did not receive any transfers.

10 thousand renovations

The “Morar Melhor” program initially aimed to renovate 1,000 homes, but the state government ended up increasing the number to 10,000 renovations during the 2022 election year.

This situation was highlighted in the opinion of the Regional Electoral Prosecutor’s Office (PRE) in Roraima, during the first-instance trial, which stated that there was a “clear political collusion” among the mayors who benefited from the million-real transfers. According to the PRE, in the years 2019, 2020, and especially 2021, the same municipalities were hit by torrential rains during the same period and received no aid, despite the declaration of emergency in 14 cities in 2020 and in nine cities the following year.

The fourth and final accusation accepted by the TRE-RR concerned the misuse of institutional advertising, with personal promotion of Denarium, who allegedly also shared content produced by the State Secretariat of Communication on his pri-

vate social media. The governor denies having committed any act prohibited by law, claiming that the images used were different from the official publicity.

The MPE rejects this claim and says that the argument has no basis, since it involved “identical images, differing only because of advertising edits with overlays of logos, slogans, and the name of the investigated party.”

OTHER CASSATIONS

After the trial of the Aije, on August 14, 2023, Denarium still faced three other defeats at the Regional Electoral Court of Roraima (TRE-RR), which culminated in the cassation of his mandate and involved practically the same accusations as the first case.

The second case was judged on December 7, 2023, due to the electoral use of the

Antonio Denarium and former president Jair Bolsonaro, whom he supports

“Morar Melhor” program, aimed at home renovations. This trial had a particular detail: if the vote of the substitute reporting judge, Diego Carmo de Souza, had prevailed, the governor, the vice-governor, and Maria Dantas Nóbrega would have only received a fine.

However, federal judge Felipe Bouzada, the regular seat holder at the TRE, upon returning to his position, changed the report's vote and also ruled in favor of cassation, aligning with the dissent introduced by appellate judge Tânia Vasconcelos. The final score was 4 to 3 for cassation. On appeal, Denarium managed to overturn this decision in the lower court, but the fine—around R$100,000—was upheld.

The third cassation occurred on January 22, 2024, also for abuse of political and economic power, with a penalty of ineligibility for eight years. In addition to the housing renovation program, the “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition accused the governor of distributing food baskets during the election year, transferring R$70 million to 12 municipalities on the eve of the election period, promoting public agents personally, and increasing spending on institutional advertising.

The request was partially accepted because the court ruled that a fine was not applicable. In the end, the ruling was 5 to 2 for the cassation and ineligibility of

“The legal framework requires a specific law that contains the rules and schedules for the execution of the benefit, which was not observed in this case”

Office of the Prosecutor General for Electoral Affairs, on housing programs created by the Government of Roraima in an election year.

the governor and his vice, Damião, who appealed the decision to the TSE.

The fourth and final case that again resulted in the cassation of the ticket was judged on November 19, 2024. The Action for the Cassation of Electoral Mandate (Aime) was also filed by Teresa Surita’s coalition, “Roraima Muito Melhor,” for abuse of political and economic power.

In addition to the four accusations already present in other actions, four more were added: an electoral bias in the transfer of around R$22 million; distribution of food in the municipality of Alto Alegre for electoral purposes; use of public funds for political purposes during the Watermelon Festival; and the appointment of campaign workers on the eve of the 2022 campaign.

At the time, the case’s rapporteur, Renato Albuquerque, accepted only four of the

End of term for Justices

accusations and voted for the cassation and ineligibility of Denarium and Damião. The action also implicated Senator Hiran Gonçalves (PP) and his alternates, but the magistrate dismissed the charges due to lack of sufficient evidence. The trial ended with a 5 to 1 ruling.

Thus, tied up in various ordinary appeals pending before the TSE, Antonio Denarium continues in his third year of office until a ruling by the Electoral Court or the holding of the next elections, in 2026, for which he is considered a potential Senate candidate.

According to the TSE, the Aije aims to prevent and investigate conduct that affects equality in the race among candidates in an election, such as the abuse of economic or political power and the improper use of social media during the campaign. It is an instrument filed before the certification of elected officials.

Two of the seven full members of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) had their terms end on May 30 of this year. Representing the class of lawyers, Ministers Floriano Peixoto de Azevedo Marques Neto and André Ramos Tavares took their seats on the Court on May 30, 2023, for their first two-year term. The internal regulations allow for one reappointment, but only one of them may be chosen by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from a list that must be sent by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

According to information from Agência Brasil, on May 28 of this year, the STF sent a shortlist of three candidates, composed

exclusively of women: lawyers Cristina Maria Gama Neves da Silva, Estela Aranha, and Vera Lúcia Santana Araújo, who already serves as a substitute minister at the TSE. Lula must choose one of them to fill the vacancy.

Also according to the agency, the current ministers whose terms are ending will have their names included in another shortlist, this one composed only of men, which will be sent to the president. As one of the vacancies must already be filled by a woman, only one seat remains, with no guarantee that either of them will be reappointed. Lula may choose another candidate.

The term of the rapporteur of Denarium's appeals, Minister Maria Isabel Diniz Gallotti Rodrigues, only ends on November 21 of this year, with the possibility of one reappointment.

The full bench of the TSE is composed of three ministers from the STF, two from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), and two lawyers, along with their respective substitutes. In addition to the two lawyers and Minister Gallotti, the Court is completed by STF ministers Cármen Lúcia, Nunes Marques, and André Mendonça, as well as Antonio Carlos Ferreira, from the STJ.

RORAIMA IN CÁRMEN LÚCIA’S HANDS

TSE does not respond

CENARIUM contacted the TSE to find out when the case will be placed back on the docket, as announced by the president of the Court, Cármen Lúcia, in August of last year, but did not receive a response.

The magazine also contacted the office of lawyer Fernando Neves, who represents the governor, but they stated that the matter would be addressed by the governor’s communications team, which has not responded. CENARIUM awaits a statement.

In his oral argument, Neves said that this case arose because Denarium was running a good government, with the possibility of running for reelection, which motivated the opposition to file a flood of lawsuits, already preparing to contest the

election result and pursue what he called a “third round.”

The lawyer accused the TRE-RR of not following legal precedent and not respecting procedural practices, leading to the acceptance of the action, which repeats facts already examined in specific complaints.

The Office of the Prosecutor General for Electoral Affairs (PGE), in addition to requesting that the appeal be rejected, also requested that the cases be joined due to the similarity of the issues addressed and the same cause of action.

The lawyer for the Progressistas Party, Eugênio Aragão, complained that the Court in Roraima did not allow the party to be admitted into the case as a simple assistant nor the inclusion of the lawyer for oral

arguments, which he claimed constituted a restriction of the right to a defense. Aragão also defended the legality of the social programs and refuted their electoral use during the campaign.

The lawyer for the “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition, Walter de Moura Agra, reiterated the accusations made in the lawsuit and said that “there was an excess of strong evidence” because there was a “flood of public funds in the 2022 election year” without any restraint. Reaffirming each of the accusations, Agra stated that the distribution of R$ 70 million to 12 of Roraima’s 15 municipalities, excluding Boa Vista, Mucajaí, and São Luís, which together account for 60% of the population, occurred because they were in opposition to the government.

Credit:

Alejandro Zambrana

|

Secom

TSE

The disqualifications against Antonio Denarium

SECOND CASE

Type of action: Ordinary Electoral Appeal (ROEI), Special Appeals and Cross Appeal

Number: 0600083-50.2022.6.23.0000

Score at TRE-RR: 4 a 3

Date of judgment in RR: December 7, 2023

FIRST CASE

Type of action: Ordinary Electoral Appeal (ROEI)

Number: 0600940-96.2022.6.23.0000

Score at TRE-RR: 4 a 3

Date of judgment in RR: August 13, 2023

Status in 2025 at the TSE: Appeal awaits to be rescheduled on the agenda to continue the trial, with the reading of the vote by the rapporteur, Minister Isabel Gallotti, and other members of the Court. The O ce of the Prosecutor General (PGE) recommended the rejection of the appeals.

Accusations: The “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition filed an Electoral Judicial Investigation Action (Aije), denouncing Governor Denarium and his deputy, Edílson Damião, for the electoral use of social programs.

THIRD TRIAL

Type of action: Ordinary Electoral Appeal (ROEI)

Number: 0600089-57.2022.6.23.0000

Score at TRE-RR: 5 a 2

Date of judgment at TRE-RR: January 22, 2024

Status in 2025 at the TSE: The O ce of the Prosecutor General (PGE) issued an opinion on February 22, 2024, and it is ready for decision.

Accusations: The “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition accused the governor of abuse of political and economic power, with the penalty of eight years of ineligibility.

Source: TSE

Status in 2025 at the TSE: The O ce of the Prosecutor General (PGE) issued an opinion on April 30, 2024, recommending the rejection of the appeals by the governor and Maria Nóbrega, and partial acceptance of the MDB’s request to include the disqualification of the mandate. Since then, the case remains ready for a decision by the rapporteur, Minister Isabel Gallotti.

Accusations: The MDB, a party in the “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition, filed a Special Electoral Representation against Governor Antônio Denarium and Maria Dantas Nóbrega for the electoral use of the “Morar Melhor” program.

FOURTH CASE

Type of action: Ordinary Electoral Appeal (ROEI)

Number: 0600001-82.2023.6.23.0000

Score at TRE-RR: 5 a 1

Date of judgment in RR: November 19, 2024

Status in 2025 at the TSE: Received an opinion from the O ce of the Prosecutor General (PGE) on April 30, 2025, recommending the rejection of the appeals, pending a decision by rapporteur Minister Isabel Gallotti. The PGE also requested that this appeal be judged together with ROEI 0600940-96.2022.6.23.0000, as they address the same subject.

Accusations: The “Roraima Muito Melhor” coalition filed an Action for the Annulment of Electoral Mandate (Aime) with nine accusations against the ticket of Antônio Denarium and Edílson Damião, of which the full bench of TRE-RR accepted four: distribution of food baskets and the transfer of R$200 to the population through irregular social programs known as “Cesta da Família” and “Renda Cidadã”; home renovations during the election year under the “Bem Morar” program; irregular transfer of funds from the Government of Roraima to municipalities favorable to the governor, under the justification of a public calamity; and the illegal use of institutional advertising with the personal promotion of a public o cial.

Neglect of education

Schools aimed at the Indigenous population in Roraima are in precarious condition. In Boa Vista, parents and students point to problems in the general context of education in the State

Iury Carvalho – Special for Cenarium

BOA VISTA (RR) – In the Darôra Community, located 81 kilometers from Boa Vista, the Macuxi Indigenous people live in cooperation among all 320 residents to ensure minimal assistance in health and education. This is because everyone periodically gathers to carry out maintenance or construction of common spaces, such as improvised classrooms. During the visit made by CENARIUM MAGAZINE to the Paulo Augusto Silva Indigenous State School, it was found that the school building had only been painted on the outside, while inside everything was falling apart. The precarious conditions of the school reflect the treatment given to education, especially Indigenous education,

by the current state administration under Governor Antonio Denarium.

Outside the school in the Darôra Community, four temporary learning spaces were found for students from Darôra itself and from the nearby São Marcos and Vista Alegre communities, still within the rural area of Roraima’s capital. One of these spaces is the community’s own pavilion, where Indigenous people gather in assembly to deliberate on the residents’ most urgent matters.

These are open areas where students face heat and rain. In the summer, students have to move their chairs every hour due to the sun’s position; in the winter, they must stop classes because the rooms flood. There are 105 students experiencing these conditions alongside their teachers.

Jacilda Macuxi, 53, studies in the Youth and Adult Education (EJA) program and has two children who also attend Paulo Augusto Silva School. She says that classes are constantly disrupted by the rain.

“I study at night and when it rains we run from one side to the other. Sometimes we study, sometimes no one studies. The governor needs to care more about our

community, not only need us at election time,” she told CENARIUM

Jessivan Carneiro, 16, is one of Jacilda’s sons and is in the second year of high school. He said that “it’s hard to study in the pavilion because rainwater falls on the notebook. Sometimes this worries me because I can’t study properly and I want to be a lawyer, but with this kind of education I don’t know if I’ll make it, because in the capital things are better,” he said.

The roof tiles are old and need constant replacement, there are exposed wires, and the fans are too old and don’t work. The floor is concrete and the whiteboard is leaning against a wall on the ground, which makes it hard for students in the back of the classroom to see.

The Paulo Augusto Silva Indigenous State School is approximately 30 years old and, according to the Tuxaua, Jackcinei da Silva, it has undergone few renovations and has never been expanded. The school serves students from 6th to 9th grade, high school, and Youth and Adult Education (EJA).

“It’s a long-standing problem and we need government support. We have better infrastructure in the City Hall of Boa Vista,

Students and parents from the community cleaning areas around the improvised classrooms in the Darôra Community Credit: Francisco Sena | Cenarium

and students there fear entering the state education system. Who doesn’t want to study in a quality building?” asked the Tuxaua.

There is only one classroom that is practically used as a storage room for textbooks and office supplies for the teachers, because the environment is very hot and stuffy. This room also has exposed wiring, old fans, and none of them work.

Another room, which was supposed to be a bathroom, has become yet another storage room for hygiene and cleaning materials. In the school’s third room, there is a library, which also serves as the administration office and teachers’ lounge. Some students spend time there studying individually with outdated books.

The kitchen is the fourth room in the school. It functions well, and food has been

Indigenous education in numbers

delivered regularly, according to Indigenous community members.

There is no sports court; students do physical activity improvised outdoors, but on the day the report visited the location, the community's efforts were focused on weeding the areas around the improvised classrooms scattered throughout the community.

Student Ana Mirela, 12, is in the 7th grade and said that “what could improve is the school’s structure, we get rained on, suffer with the heat, and do physical activities in the mud.”

To access the Darôra Community, it is necessary to cross a state-run ferry that sometimes has issues and leaves residents stranded. The ferry crosses the Uraricoera River in a nearby community called Passarão.

According to the 2024 School Census of the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP), Roraima ranks second as the state with the most enrolled Indigenous students. A total of 28,274, being 18,085 in elementary education, 3,515 in high school, 475 in EJA and other modalities, and 5,057 in early childhood education.

The Government of Roraima holds the greatest responsibility, with 68% of Indigenous enrollments. According to the Census, in the last 10 years this number increased by more than 50%, rising from 18,456 to over 28 thousand students. The State of Amazonas is in first place with the largest number of Indigenous students, totaling 81 thousand.

Classroom with improvised structure in the Darôra community

Credit: Francisco Sena | Cenarium

Credit: Francisco Sena | Cenarium

Credit: Francisco Sena Cenarium

Euclides Macuxi teaching about the origin of the Darôra Community

Logistical difficulties, poor internet quality, and power outages leave this community with limited access to public resources, including healthcare, since it is nearly 100 kilometers for an ambulance to travel from the capital to the community.

UNFAIR COMPETITION

There are 14 teachers who teach at the school, including History teacher Euclides Pereira Macuxi. “The students do not study with concentration, we do not have a proper school environment, all of this affects learning. How is a student supposed to compete with others in the capital? Many schools there have technology, here we lack electricity and our internet barely works. Some manage to attend college with great difficulty,” lamented Professor Euclides Pereira Macuxi.

The History teacher said that the students do not have access to true Indigenous education, since it is the original peoples who need to adapt to the structured education imposed by the education system in Brazil.

“We need to see the world from our own perspective, because everything that books bring are stories about how Europe was, how they organized themselves and ‘conquered Brazil,’ but it is never told how we perceived the arrival of non-Indigenous people here, what our grandparents tell about this relationship. All material that arrives at schools is already structured as if this were a linear process in history, but it is not,” the teacher pointed out.

“We have no budget representation in the Executive Branch thought out by Indigenous people or demanded by communities and teachers, which should have been presented in the Legislative Assembly of

Diagnosis made by the TCE

The Roraima Court of Auditors (TCE) delivered to the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai) in April this year the report on the Diagnosis of Indigenous Education. According to the TCE, the document provides subsidies for guiding public agents and civil society regarding the implementation of early childhood educational policy in Indigenous schools of the state.

Still according to the body, this initiative is part of a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) signed between TCE-RR and the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR), through the Insikiran Institute of Indigenous Higher Education, signed in 2023, in which the municipalities of Uiramutã, Normandia, and Amajari were the targets of field activities for the preparation of the report.

“In general terms, the main problems detected were: absence of a National Policy for this segment; food insecurity; underreporting of civil registration; precarious physical structure; prioritization of bureaucratic demands to the detriment of sociolinguistic aspects and the specificities of each people; absence of differentiated teaching materials,” informed the Press Office of the audit body to CENARIUM

Regarding the Union, as a federative entity, on March 18, through the Ministry of Education (MEC), the federal government announced a package of measures to ensure the development of Indigenous education in Roraima. The Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, participated in a meeting with Indigenous leaders and representatives of the National Forum of Indigenous School Education (FNEEI). “We want everyone to have the right to go to university, to be in a good school, in an institution with air conditioning, quality teachers, good books, food. That is what we want for the whole of Brazil and, especially, for Indigenous schools,” declared the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana.

Roraima. So the State Government slices up resources depending on interests. It is important to analyze that Indigenous people were considered relatively incapable and came to be tutored. This long history of Indigenous peoples’ lives in our country only breaks this relationship with the state in the Federal Constitution, where we became subjects of our own history. But we still cannot do this directly, since we need Funai [National Indigenous Peoples Foundation] to claim our rights and interests,” he explained.

Professor Euclides’s citation refers to Article 6 of the outdated Civil Code of 1916, which established the incapacity of Indigenous people as long as they were not integrated into civilization, where the tutelary regime was created. It was only with the Federal Constitution of 1988 that Indigenous rights and interests were recognized.

New investments in Roraima for various areas of education, according to a report published on the MEC portal:

Programa Dinheiro Direto na Escola Indígena (PDDE Indígena): transfer amounts increased from R$ 1,850 to R$ 5,550;

Fundeb: 25% growth in the Per Student Year Value for Indigenous schools;;

Full-Time Education (ETI): municipalities receive 40% for full-time daycare centers;

National Textbook Program (PNLD): creation of a specific program focused on equity, with materials aimed at Indigenous communities and their cultures;

Centro de Formação: repasse de R$ 4,3 milhões para a construção de um centro de formação para professores de escolas indígenas;

National School Feeding Program (Pnae): 39% increase in the amount transferred for school meals, especially in Indigenous schools;

Hospital Universitário de Alta Complexidade: criação do primeiro hospital universitário de Roraima, com bloco exclusivo e adaptado para atendimento às comunidades indígenas; Bolsa Permanência: the scholarship to remain in higher education increased from R$ 900 to R$ 1,400 per month for Indigenous students.

PRECARIOUS CONDITIONS IN CANAUANIM

CENARIUM also went to the Canauanim Community, in the municipality of Cantá, neighboring the capital by 22 kilometers. The Luiz Cadete Indigenous State School was also in precarious conditions, with broken fans and exposed wiring in the classroom where children aged 7 to 8 studied in the heat. The school unit is also unable to meet the demand of 13 People with Disabilities who attend classes.

WORST QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE COUNTRY

A ranking by the Imazon institute in partnership with other civil society organizations elected the Brazilian cities with the best and worst quality of life. There are 57 indicators separated into three groups: “Human Needs,” which evaluates whether citizens have access to food, health, housing, and safety; “Foundations of Well-Being,” which analyzes access to basic education, healthy life, and contact with nature; and finally “Opportunities,” which relates to individual rights and access to higher education.

To the north of Roraima, the municipality of Uiramutã, which has more than 96% Indigenous population, is the worst in quality of life according to the study.

“It’s a long-standing problem and we need government support. We have better infrastructure in the City Hall of Boa Vista, and students there fear entering the state education system.”

Jackcinei da Silva, Tuxaua of the Darôra Community.

Former headquarters of the Luiz Cadete Indigenous State School, which still serves some classes and houses the administrative sector of the educational unit

The classrooms of Luiz Cadete School, in the Canauanim Community, in Cantá, are being renovated, but there is still no delivery forecast. Meanwhile, outside, 7-year-old children study in the heat under thatched shelters

Amajarí and Alto Alegre rank third and fifth, respectively.

Members of the Indigenous community of Sauparú in the municipality of Uiramutã are building by themselves and with limited resources the new headquarters of the Santa Rosa Indigenous State School, which serves students from 1st to 5th grade. To reach the municipality, only with a four-wheel drive car or by airplane.

“The teacher is giving classes in the improvised school being built by the Indigenous people, even though the construction is not finished. We got the roof tiles from Funai, but the other materials we bought with our own resources, even with Bolsa Família money. We paid R$ 2,000 in freight to bring materials to the community,” explained a community leader, Fernandino Souza.

In Alto Alegre (RR), one of the worst municipalities in quality of life, teachers and staff formed a task force to dig trenches to drain the water that was entering the classroom of the Riachuelo Indigenous

of Roraima

State School, located in the Sucuba Indigenous Community. The school unit is made of tents and tarps.

CONSTANT DEMANDS

During a demonstration at the State Secretariat of Education and Sports (SEED), leaders and teachers demanded improvements in Indigenous School Education, especially regarding the application of funds from the parliamentary amendment by former deputy Joenia Wapichana, amounting to R$ 44 million.

According to reports from the Indigenous Council of Roraima, there are teachers giving classes under a mango tree in the Indigenous Region of Serra da Lua. Also according to the entity, the Secretary of Education of Roraima, Mikael Cury-Rad, said that there is plenty of funding for education, but the expenses are directed toward operational activities.

CENARIUM sent, by email, inquiries to the Secretariat of Communication of the Government of Roraima about the conditions of the schools mentioned in the report and the accounts of problems in Indigenous communities. Until the closing of this edition, there was no response.

Credit: Francisco Sena Cenarium

Tents at the Ana Libória State School, in Boa Vista

Credit: Francisco Sena | Cenarium

Ana Libória State School, in Boa Vista, under renovation

“He feels frustrated at home, becomes aggressive, and complains a lot about getting a spot in another school, which I can’t

get.

My

son is at a disadvantage compared to other students, he doesn’t even do physical education. Governor, please renovate the school soon because it’s been almost three years!”

Mother of a student, who preferred not to be identified for fear of retaliation.

Regarding the terms of the complaint, it is important to report that these facts have been known to this Public Prosecutor's Office since 2016, when Preparatory Procedure No. 003/2016 was initiated.

The funds for the construction of the aforementioned sports court were obtained through Commitment Term PAC204404/2013, in the total amount of R$ 1,020,000.00, and came from direct transfers from the federal government to the Municipality for the execution of a specific construction project, subject to accountability before the Federal Court of Accounts and the FNDE itself, a federal agency.

Based on the above argument, on August 16, 2016, the jurisdiction was declined in favor of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, considering that jurisdiction to investigate possible crimes and acts of administrative misconduct lies with the Federal Court, in accordance with consolidated case law.

Wanda David Aguiar State School flooded for the third time

Boa Esperança School, in Rorainópolis

Credit: Personal Archive | Adelio Gomes

Response from the MPRR to the complaint made by Adélio Gomes

Canvas schools, distance learning, and lack of revitalization mark the Denarium government

Students of the Elza Breves Militarized State School, located in the Laura Moreira neighborhood, West zone of Boa Vista, study online via computer or cell phone. This has been happening for more than two years since the school building went under renovation in October 2022, with a deadline of 180 days for completion.

The mother of a student, who preferred not to be identified to avoid retaliation, received CENARIUM and showed her son’s routine at home studying on his cell phone. “He feels frustrated at home, becomes aggressive, and complains a lot about getting a spot in another school, which I can’t get. My son is at a disadvantage compared to other students, he doesn’t even do physical education. Governor, please renovate the school soon because it’s been almost three years!”

The student, who is in elementary school, said he fears for his future. “There’s no way to study properly online, I feel frustrated because many students go to school and get better education, I think when I go back to the classroom I’ll have a lot of difficulties, I won’t learn anything,” he lamented.

MILLION-DOLLAR CONTRACT

Governor Antonio Denarium renewed in January this year the contract with the company that provides tent and canvas classrooms for another year. The price of these inadequate structures was R$ 7 million. This practice began in May 2023 and continues today, causing losses to public education in the state network.

This year, reports of flooded “classrooms” were denounced by the press. Students of the Ana Libória State School, in the capital, had six months of online classes last year and at the beginning of 2025 faced the consequences of the rains. The same happened with students at the Wanda David Aguiar Militarized School, in the Raiar do Sol neighborhood, also in Boa Vista.

In the south of the state, the Boa Esperança State School in the municipality of Rorainópolis has a sports court abandoned for more than 10 years, there are cracks in the school structure, and missing tiles on the floor pose a risk to the 200 enrolled students and the school’s administrative staff.

“I graduated from this school in 2014 and nothing has changed, we never had a sports court to have quality education, especially in physical education. We improvised a volleyball court and even so there was a lot of mud and when it rained or was very sunny, we couldn’t do anything,” reported Adélio Gomes, a resident of the municipality. Adélio filed a complaint with the Public Ministry of Roraima (MPRR) in June 2024, requesting an investigation of possible irregularities regarding the abandonment of the sports court at Boa Esperança State School.

The MPRR responded to the request informing that the complaint was already known to the agency since 2016, when Preparatory Procedure No. 003/2016 was opened, which assigned investigation responsibility to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), since the funds for the court’s

construction came from the Union, and that Adélio’s complaint was forwarded to the MPF.

MILLIONAIRE BUDGET AND NEGLIGENT DEPUTIES

In December 2024, the Legislative Assembly of Roraima approved a budget of R$ 8,811,011,914 billion for the government of Antonio Denarium to execute in 2025, with the largest shares going to Health (R$ 1.3 billion), Security (over R$ 500 million), and Education (R$ 590.6 million).

The members of the Education, Sports and Leisure Commission in the State Legislative Power are deputies Coronel Chagas (PRTB), as president; Angela Águida Portella (PP), as vice-president; and members Dr. Cláudio Cirurgião (União Brasil); Marcos Jorge (Republicanos); Isamar Junior (Podemos); Aurelina Medeiros (PP); and Dr. Meton (MDB).

Regarding the decisions made by the parliamentarians in recent years concerning Indigenous Education, the Legislative Assembly’s press office did not respond about what the deputies have done to mitigate the impacts of neglect toward Indigenous peoples.

CENARIUM sent, by email, to the Secretariat of Communication of the Government of Roraima, questions about the conditions of the schools mentioned in the report, both in the interior and the capital, which are housed in tents, asking how long these school units will remain in this structure and if new schools will be built or if they will be renovated. Until the closing of this edition, there was no reply.

Credit: Francisco Sena | Cenarium

Elza Breves State Militarized School

Scandals and precariousness in healthcare

Administration has been marked by cases of corruption, investigations, and neglect of patients

Iury Carvalho – Special for Cenarium

BOA VISTA (RR) – Considered one of the worst governors in Brazil, according to an Atlas Survey released in August 2024, the governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium (PP), has a long record of corruption scandals, especially in matters related to healthcare. A series of police operations and accusations have earned him negative national headlines. During the pandemic, for example, the government was purchasing 30 ventilator devices for R$ 6 million, paid in advance. In May 2020, the Civil Police of Roraima seized documents at the State Secretariat of Health (Sesau) and obtained a court order to freeze R$ 6,464,730.00 from the supplier company, which received R$ 200,000 per ventilator unit. The company’s name was not disclosed. Previously, 50 devices had been purchased at R$ 44,000 each. Through the State Comptroller General’s Office, the governor requested the return of the money and dismissed the then Secretary of Health, Francisco Monteiro Neto.

Another scandal involves the renovation of the Nossa Senhora de Nazareth Maternity Hospital, which was under construction for over three years, while the Government of Roraima left healthcare professionals and

Part of the ceiling at the General Hospital of Roraima (HGR) collapsed on the bed of an elderly patient in May 2022

Credit: Reproduction of Images Sent by Health Officials to the Press

patients in an improvised tent structure. The work was supposed to last six months but dragged on from June 2021 to September 2024. The cost of the renovation was R$ 40 million, with a monthly expense of R$ 1.2 million to the State treasury for the tent structure. Sesau reported that 273 babies died at the maternity hospital between 2022 and 2023.

Also in 2023, there were 17 deaths per thousand births – a 70% increase compared to 2022. The national average is 12.9 deaths per thousand births. The information is from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Roraima (MPRR). Rats have been found in the delivery room, flooding occurred multiple times during rainfall, and ceiling panels were destroyed. After the maternity hospital was reopened, a baby died due to lack of oxygen in the healthcare unit. At the time, in September 2024, the government denied the allegation.

That same month, in September 2024, Carmen Elisa Emiliano de Assis Silva died after suffering a cardiac arrest in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the General Hospital of Roraima (HGR). Her death was confirmed after the patient presented a case of cerebral swelling. She had been

hospitalized due to complications during the delivery of her daughter, Alise Eloah, at the Maternal and Child Hospital, which also resulted in the newborn’s death. The government expressed condolences and stated that the patient showed clinical and laboratory symptoms of preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome.

Another serious case in public healthcare occurred when a part of the ceiling at the General Hospital of Roraima (HGR) collapsed onto the bed of an elderly patient in May 2022. According to the Secretariat of Health (Sesau), the problem occurred due to the volume of rain recorded between the early hours and the beginning of the morning.

‘VISITS’ FROM THE FEDERAL POLICE

The scandals that led to negative headlines against the Government of Roraima also resulted in police operations. On April 15 of this year, the Federal Police (PF) launched Operation Fullone, to dismantle a criminal scheme aimed at diverting public funds from contracts signed with the State Secretariat of Health of Roraima (Sesau). The PF is investigating acts of

illegal waiver of bidding, favoritism of a company in direct contracts, overpricing of the contracted object, diversion of public resources for the benefit of the family members of the involved civil servants, and money laundering to conceal illicit enrichment resulting from the diversion of public resources.

Nine search and seizure warrants and one temporary arrest warrant were executed in Boa Vista, in addition to the seizure, freezing, and unavailability of assets and funds totaling approximately R$ 26 million. The removal from public duties of involved civil servants was also ordered. During the operation, there was one arrest in flagrante delicto for illegal possession of a firearm.

In February 2024, the Federal Police executed a search and seizure warrant at the home of then-State Health Secretary, Cecília Lorenzon, over suspicions of fraud in trauma and orthopedic surgeries. The State Department of Health and the General Hospital of Roraima were also targeted. Operation Higeia was approved by the Federal Court of the 1st Region, which ordered the freezing of R$ 30 million from the individuals under investigation.

Carmen Elisa Emiliano de Assis Silva died after suffering a cardiac arrest in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the General Hospital of Roraima (HGR)

Federal police officers during Operation Fullone, in April this year, launched to dismantle a scheme of embezzlement of public funds from contracts with the Health Department

R$ 26 million

In Operation Fullone, launched by the Federal Police to investigate the embezzlement of public health funds in contracts with Sesau, nine search and seizure warrants and one temporary arrest warrant were executed in Boa Vista, in addition to the seizure, freezing, and unavailability of assets and funds in the approximate amount of R$ 26 million.

In the previous year, Cecília’s husband, Wilson Fernando Basso, was also targeted by a Federal Police operation, named Hypoxia, which investigated suspected overpricing in the execution of a contract with two companies for the supply of oxygen refills, hospital and pharmaceutical supplies in the Yanomami Special Indigenous Health District (DSEI-Y).

The investigation found that only 10% of 4,500 oxygen cylinder refills reached the Yanomami communities. The scheme diverted R$ 964,544.77, and one of the targets is another businessman linked to Cecília’s husband, according to the investigation. The company he represents had already been investigated for medication diversion. He is Roger Henrique Pimentel, owner of the company Balme Empreendimentos Ltda.

Another operation was Escapulário, which took place in August 2023, where a

businessman and dentists from the General Hospital of Roraima were investigated for suspected rigging of bids for the supply of dental materials with prices up to 1,000% above the Unified Health System (SUS) price table. Additionally, patients were instructed to seek court orders to undergo procedures at a private clinic linked to the investigated group, even though there were available resources at the HGR.

In 2020, the Federal Police launched Operation Desvid-19, which investigated procurement fraud, overpricing, and irregular payments, with a diversion of R$ 20 million in public resources intended to combat Covid-19 in Roraima.

COMPLAINTS IN THE ASSEMBLY

In February of this year, the president of the Legislative Assembly of Roraima (ALE-RR), Representative Soldier Sampaio (Republicanos), accused the then-State

Governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium, and former Health Secretary, Cecília Lorenzon

Secretary of Health, Cecília Lorenzon, of demanding bribes from business owners. During speeches at the end of February this year, Sampaio said he was willing to block government projects and seek out institutions such as the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Police.

“There are businesspeople saying they would rather go unpaid than accept the bribes demanded by the secretary. This is blatant, not speculation. I’m willing to go to the last consequences. If necessary, I will not put forward any more government projects in this House until this is resolved,” he declared.

The Legislative Assembly itself listed, in a publication on its official website, the main accusations against Cecília: demand for bribes in the contracting of the Renal Clinic; signs of fraud and unlawful favoritism in the bidding of the orthopedic

company Medtrauma, target of Operation Higeia; suspicions of irregularities in the payment and granting of Out-of-Town Treatment (TFD); overpricing in the provision of bedside hemodialysis services in the municipality of Rorainópolis; authoritarian conduct to weaken staff resistance to outsourcing; lack of transparency in the contracting of third-party companies; violation of legality and administrative probity; collusion between a Health Department civil servant and a contracted company.

“We have serious complaints gathered by the Health Commission and attached to reports from the Health Prosecutor’s Office, doctors, and former civil servants,” Sampaio emphasized.

Currently, Cecília holds the position of Secretary of Digital Government, a secretariat with a budget of R$ 19,471,096.00 for

the year 2025, an amount 98% lower than the R$ 1,426,743,371 of the State Secretariat of Health. Adilma Rosa de Castro Lucena, 50, is the new Secretary of Health of Roraima. She is a lawyer, a state civil servant in Roraima, and was born in Amazonas. Adilma was serving as Lorenzon’s deputy when she was called to assume the top position in the department in February this year.

CENARIUM sent questions via email to the Press Office of the Government of Roraima, asking how the government responds to the large number of accusations, operations, and investigations related to corruption in healthcare, and what measures the government has taken to increase oversight of the proper use of public funds and to prevent unlawful acts. As of the closing of this edition, there had been no response.

Soldier Sampaio, president of the Legislative Assembly of Roraima

In his 2023 statements,

‘Indigenous People have to be acculturated’

Racist remarks by Governor Antonio Denarium against Indigenous peoples reverberated in the media and reveal the treatment given to this population

Iury Carvalho – Special for Cenarium

BOA VISTA (RR) – Governor Antonio Denarium (PP) came under negative national media attention when, in an interview with Folha de São Paulo in 2023, he said that the Yanomami crisis is not new and that Indigenous peoples should be acculturated. His statements were considered by Yanomami leaders as an example of the “prejudiced notion” the governor holds toward Indigenous peoples.

Governor Antonio Denarium associated the Yanomami with “animals”

“I have 260 schools in Indigenous communities. They want to be lawyers, teachers, doctors. I think that’s right. They [Indigenous people] have to be acculturated, they can’t keep living in the middle of the forest, looking like animals. They need to be there with proper conditions, with roads, schools, health clinics, practicing their agriculture, producing cassava and flour,” he argued at the time.

The statement came after Lula’s government (PT) declared a public health emergency following a surge in cases of malnutrition, diseases linked to hunger (such as diarrhea and respiratory infections), and malaria in the Yanomami territory.

TOTAL REJECTION

In February 2023, journalist and councilman Bruno Perez (MDB) filed an impeachment request against Denarium

in the Roraima Legislative Assembly, after the governor made prejudiced comments against Indigenous people who were in a situation of vulnerability in the Yanomami area in Roraima.

“At no point did the State Government help. Not with food, not by contacting the Federal Government. Not even making changes to stop these illegal flights and clandestine airstrips. On top of that, he called the Indians [sic] animals and said they have to be acculturated. He signed and sanctioned a pro-mining law, didn’t carry out any operations, was negligent the entire time, and now wants to play the good guy,” Bruno pointed out.

At the time, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) requested that the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic investigate the governor for racism. The MPF found the statements “potentially discriminatory against the Yanomami Indige-

“I have 260 schools in Indigenous communities. They want to be lawyers, teachers, doctors. I think that’s right. They [Indigenous people] have to be acculturated, they can’t keep living in the middle of the forest, looking like animals”

Antonio Denarium, governor of Roraima, in an interview with Folha de São Paulo, in 2023.

Councilman Bruno Perez (MDB) filed an impeachment request against Denarium in the Roraima Legislative Assembly in 2023

“Facilitating the entry of thousands of prospectors into our Indigenous Territories and disrupting basic healthcare services is the direct consequence of this prejudiced notion that Governor Denarium shares.”

Hutukara Yanomami Association and 59 other organizations, in a note repudiating Denarium’s statements.

nous people, demeaning their culture and traditional way of life.”

The Hutukara Yanomami Association and 59 other organizations denounced Denarium’s statements. “Facilitating the entry of thousands of prospectors into our Indigenous Territories and disrupting basic healthcare services is the direct consequence of this prejudiced notion that Governor Denarium shares. He has been complicit in the tragedy, even by sanctioning laws that are unconstitutional, intending to promote

mining activities and weaken oversight of such activity on Indigenous Territories in Roraima.”

Both laws were blocked by the Supreme Federal Court (STF). One, from February 2021, allowed all types of mining in the state using mercury; the other protected the property of illegal miners by prohibiting inspectors from destroying the invaders’ machinery. The latter was authored by a state representative.

MINING AND DEFORESTATION

According to data from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest Satellite Monitoring Program and the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), all states showed a reduction in deforestation in 2024, except Roraima.

There were 372.44 square kilometers of deforested areas, a 92.7% increase between 2023 and 2024. Just the mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land in Roraima caused the deforestation of 232 hectares of Amazon rainforest in 2022, the year prior to the governor’s statements, according to Inpe data.

In 2021, mining saw the largest expansion in 36 years. The number represents a 24.7% increase compared to the previous year’s figure (186 hectares).

CENARIUM published a report on the increase in deforestation in some Brazilian states, highlighting Roraima. The report, published on May 15, 2025, states that “most Amazonian states showed a drop in deforestation rates in 2024, but MapBiomas detected increases in Acre (31%) and Roraima (8%). The largest drops in deforestation rates were recorded in Amapá (56%), Rondônia (50%), and Mato Grosso (43%). Next are Maranhão (34%), Tocantins (33%), Pará (15%), and Amazonas (9%).”

Kopenawa points to ties between authorities and mining and healthcare corruption

Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa, in letters sent to Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) between 2024 and 2025 requesting an audience, called for urgent discussions on the impacts of illegal mining, health issues affecting the Yanomami, and the Indigenous genocide.

In the letters, to which CENARIUM had access, Kopenawa also referenced a press article that revealed a scheme involving the diversion of medications, in which top Roraima officials were implicated, including former Secretary of Health Cecília Lorenzon, appointed by Governor Antonio Denarium. He also mentioned that the former commander of the Roraima Military Police, Colonel Miramilton Goiano, is under investigation for involvement in

illegal mining and the illegal arms trade to miners.

“The issue has a profound political-electoral bias, which motivates me to plead for an audience, due to serious suspicions of involvement of political officeholders with illegal mining, drug trafficking, and other illicit activities, including investigations by the Federal Police and the arrest of relatives of these officeholders,” said Kopenawa Yanomami in excerpts from the letters.

According to sources linked to Indigenous leadership, the Presidency has not yet responded to Kopenawa’s request for an audience with Lula.

In November 2024, Kopenawa also requested that the president of the Supe-

rior Electoral Court (TSE), Cármen Lúcia, expedite the trial of the case against Roraima Governor Antonio Denarium (Progressistas) and Vice Governor Edilson Damião (Republicanos), which remains suspended in court.

The meeting took place at the Palácio do Planalto in Brasília (DF), on November 25. On that occasion, shaman Davi Kopenawa, the leading Indigenous figure of the Yanomami people, whose territory spans the states of Roraima and Amazonas, met with Minister Cármen Lúcia and requested the continuation of the case in the TSE, as reported by columnist Edersen Lima in a column published at the time on the Portal Norte website.

Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa met with Minister Cármen Lúcia in November 2024 and requested the continuation of the proceedings against Denarium in the TSE

Secretaries and relatives under investigation

Members of Governor

Antonio Denarium’s top administration and his family have been the target of investigations and arrests

Iury Carvalho – Special for Cenarium

BOA VISTA (RR) – The administration of Antonio Denarium in the Government of Roraima has been marked by a series of corruption investigations involving high-ranking members of the state’s secretariat, as well as the governor’s own relatives. In one of the most recent cases, Roraima’s then-comptroller general, Regys Odlare Lima de Freitas, was dismissed from his position this year after becoming

the target of a Federal Police (PF) operation investigating a R$ 100 million embezzlement scheme in the bidding processes of the State University of Roraima (UERR), during the period in which he served as the institution’s rector.

A close ally of Denarium, Regys is under investigation for embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, and participation in a criminal organization, after police identified overbilling in services and the rigging of university contracts in favor of an engineering firm. During the operation on April 8 of this year, authorities seized jewelry, luxury vehicles, gold watches, €4,000, US$6,000, and more than R$7,000 in cash. Court-ordered precautionary measures included asset seizure, search and seizure, mandatory use of an electronic

ankle monitor, and the freezing of R$108 million in assets.

Freitas had already been targeted in another Federal Police operation called Harpia while serving as rector. That operation was launched after the PF seized R$3.2 million in cash in a probe investigating bribes involving the university.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Denarium’s ally also faces charges of domestic violence against his ex-wife, whom he allegedly threatened and stalked after their separation. She obtained a protective order against him. According to her court testimony, he called her a “slut, manipulative, mentally ill, liar, and psychopath,” and told her she would be “nothing without him.” The victim also reported that

Governor Antonio Denarium and Regys Freitas. In detail, Regys under arrest

he leaked private conversations between them to a church pastor—conversations that, according to her, were shared by Regys himself.

The abuse allegedly continued for five months after the separation. “As if that weren’t enough, on another occasion, when she said she would request a protective order, he made more threats and physically assaulted her by pulling her hair and pushing her,” reads a portion of the court document.

FROM WITNESS TO SUSPECT

In another case involving Denarium’s high-level officials, the Roraima State Legislative Assembly (ALE-RR) opened a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) to investigate a criminal organization involved in land grabbing in Roraima—a scheme that also implicates the governor himself. The commission was launched after a complaint was submitted to the State Public Accounts Ministry (MPC), calling for the removal of the president of the Roraima Land and Colonization Institute (Iteraima), Dilma Lindalva Pereira da Costa.

According to the CPI, Dilma interfered in proceedings related to the governor’s son, Gabriel Prestes de Almeida, in an attempt to alter documents and cover up irregularities. The commission identified a pattern of wrongdoing in the acquisition and regularization of public lands in Roraima. The main individuals involved, according to the CPI, are Governor Antonio Denarium and his son Gabriel, in addition to other government officials. Gabriel bought a farm for R$300,000 on January 3, 2017, when he was only 16 years old, and was emancipated 11 months later—raising legal concerns about the purchase. The land title was paid for using the governor’s personal bank account, which suggests favoritism and a possible conflict of interest, according to the CPI.

The commission also identified improper favoritism in the land regularization of the Baliza Region, in the municipality of Caroebe, which spans approximately 904,000 hectares, with potential financial damage reaching R$1.3 billion. The MPC asked the Roraima State Court of Accounts (TCE-RR) to immediately remove Dilma

Lindalva for issuing irregular discounts on definitive land titles and establishing a parallel legal advisory group.

On March 31 of this year, Dilma Lindalva and Iteraima’s Director of Land Governance, João Sílvio Silva, were upgraded from witnesses to suspects by the CPI after Dilma was found to have tried to obstruct the investigation and João gave conflicting statements in his testimony.

In a press release issued on April 7, the state government stated that Dilma Lindalva had been dismissed at her own request amid the ongoing investigation.

POLICE COMMANDER UNDER INVESTIGATION

The former commander-general of the Roraima Military Police, Colonel Miramilton Goiano de Souza, is under investigation by the Federal Police as the alleged leader

Governor Antonio Denarium and the former president of Iteraima, Dilma Lindalva Pereira da Costa

Even after being dismissed from the position of Commander-General of the Roraima Military Police, Colonel Miramilton Goiano de Souza was appointed by Denarium to the role of Secretary of the Military House

“Anyone who deviates from proper conduct, who steals public money, whether inside the palace or in any secretariat, must be treated like a common criminal. They will leave there handcuffed in a police van. That’s how people who steal public money deserve to be treated”

Antonio Denarium, governor of Roraima.

of a criminal group involved in the illegal arms and ammunition trade in the state. In a public statement, the officer denied any involvement and has not yet been summoned to testify.

Miramilton is also under investigation by the Roraima Civil Police for allegedly

interfering in the murder case of farming couple Fávia Guilarducci, 50, and Jânio Bonfim de Souza, 57.

During his tenure, the Public Prosecutor’s Office reported that at least 100 military police officers were under investigation for militia activities, illegal mining, theft

from miners, torture, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and murder.

In the land conflict case in which Miramilton is being investigated, another military police officer, Captain Helton John Silva de Souza, 48, was identified by the Civil Police as the shooter responsible for the deaths of Fávia and Jânio. Helton had close ties to the governor and served as Denarium’s Security Coordinator.

The list of military police officers connected to crimes and embedded in Denarium’s government is extensive, with investigations being carried out by both the Civil and Federal Police.

NEPHEWS ARRESTED, RELATIVES INVESTIGATED

The Federal Police has also implicated members of Denarium’s family in various crimes. In the most recent case, during last

Vanda Garcia, sister of Antonio Denarium. Her home was raided in a Federal Police operation against money laundering

The governor’s nephew, Fabrício Almeida, has already been convicted for drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms

Credit: Reproduction Facebook Antonio Denarium

Credit: Facebook

| Fabrício Almeida

R$ 1,3 billion

A Parliamentary Inquiry Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Roraima points to losses of R$ 1.3 billion due to irregularities committed at the Roraima Land and Colonization Institute (Iteraima).

year’s elections, former city councilwoman Juliana Garcia (PP), Denarium’s niece, was arrested with R$7,400 in cash and a list of voters. Pregnant at the time, she was released after posting bail of R$70,000.

In February 2023, the PF raided the home of Denarium’s sister, Vanda Garcia de Almeida, during an operation targeting money laundering linked to illegal gold. During the same operation, police searched the home of the governor’s nephew, Fabrício de Souza Almeida, and found nine firearms. In 2010, Fabrício was arrested in Rondônia with diamonds in his possession.

Fabrício has been sentenced to six years and eleven months in prison for drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession. He and his brother, Antônio Oliverio Garcia Bispo, were arrested in May 2024 in a warehouse in the União neighborhood of Boa Vista. Authorities seized 79.7 kg of skunk marijuana divided into 72 plastic packages, a gold-plated Taurus T4 assault rifle with a precision scope and five magazines, a Taurus .38 revolver, a Taurus 9 mm pistol, a Taurus .357 revolver, an MT 40 submachine gun, a shotgun, a Glock G-19 9 mm pistol, and a Glock G-17 9 mm pistol, along with ammunition.

Police also found weapons and ammunition at the home of the governor’s brother, Orcine Almeida, Fabrício’s father.

During the election campaign, Denarium addressed allegations of corruption within his administration. “Anyone who

deviates from proper conduct, who steals public money, whether inside the palace or in any secretariat, must be treated like a common criminal. They will leave there handcuffed in a police van. That’s how people who steal public money deserve to be treated,” the governor stated in a video recorded at a campaign event.

CENARIUM reached out to the Press Office of the Government of Roraima requesting a statement from the governor regarding the corruption allegations, police operations, and investigations involving members of his inner circle and family. No response had been received by the time this edition was published.

Former councilwoman Juliana Garcia, Denarium’s niece, was also arrested during last year’s elections with cash and a voter list

The brothers Orcine and Denarium. Police found weapons and ammunition at Orcine’s home

Coup plot: Bolsonaro apologizes

Former president and other members of the so-called nucleus 1 of the attempted coup d’état testified before the Supreme Federal Court

Jadson Lima, Lucas Thiago (From Cenarium) and agencies*

MANAUS (AM) – Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) apologized to Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), for having said that the magistrate and two other members of the court, Luiz Edson Fachin and Luís Roberto Barroso, were receiving money in the context of electoral fraud accusations. The apology was made on June 10, when

Bolsonaro was interrogated by Moraes as a defendant in the criminal case investigating the attempted coup d’état in Brazil. Other members of the so-called "nucleus 1," or “crucial core” of the attempted coup d’état were also questioned. They denied the intention to carry out the seizure of power in the country, regardless of the presidential election results, but ended up confirming participation in meetings in which forms of intervention were discussed.

During the interrogation, in the First Panel of the STF, Moraes asked Bolsonaro about an allegation from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) that the former president encouraged the delegitimization of the electoral justice system. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to accuse any of you three of misconduct,” he said. “My rhetoric led

me to speak that way. That meeting wasn’t supposed to be recorded, it was reserved. Someone recorded it in bad faith, otherwise I wouldn’t be explaining here now,” he said.

Moraes read an excerpt of statements. Bolsonaro cited Moraes and his colleagues: “Losing an election is no problem at all, we cannot lose democracy in a rigged election. I’m not going to say that Alexandre is getting US$ 50 million. I’m not going to say it because I have no proof.”

The minister asked what evidence there was “that we were receiving millions.”

“There’s no evidence at all, minister. It was a venting. It wasn’t supposed to be recorded. If it were three others in your place, I’d be saying the same thing, due to my rhetoric. During the elections, I couldn’t do live streams from the Palácio

Alexandre de Moraes and Jair Bolsonaro

Credit: Reproduction STF | Composition by Paulo Dutra | Cenarium

da Alvorada due to a TSE (Superior Electoral Court) ruling. I couldn’t use footage of myself at the UN, of the other candidate there in a Rio de Janeiro community wearing a CPX beanie, from Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.”

“Almost everything was forbidden. I couldn’t lower fuel prices as if I’d do that with the stroke of a pen. I was targeted by many things. Now, the other side could do anything, even call me a genocidal maniac. I wanted to show images, I was restrained. The biggest loss I had was not being able to use footage from September 7,” said Bolsonaro.

During his presidency, Bolsonaro accumulated a series of open coup statements, provoked crises among the branches of power, questioned the legitimacy of the 2022 elections, threatened not to comply with STF decisions, and fueled a campaign of lies and insinuations to discredit the country’s electoral system.

After losing to Lula, he encouraged the creation and maintenance of coup encampments that spread across the country and led to the January 8 attacks.

In that same period, he adopted behavior that helped maintain his supporters’ hope that he would stay in power and, as he publicly admitted, met with military and close advisers to discuss ways to intervene in the TSE and annul the elections.

A nostalgist of the Military Dictatorship (1964–1985) and its anti-democratic and torturous methods, the former president has already been convicted by the TSE for attacks and lies about the electoral system and is a defendant in the STF under the

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to accuse any of you three of misconduct”

Jair Bolsonaro, former president, apologizing for having accused Supreme Federal Court ministers of receiving money in the context of electoral fraud accusations.

Bolsonaro came face to face with Minister Alexandre de Moraes

Bolsonaro supporters on January 8, 2023 invading the National Congress on January 8, 2023

Former president Jair Bolsonaro during testimony at the Supreme Federal Court

“Yes sir, he received and read it.”

Mauro Cid, lieutenant colonel and former aide-de-camp to Bolsonaro, about the former president having received and read the “coup draft”.

accusation of leading the 2022 coup plot. He is currently ineligible at least until 2030.

If convicted of the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, aggravated damage by violence and serious threat against public property, and deterioration of protected heritage, the sentence could exceed 40 years in prison.

Bolsonaro’s defense denies the former president’s involvement in crimes and argues, while criticizing the PGR’s complaint, that there is no evidence of a link between the alleged conspiracy started at the Palácio do Planalto in June 2021 and the acts of vandalism on January 8, 2023.

The PGR accuses him of being the leader of the criminal organization that attempted to carry out a coup d’état after Lula (PT) was elected President of the Republic.

ENCAMPMENTS OF ‘CRAZIES’

During the testimony, Bolsonaro also called “crazies” the supporters who set up coup encampments in front of military units after the 2022 elections and who called for the Armed Forces to prevent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) from taking office as President of the Republic. The former president denied having led a plot to carry out a coup d’état in 2022 and said he demobilized the truck drivers who sought a democratic rupture. After losing to Lula, the then-president encouraged the creation and maintenance of coup encampments that spread throughout the country and from which the January 8 attackers emerged.

“Please, Mr. Paulo Gonet, I didn’t root for the worst. If I had rooted for the worst, I wouldn’t have demobilized the truck drivers back then and, maybe because of my figure, people didn’t do anything absurd,” said Bolsonaro, in response to the Attorney

Mauro Cid:

Bolsonaro

‘received and read’ the coup draft

Lucas Thiago – From Cenarium MANAUS (AM) – The testimony of former aide-de-camp to ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, was one of the most anticipated during the STF interrogation. Cid provided details about the involvement of individuals suspected of being part of the “Nucleus 1” of the attempted coup d’état. He is identified by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) as a key figure in the criminal organization that worked toward democratic rupture. During the month of May, the Court heard witnesses for both the defense and the prosecution.

During the interrogation, Moraes questioned Cid about the participation of the members of Nucleus 1 in the coup attempt. Regarding the so-called “office of hate,” the lieutenant colonel stated that Bolsonaro was directly responsible for operating and disseminating attacks against the justices via his social media platforms.

When asked by Moraes whether Bolsonaro had received and also read the so-called “coup draft,” a document aimed at a possible coup attempt to prevent the inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the 2022 elections, Cid responded: “Yes sir, he received and read it.”

The former presidential aide recounted that ex-president Jair Bolsonaro sat down with adviser Filipe Martins to edit the coup draft. According to Cid, Bolsonaro “trimmed the document, removing the imprisonment of authorities.” “Only Your

Honor would remain under arrest,” Cid told Moraes.

Still in response to the Supreme Court minister, the former aide-de-camp confirmed that the coup document, in addition to calling for the arrest of Supreme Court ministers, also included the arrest of then-Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco and other authorities from both the Judiciary and the Legislature.

Mauro Cid also revealed that he received money from General Braga Netto at the Palácio da Alvorada, which was then passed on to Major Rafael de Oliveira, a member of the group known as the “black kids,” composed of Special Forces Army personnel.

“I went to see General Braga Netto to find out if there was any way to help. General Braga Netto brought the money, which was given to Major Oliveira. I handed it over inside the Palácio da Alvorada. The money was stored in a wine box,” said the whistleblower.

Cid also described Braga Netto as part of a moderate group within the government that sought to pressure former president Bolsonaro into taking action regarding the election results.

According to Mauro Cid, the former Minister of the Civil House and Defense, General Braga Netto, served as a link between ex-president Jair Bolsonaro and the camps set up in front of military headquarters.

Mauro Cid during questioning at the Supreme Federal Court on June 9

“Now, there are always a few crazies out there who keep that idea going, of AI-5, military intervention, which the Armed Forces, the military leaders, would never go along with”

Jair Bolsonaro, former president, during testimony, about the supporter encampments in front of military barracks.

General, Paulo Gonet. He also mentioned Institutional Act No. 5, which revoked a series of rights during the military dictatorship. “Now, there are always a few crazies out there who keep that idea going, of AI-5, military intervention, which the Armed Forces, the military leaders, would never go along with, because people were asking for it there, even though it didn’t make sense, and we moved forward,” said Bolsonaro. “So, I apologize, respectfully, your honor, we didn’t encourage anything abnormal.”

MORAES AS RUNNING MATE?

Still during the interrogation, Bolsonaro invited Alexandre de Moraes to be his running mate in the presidential election scheduled for October 2026. After the joke, Moraes declined the invitation.

Bolsonaro’s testimony began at 2:33 p.m. and lasted about two hours. He brought a copy of the Constitution to the testimony table and held it up while speaking about not having attacked democracy. The former president also said that he was not the only one to criticize the electronic voting machines. He said he had been using rhetoric against the electronic voting system since 2012.

“Can I make a joke? I’d like to invite you to be my running mate in 26,” said Bolsonaro. Moraes replied: “I decline again.”

(*) With information from Folhapress, Folha de São Paulo, and the STF.

STF concludes interrogations of defendants from Nucleus 1

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) concluded on June 10 the interrogations of the eight defendants in Criminal Action (AP) 2668, which investigates the attempted coup d’état that took place between 2022 and 2023. Those heard included former Navy commander Almir Garnier, former Minister of Justice Anderson Torres, former Minister of the Institutional Security Office (GSI) Augusto Heleno, former President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro, former Minister of Defense Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, and former Chief of Staff Walter Braga Netto.

The morning session was dedicated to the interrogations of Garnier, Torres, and Heleno. In the afternoon, Bolsonaro, Nogueira, and finally Braga Netto — who is currently imprisoned and was interrogated via videoconference — gave their testimonies.

The precautionary measure prohibiting the defendants from maintaining contact with each other was also revoked by Minister Alexandre.

The hearings, held in the session room of the STF’s First Panel, were conducted by the case rapporteur, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, with the participation of Minister Luiz Fux, member of the First Panel, and Attorney General Paulo Gonet, responsible for the prosecution.

On June 9, the first day of interrogations, Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, former aide-de-camp to the Presidency, and federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem (PL/RJ), former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin), were interrogated. As is customary, after the questioning by Ministers Alexandre and Fux and Prosecutor Gonet, the defense attorneys for all eight defendants were also allowed to ask questions.

NUCLEUS 1

All those interrogated are part of Nucleus 1 of the indictment, classified by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) as crucial in the attempted coup. In addition to these eight defendants, the scheme involves another 24 accused individuals, organized into three distinct nuclei according to the role they played in the plot.

The group is charged with attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, attempted coup d’état, participation in an armed criminal organization, qualified damage, and deterioration of protected property. In the case of Alexandre Ramagem, the investigation into events that occurred after he took office as a federal deputy in January 2023 is suspended until the end of his term.

Antidemocratic encampment set up in front of the Amazon Military Command in Manaus

David Almeida at risk of impeachment

Mayor of Manaus targeted by request for removal from office over suspected Fundeb embezzlement

Bianca Diniz and Ana Pastana – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – Manaus city councilman Rodrigo Guedes (Progressistas) filed, on June 11, at the City Council of Manaus (CMM), an impeachment request against the city’s mayor, David Almeida (Avante), for the alleged misuse of R$ 41 million from the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education (Fundeb), which at the time (2021–2024) was managed by the mayor’s sister, Dulce Almeida. According to the councilman, the funds were used to cover expenses of Manausmed, the health insurance plan for municipal employees.

According to the Internal Rules (RI) of the CMM, the impeachment request must be accepted by an absolute majority of the council members. If the complaint

is admitted, a Processing Committee is formed, composed of at least three council members, tasked with conducting the process. The accused mayor will have ten days from the formation of the committee to present a written defense and indicate up to five witnesses.

After receiving the defense, the committee has five more days to prepare a report recommending either the dismissal or continuation of the complaint. This report will then be submitted to the plenary, where the council members will decide whether the process should move forward.

“The mayor, through Semed, took R$ 41,867,053.72 from Fundeb. The Court of Auditors of the State of Amazonas prepared a technical report that requested the

The mayor of Manaus, David Almeida, and his sister, former municipal Secretary of Education Dulce Almeida

Credit: Ricardo Oliveira | Cenarium | Reproduction Avante

“The

mayor, through Semed, took R$ 41,867,053.72 from Fundeb. The Court of Auditors of the State of Amazonas prepared a technical report that requested the return of R$ 41 million, practically R$ 42 million, and also the application of sanctions to the manager who, by the way, was the mayor’s sister”

Rodrigo Guedes, Manaus city councilman from the Progressistas party.

The diversion of FUNDEB funds was so clearly under the orders of David Almeida that his successor, upon the departure of his sister, who was involved in publicly known scandals, Mr. Luiz Gonzaga Campos de Souza, who served as Municipal Secretary of Education from April 2024 to April 2025, a Tax Auditor with the Amazonas State Secretariat of Finance and currently serving as Deputy Secretary for Projects in the office of the Mayor of Manaus, headquartered at Av. Brasil, 2971 - Compensa, Manaus - AM, 69036-110 (City Hall headquarters), also diverted FUNDEB funds for purposes other than those established by law.

Thus, according to a complaint filed with the State Court of Auditors of Amazonas in August 2024 by the then-president of the SEMED Workers’ Movement, the mayor’s sister, the accused Dulcinéia Ester Pereira de Almeida, under the command of her brother, in the exercise of the office of Mayor, Mr. David Antônio Abisai Pereira de Almeida, deliberately used resources originating from FUNDEB to fund FUNSERV, the Municipal Public Servants’ Health Plan Fund, which is expressly prohibited by law.

return of R$ 41 million, practically R$ 42 million, and also the application of sanctions to the manager who, by the way, was the mayor’s sister, the former municipal Secretary of Education Dulce Almeida. The Public Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Court of Auditors also issued an opinion requesting both the return of that amount and the application of sanctions against Secretary Dulce Almeida,” said Guedes during a press conference.

In the filed document, the councilman states that the diversion of funds allocated to municipal education “was ordered by

David Almeida.” The information, according to the impeachment request document, is part of a complaint filed by the Amazonas State Court of Auditors (TCE-AM) in August 2024, by the then-president of the Semed Workers’ Movement.

In another excerpt, Guedes reiterates that Almeida “not only was aware of, but was the main person responsible for the misappropriation and illegal use of Fundeb resources.”

The Federal Constitution stipulates that Fundeb resources must be used exclusively

in public basic education. This rule, established in Article 212-A, is reinforced by Law 14.113/2020, which regulates the new Fundeb and specifies that the funds must be used for activities such as maintenance, renovations, and improvements in schools.

Guedes states that he obtained the documents proving the irregularity through the Access to Information Law (LAI), and attached technical and legal reports that support the complaint. The request will be submitted to the Presidency of the CMM and must undergo review by the Council’s Legal Department, which will assess its admissibility.

If accepted by the Council, the case may proceed to the plenary and result in the opening of a political-administrative investigation against the head of the municipal Executive.

CENARIUM contacted the Manaus City Hall to request a statement regarding the impeachment request, but as of the closing of this edition, no response had been received.

ACCESS THE IMPEACHMENT REQUEST:

Manaus city councilman Rodrigo Guedes

Excerpt from the impeachment request document

Credit: Ricardo Oliveira Cenarium

Adrift City

In Manaus, lives are surrounded by garbage in the heart of the capital of Amazonas

Letícia Misna – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – Flip-flop, shampoo, lightbulb, mouthwash, disinfectant, and fabric softener. What looks like a shopping list is, in fact, a daily portrait of what floats in the Manaus Moderna Harbor, one of the main river gateways of the Amazonas capital. In a place that should symbolize life, there is a continuous flow of waste that starkly exposes the collective failure of urban environmental policy.

In the heart of Manaus’ Historic Center, what residents and workers have normalized as a floating landfill has taken shape. In the month when the environment is celebrated, the scene highlights the gap between sustainability promises and the historic neglect in caring for the waters and riverside populations.

According to data from the Brazilian Association of Solid Waste and Environment (Abrema), the city discards about 3,000 tons of garbage daily. Part of this volume, which should be destined for the landfill on the AM-010 highway, ends up directly in the Negro River, the main transportation and supply route in the region.

Farmer Orlando Monteiro, 70, has survived for 14 years on the dirty banks of

Manaus Moderna. He once worked as a city street sweeper and is now one of the many who have learned to live with what he calls a “strong smell.” The water’s odor, according to him, “comes from the rot.”

“It’s really bad here. Some days are okay. Some days are like this,” said Orlando, pointing to the waste floating in the Negro River. “When it rains, the trash comes from there to here. This trash isn’t from here,” he states.

As in a cycle of punishment, the poorest populations—riverside dwellers, street vendors, laundresses, and fishermen—must move through sewage, navigate through urban consumption remnants, and fall ill in a setting they did not create but depend on to survive.

Farmer Orlando Monteiro has been navigating through Manaus' garbage for over 14 years

Credit: Ricardo Oliveira

| Cenarium

3 thousand tons

According to data from the Brazilian Association of Waste and Environment (Abrema), the city discards around 3,000 tons of garbage daily.

According to the farmer and others who inhabit the area, most of the trash floating along Manaus Moderna comes from the streams that cut through the capital and empty into the area, as well as from barges and vessels anchored at the port.

“Every year it’s this dump. The City Hall [of Manaus] comes, cleans, and then it gets dirty again. Not even 15 days go by and it’s already like this. Just one rain is enough. Look at the filth here!” he emphasized.

Orlando also points out the presence of canaranas, vegetation islands formed by aquatic plant species. They grow on soil left by rivers during dry seasons, and when the water rises, the vegetation detaches and begins to “sail” through the waterways.

In addition to obstructing boat traffic, these plant islands become ports for solid waste, which gets stuck to them. “That canarana over there is nature-made. They

Vulnerability to diseases

Maria Antônia told CENARIUM that her son has already been hospitalized after contracting Chagas disease, which she says he caught amid the garbage. “There are also snakes, rats here. Just yesterday I killed one on my pier,” she added.

Orlando Monteiro also shared that he constantly sees people living there, especially children, getting sick. “My boss still has a cold. My boss lady, who went to the mainland, she’s at the doctor. I think it’s all because of this garbage. Some days this water smells too bad. That really strong smell. I think she inhaled it and got sick,” said Orlando.

According to Dr. Arlene Pinto, physician at the Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado Tropical Medicine Foundation (FMT-HVD) and master in Tropical and Infectious Diseases, pollution is indeed the main cause of waterborne illnesses.

“As the name suggests, these are diseases in which water is the main transmission vehicle. These pathologies are considered a public health issue and are linked to the environment,” the specialist explained.

According to her, factors such as insufficient treated water supply, lack of sanitation, improper waste disposal, poor hygiene, high population density, housing

shortages, rapid urban growth, and the formation of slums without adequate infrastructure contribute to the spread of these diseases.

Among the diseases related to the ingestion and domestic use of water, or direct skin contact with contaminated sources, the doctor listed: Amebiasis, Cryptosporidiosis, Diarrhea by Escherichia coli, Bacterial dysentery, Typhoid fever, Gastroenteritis, Hepatitis A, and Leptospirosis.

“The ideal scenario for our ‘floating city’ goes far beyond public health policies; it also involves social organization, like building public housing,” she added.

Trash in the Negro River, at the Manaus Moderna Harbor; whether in drought or flood, the scene remains the same

For sociologist Luiz Antonio Nascimento, Manaus Moderna is part of the “abandoned city” Credit:

“They’re not there because they like being in a dirty, polluted place. What we really need to do, first, is not accept this as normal”

Luiz Antonio Nascimento, sociologist and professor at the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam).

[Manaus City Hall officials] didn’t remove it, didn’t trim it, and it’s like this, full of trash,” he said.

Before Manaus Moderna, Orlando Monteiro worked as a street cleaner at the Municipal Secretariat of Urban Cleaning (Semulsp) for six years, even cleaning the city’s streams. In his view, the main party responsible for this pollution is the population.

“We’d clean those streams one day, and the next they’d be the same. If the folks from inside [Manaus] got educated not to throw trash in the river, it’d be good. But as long as they don’t, it won’t stay clean,” he pointed out.

IN THE WATER, BUT WITHOUT WATER

For Maria Antônia da Silva, the situation is a political and public administration problem. “The City Hall [of Manaus] does nothing for us. When they want votes, they come here, we vote, and then they don’t care about us. They cleaned up there on the street this week, but down here they don’t come,” she reported.

At 55 years old, her birthday falling on International Women’s Day, a detail she proudly notes, Maria lives alone with her 14-year-old son in a floating house there. Unemployed and originally from Carauari, in the countryside of Amazonas, she survives in Manaus with help from the Bolsa Família program.

To her, the biggest problem of living surrounded by trash is the lack of clean water. Even with the Negro River, which

Two cities

For sociologist Luiz Antonio Nascimento, a professor at the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam), the garbage in Manaus Moderna, as in other parts of the capital, is one of the expressions of what scholars have been saying for a long time: that Manaus is divided into two cities.

“The clean city, the one with public services, etc., and the abandoned city, the neglected one. And this is intentional. It’s a political stance from the administrations to not pay attention to these people, to these places. Because they’ll say: ‘they are the ones to blame for being residents or users of these areas, they are the ones generating the trash, they are responsible for the degradation, and so they should face the consequences,’” emphasized Luiz Antonio.

In an interview with CENARIUM, he recalled an occasion when he returned from a trip and disembarked at the São Raimundo Harbor. “I went up with a bag of trash I had generated during the trip. I walked at least 500 meters to get to my transport point and I didn’t find a single trash bin, no container to deposit it.”

Confirming what residents said, the sociologist added that much of the garbage that reaches the Manaus shoreline is not even produced there.

“This trash is produced in Manaus’ streams. Tarumã, Tarumã-Mirim, and many others. Residents in those streamside communities don’t have proper waste collection. They consume industrialized products bought in Manaus, and in their communities, there’s nowhere to dispose of it, no systematic, regular, and continuous collection. And the trash ends up in the river. I’m not speaking from opinion— there are studies on this,” he explained.

Luiz Antonio also emphasized that the people living among the garbage didn’t choose this. “It’s the possibility they have, of being there. That’s where they find social life, that’s where their friends are, that’s their way of life, where they earn money providing services. They’re not there because they like being in a dirty, polluted place. What we really need to do, first, is not accept this as normal,” he declared.

Maria Antônia was heading out to buy bread; to reach the street, she crosses the trash in her canoe, using a branch as a paddle

Credit: Luiz

André Nascimento Cenarium

supplies the capital, in her backyard, she cannot use it due to pollution. “Water here is hard. We collect rainwater to wash dishes, wash clothes,” she said, adding that for drinking, she gets water from spouts in downtown Manaus.

NO RESPONSE

The last cleanup carried out and reported by the Municipal Secretariat of Urban Cleaning (Semulsp) in the waters of Manaus Moderna was in November last year, according to information available on the department’s own website.

CENARIUM contacted the department to ask more specific questions, such as data on the total amount of trash removed from the port shoreline in 2024, whether they confirm the trash originates from the city’s streams, and what actions the city has taken, or plans to take, not just regarding the waste, but also regarding the people who work and live there. By the time this report was published, however, the agency had not responded.

“Every year it’s this dump. The City Hall [of Manaus] comes, cleans, and then it gets dirty again. Not even 15 days go by and it’s already like this. Just one rain is enough. Look at the filth here!”

Orlando Monteiro, 70 years old, farmer.

Violations of environmental and fundamental rights

Socio-environmental lawyer João Vitor Lisboa explained that the pollution caused by trash in Manaus Moderna is a serious problem from many angles, as it violates the National Solid Waste Policy (Law No. 12.305/2010) and the Environmental Crimes Law (Law No. 9.605/1998).

“In addition, the Federal Constitution, in Article 225, guarantees the right to an ecologically balanced environment and imposes on the government and society the duty to preserve it for present and future generations,” he said.

He explains that the primary responsibility for managing and properly disposing of urban solid waste lies with the City of Manaus, as per Article 30, section V, of the Constitution.

“The municipality must ensure the collection and proper treatment of waste, as well as implement public policies to prevent environmental degradation. However, this responsibility can be shared with state and federal governments, especially when water body contamination is involved, along with the possibility of holding companies and businesses accountable for irregular disposal,” he stated.

The lawyer also emphasized that people directly affected by this trash can pursue various legal avenues to demand action from the government, such as: collective or individual lawsuits to hold the municipality accountable for failing to manage solid waste; public civil action, which can be filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office

or the Public Defender’s Office to demand urgent sanitation and cleanup measures; complaints to environmental agencies, such as the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute (Ipaam) and the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), to enforce inspections and penalties.

“The Judiciary has recognized in various rulings that the government can be held accountable for failing to properly manage solid waste and for environmental degradation. Courts have already ordered municipalities to take emergency measures to solve pollution issues in water bodies and affected communities, under penalty of fines and other sanctions,” he noted.

Protected by law, people directly affected by this waste can appeal to various instances in the legal system

Credit: Luiz André Nascimento | Cenarium

Flood advances in Amazonas

More than 340 thousand people are being affected by rising water levels in the state

Ana Pastana – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – The flooding in Amazonas is already directly impacting 343.7 thousand people. In total, 85,940 families have been affected in 29 municipalities in the interior that are in a state of emergency. Another 28 are on alert, three are under watch, and two remain in normal condition. The information comes from the latest Operation Flood 2025 bulletin, released by the Government of Amazonas this Saturday, the 31st.

Of the 62 municipalities in Amazonas, 57 have declared a state of emergency or alert. The following are in a state of emergency: Amaturá, Anamã, Apuí, Atalaia do

Norte, Benjamin Constant, Boca do Acre, Borba, Carauari, Careiro Castanho, Careiro da Várzea, Eirunepé, Fonte Boa, Guajará, Humaitá, Ipixuna, Itamarati, Itapiranga, Japurá, Jutaí, Juruá, Manicoré, Maraã, Nova Olinda do Norte, Novo Aripuanã, Santo Antônio do Içá, São Paulo de Olivença, Tonantins, and Urucurituba.

The municipalities of Alvarães, Anori, Autazes, Barreirinha, Beruri, Boa Vista do Ramos, Caapiranga, Canutama, Coari, Codajás, Iranduba, Itacoatiara, Lábrea, Manacapuru, Manaquiri, Manaus, Maués, Nhamundá, Novo Airão, Parintins, Pauini, Rio Preto da Eva, São Sebastião do Uatumã,

Stilt houses seen from above by drone

Credit: Luiz André Nascimento

Cenarium

Silves, Tabatinga, Tapauá, Tefé, Uarini, and Urucará are on alert.

Under watch are the municipalities of Barcelos, Santa Isabel do Rio Negro, and São Gabriel da Cachoeira. The cities of Envira and Presidente Figueiredo remain in normal condition.

According to the Management and Operational Center of the Amazon Protection System (Censipam), the forecast for the end of the quarter (April, May, and June) is that rainfall in the Legal Amazon region will be above average from central-northern Roraima to northern Amapá. For the Amazonas region, the forecast is normal conditions.

According to meteorologist Andrea Mendes, flooding in the Amazonas region is common during this time of year. She explains that from October to May, when rainfall intensifies in the region, the La Niña phenomenon is one of the main contributors to the volume of water in the rivers of Amazonas.

“In the North Region, we have two well-defined periods: the rainy period and the less rainy period. The rainy period generally runs from October to May, and the

less rainy one from May to early October. In the last two years, we’ve had the El Niño issue, which influenced the situation. From late 2024 to early 2025, another phenomenon began—La Niña, the opposite of El Niño. That is, there will be rain in the North Region. This rainfall trend during the period is expected climatologically. What happened in the last two years is that El Niño caused the droughts observed in the region, especially in Amazonas,” she explained.

According to the State Civil Defense, the forecast is that the flood will persist until July. “The nine river basins of Amazonas continue in the flooding process, with peak levels expected between March and July,” says a section of the Flood bulletin.

HEALTH

Some municipalities are already receiving medical aid and healthcare, in addition to food and other supplies. According to the State Secretariat of Health (SES-AM), 72 medication kits were sent to the municipalities of Apuí, Boca do Acre, Manicoré, Humaitá, Ipixuna, Guajará, and Novo Aripuanã, benefiting more than 35,000 residents of these cities.

“This rainfall trend during the period is expected climatologically. What happened in the last two years is that El Niño caused the droughts observed in the region, especially in Amazonas”

Andrea Mendes, meteorologist.

Government of Amazonas announced that elective surgeries will be performed in seven specialties

From Cenarium*

MANAUS (AM) – Governor Wilson Lima announced the implementation of a task force for elective surgeries in Amazonas, which will offer over 40,000 procedures in addition to the usual average provided by the state public network for patients scheduled through the Regulation System (Sisreg). The task force is another strategic action by the State Government to expand public access to procedures in the specialties of general surgery (hernia and gallbladder), gynecology, orthopedics, urology, ophthalmology, proctology, and dermatology.

“The goal of the task force is to reduce the waiting time for a patient to undergo a

Task Force of 40 thousand surgeries

surgical procedure and find a balance point, and that’s why we are making progress. We hope that, in the future, there will be no need for a task force because the units will be operating at full capacity, like the South Hospital Complex, Adriano Jorge Hospital, Delphina Aziz, Francisca Mendes, so that patients don’t have to wait a year, two years for a procedure or a consultation,” said Governor Wilson Lima.

State deputies Dr. Gomes and Mayara Pinheiro; Amazonas Health Secretary Nayara Maksoud; Attorney General Giordano Bruno Costa da Cruz; Deputy Public Defender General of the State Karol Santos; President of the Institute for Environmental, Social and Economic Development of the Municipalities of Amazonas (Idasemam), Frederico Júnior; and representatives from healthcare units participated in the announcement.

The announcement was made directly from the Adriano Jorge Hospital Founda-

tion (FHAJ), one of six facilities in the capital that will receive surgical reinforcements. At FHAJ, hernia and gallbladder surgeries will be intensified beyond the volume already routinely performed.

Hospitals also participating in the task force include Delphina Aziz, Alfredo da Matta Foundation (Fuham), Chapot Prevost Maternity, Amazonas Children’s Institute (Icam), and Dr. Fajardo Children’s Hospital.

Between June and December, 30,150 surgeries are scheduled to take place in the capital. In the countryside, another 10,000 procedures will be carried out in partnership with municipal governments, through hospital units supported by the State Government. With the task force, the total number of surgeries planned for 2025 increases from 291,400 to 331,550.

The initiative is part of the Saúde Amazonas program and represents an investment

Governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, hugs a patient during the announcement of the surgery task force

Credit: Antônio Lima | Secom

of R$ 186.6 million, of which R$ 155.5 million comes from the State Treasury and R$ 31 million from federal transfers.

STRATEGY

The intensification of elective surgeries will be possible due to the full operation of surgical centers during nighttime hours, weekends, and holidays. In addition, a production-based credentialing model will be adopted, allowing various service providers to participate in the action, increasing service capacity.

At Adriano Jorge Foundation, patients scheduled for hernia and gallbladder surger-

ies have been called since May 30 through the Regulation System. They undergo preoperative exams, such as echocardiograms and X-rays, cardiological evaluation, and a follow-up consultation with the surgeon, all conducted at the same facility.

“The State Government has had this focus and care for health. Having identified this demand, we now have the responsibility, as a high-complexity hospital with the structure to do so, to meet this repressed demand. We will continue to attend to these queues with the goal of equalizing healthcare needs in relation to surgeries,” said FHAJ President-Director Ayllon Menezes.

“The goal of the task force is to reduce the waiting time for a patient to undergo a surgical procedure and find a balance point, and that’s why we are making progress”

Wilson Lima, governor of Amazonas.

Motoboy Bruno da Silva, 35 years old, underwent surgery for a left inguinal hernia. He had the procedure done during the week and expressed his gratitude for the initiative.

“I’m feeling really good. It was very important to have this surgery because it’s an illness that limits our ability to do things, and today I feel well, thank God. First, I thank God for the opportunity, and the governor (Wilson Lima) for launching this initiative and helping us improve our lives,” he said.

PATIENT NOTIFICATION

Patients with requests registered in the Regulation System will be contacted through the Virtual Assistant of the Saúde AM Digital Program via WhatsApp, at the number (92) 3190-1504. It is essential that the patient responds to the assistant’s message to secure the appointment. After confirmation, patients will be screened and undergo exams; if deemed fit, they will be referred for surgery.

OPERA+ AMAZONAS

Launched in 2021 by Governor Wilson Lima, Opera+ Amazonas aims to expand access to elective surgeries and reduce the backlog of procedures in the state. The initiative is one of the pillars of the Saúde Amazonas Program and reinforces the State Government’s role in modernizing and humanizing healthcare services.

(*) With information from the Press Office

Task force announcement was made by the State governor, Wilson Lima

Motoboy Bruno da Silva, 35 years old, underwent surgery for a left inguinal hernia

CENARIUM at the 3i Festival

Media outlet focused on the Amazon was one of the highlights of the event that recognizes Innovative and Inspiring Journalism

Ana Pastana – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – The Digital Journalism Association (Ajor) promoted, from June 5 to 8, the 6th national edition of the Festival of Innovative, Inspiring and Independent Journalism (3i Festival), at ESPM Vila Aymoré College, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). The schedule included around 100 activities, with over 120 speakers from various regions of the country and the world, among them journalists from CENARIUM.

The event promoted debates about the future of Journalism through innovations, diversity, contemporary and ancestral technologies, collaboration, and freedom.

CENARIUM, one of the collaborators of the 6th edition and invited to participate in the event, was represented by journalist and social media analyst Maria Eduarda Furtado and general director Paula Litaiff, who was also a speaker.

Maria Eduarda took part in a case study with the theme “The arrival of Brazilians deported from the USA.” The video published exclusively by CENARIUM, in January this year, showed immigrants deported from the U.S. disembarking at Eduardo Gomes International Airport in Manaus (AM), in handcuffs.

Maria Eduarda shared with the audience the behind-the-scenes of the report, which gained national and international repercussions. “I didn’t expect so many people to want to know the behind-the-scenes of that investigation. Not that I’m downplaying my work, but it was unimaginable that an institution like Ajor would want me to address the subject at such a big event. I was very honored, and I think it’s important

to talk about the human rights violations that occurred when the deportees arrived here [in Manaus],” she said.

CENARIUM’s general director, Paula Litaiff, participated in the panel “Data & Trends: Political and Gender Violence against Indigenous Women in Manaus.” Founder of CENARIUM, a news outlet specialized in socio-environmental topics with a focus on traditional peoples, Paula discussed the journey of female leaders from various ethnic groups who live in Parque das Tribos, one of the largest Indigenous neighborhoods in Brazil, located in Manaus (AM).

“The research arose from reports carried out by CENARIUM, which revealed the reality of women responsible for founding an Indigenous community in Manaus, from the perspective of the ‘body-territory’ concept, coined by Brazil’s first Indigenous writer, Eliane Potiguara, in 2004,” Litaiff explained.

Cenarium team, based in Manaus (AM) with reporters in Belém (PA) and Brasília (DF)

Credit: Composition

by Lucas Oliveira

Cenarium

With tickets sold out, the 6th edition of 3i Festival featured Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of its themes. The opening panel, which took place on June 5, brought in experts to discuss possible innovation scenarios and the use of this tool in newsrooms.

Participated in the opening panel Karen De La Hoz, Product Lead and AI leader at the Colombian outlet La Silla Vacía; Ana Paula Valacco, program manager and engagement leader at JournalismAI; and Juan Pablo Marín Díaz, data scientist and founder of Datasketch, which creates AI tools to assist journalists.

In addition to traditional formats from past editions of 3i Festival; such as panels, case studies, workshops, data, and trends;

3i Festival

2025 3i Festival also introduced a new activity called “Dialogues and Trends,” in which two debaters address a specific topic based on research and experience.

One of the highlights of the format was the session “Influence, opinion, and journalism: new paths in algorithmic times,” with journalist Guilherme Amado, publisher of Amado Mundo and columnist at Platô, and journalist and researcher from the Fluminense Federal University, Gilberto Scofield. The experts will discuss the role of “newsfluencers” in the spread of information and how algorithms shape public opinion.

The workshops offer participants hands-on experience, including building audience conversion and monetization

Ajor’s project coordinator, Gessika Costa, highlighted the importance of the event and what the participation of CENARIUM, a news outlet from the Amazon, represents at the 3i Festival.

“3i Festival is the festival of opportunities, as it brings together, over three days, media entrepreneurs, students, and researchers who seek to exchange experiences, learn new practices, and chart paths to ensure that innovative, inspiring, and independent journalism remains alive, telling stories and inspiring other professionals,” she stated. “The presence of CENARIUM at the event is crucial because it helps inspire other Amazonian initiatives to grow, thrive, and occupy space,” she concluded.

models, creating content for YouTube and TikTok, financial management, newsletter best practices, audience-centered content strategies, and character research for journalistic material production.

All panels on the event schedule, held in the ESPM Auditorium, were broadcast live on the 3i Festival’s YouTube channel.

The event was supported by companies such as: Cenarium; Ford Foundation; Serrapilheira; Great; International Fund (IF); Institute of Technology & Society of Rio (ITS); Institute for the Development of Journalism (Projor); CFPJor ESPM; ESPM; and Aos Fatos. Additionally, Google News Initiative, Luminate, ICFJ, JournalismAI, Pulitzer Center, Sembramedia, and Greenpeace are partners in this 6th edition.

Ajor

The Digital Journalism Association, Ajor, promotes the journalistic field by strengthening its members and advocating for a freer, more diverse, and plural press, with the aim of promoting quality journalism in the public interest, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. It acts as a discussion center to promote the institutional and financial strengthening of its members, as well as providing legal and digital security support.

Ajor was founded through the union of a group of organizations that had jointly promoted 3i Festival – Innovative, Inspiring and Independent Journalism – since 2017.

Between 2017 and 2019, the two national editions and three regional editions of the festival welcomed over 1,300 professionals and students and reached an online audience of more than 140,000 people.

In 2020, with support from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, through a Google grant, the founding organizations of Festival 3i began discussions on the need to create an association not only to defend their interests but also to promote and protect the field of Journalism in Brazil. Ajor was founded on May 3, 2021, World Press Freedom Day.

Cenarium’s general director, Paula Litaiff (left), and journalist Maria Eduarda Furtado (right), during the 3i Festival

‘They were not silenced’

Univaja publishes manifesto in remembrance of three years since the deaths of Bruno and Dom on World Environment Day

Ana Pastana – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – The Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja), along with 49 organizations, journalists, and public figures, released this Thursday, June 5, a manifesto in memory of indigenist Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in Amazonas, who were murdered on June 5, 2022. The deaths mark three years.

The “Manifesto – Three Years Without Bruno and Dom” recalls the date that marks the disappearance of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips near the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, in the municipality of Atalaia do Norte, 1,136 km from Manaus, Amazonas, while they were conducting an investigation in the region.

Three years ago, on June 5, 2022, the local, national, and international press reported on the disappearance and, days later, the discovery of the bodies of Bruno and Dom. According to the investigation by the Federal Police (PF), both were killed in retaliation for the environmental inspections Bruno conducted in the Javari Valley region.

According to the manifesto, Bruno and Dom remain present in those who protect the forests, in the resistant silence of those who care for the land, and in the actions of those who, even in the face of fear, choose courage.

“Today, this June 5, World Environment Day, three years after the tragedy in the Javari Valley, we do not remember only two names — we remember a cause. A struggle. A promise: that the forest will remain standing. That Indigenous peoples will live with dignity, respect, and freedom,” reads an excerpt of the manifesto. (See the full manifesto below)

The document mentions other environmental defenders murdered in the Amazon: “The voices and ideas of Bruno and Dom were not silenced. They echo in the story of Maxciel Pereira dos Santos. They echo in the fight of Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau. In the faith and bravery of Dorothy Stang. In the living memory of Emyra Wajãpi, Mother Bernadete, Chico Mendes, and so many others who died fighting.”

The manifesto demands protection for the “guardians of the forest,” recalling that the country is hosting the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) this year. “This year, as Brazil prepares to host COP30, the world is watching us. And we demand more than promises. We demand protection for the guardians of the forest. We demand real, urgent, and transformative actions,” the document states.

Finally, the organizations, journalists, and public figures stress that Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips are present “in every free word, in every courageous report, in

Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips Manifesto released by Univaja Credit:

Credit: Reproduction Bárbara Arisi | Reproduction Social Media | Composition by de Lucas Oliveira Cenarium

every act of resistance, in every defense of democracy, human rights, and press freedom.” The document ends by affirming that they are remembered with pain but also with pride, and that what they did was not in vain.

UNDERSTAND THE CASE

Journalist Dom Phillips arrived in the municipality of Atalaia do Norte in early June 2022 with the aim of interviewing Indigenous leaders and traditional peoples of the region for a long-form journalistic book he was producing. This was not the first time Phillips had visited the area.

Indigenist Bruno Pereira was a former employee of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai). He had been on leave from the agency since early February 2020 and was a career official at the foundation but had been dismissed from the General Coordination of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples four months before the crime.

Leading projects that aimed to guarantee the rights of communities and protect their territories and natural resources, the indigenist had received multiple death threats, which were formally reported to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office.

THE MURDER

On June 3, 2022, Bruno and Dom left the municipality of Atalaia do Norte using a motorboat belonging to Univaja to meet with leaders from five communities located outside the Indigenous territory. After fulfilling their commitments, the pair left on the morning of June 5, heading to the São Rafael community, where Bruno was to meet with the community leader known as “Churrasco (Barbecue).”

According to information provided to the press at the time, for safety reasons, Bruno always notified Univaja in advance of any movements he planned to make. On that day, he and Dom planned to travel about 72 kilometers, roughly two hours of navigation, which never occurred.

Bruno and Dom disappeared shortly after being seen near the São Gabriel community, a neighboring village to São Rafael, the last place the pair were known to have visited. After hours without contact, Univaja

deployed nearby teams to begin searching for Bruno and Dom.

THE INVESTIGATION

Ten days after the disappearance, federal police located “human remains” at a remote site indicated by Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as “Pelado (Naked),” who had been detained on the 7th of that month after the Amazonas Civil Police (PC-AM) identified him through witness statements. He was the first suspect to be identified at the time. Two days later, PF forensic experts confirmed that at least some of the human remains found belonged to Bruno and Dom.

Initially, Pelado denied involvement in the disappearance of Bruno and Dom, but in addition to testimonies from people who said they had seen him threaten the journalist and the indigenist, PF forensic experts identified traces of blood in the boat he used on the day the pair disappeared. Bruno was killed with three shots, one of them in the back, with no chance of defense. Dom was murdered solely for being with Bruno, in an attempt to ensure impunity for the prior crime.

Given the evidence, Pelado ended up admitting to participating in the murders and the concealment of the indigenist’s and journalist’s bodies, pointing to the location where the bodies were buried. This led to the arrests of Pelado’s brother, Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as “Dos Santos,” who was detained on June 14, and to the issuing of an arrest warrant for Jefferson da Silva Lima, known as “Pelado da Dinha,” who turned himself in to the Civil Police in Atalaia do Norte four days later.

CONCLUSION

The Federal Police investigation, which lasted more than two years, resulted in the indictment of nine suspects. According to the final report, the PF identified the mastermind of the crime as Ruben Villar, known as “Colômbia,” stating that he financed and provided resources, including ammunition, for the double homicide.

Additionally, according to the police, he coordinated the concealment of the bodies of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips. The other suspects were involved either directly

in the execution of the murders or in hiding the victims’ corpses.

The investigation also exposed the operations of a criminal organization in the Atalaia do Norte area, connected to illegal fishing and hunting activities, which directly impact the environment and Indigenous populations in the region.

Amarildo and Jefferson confessed and provided details about the crime in their initial statements to the police and the court, which were confirmed by witnesses and the evidence in the case files.

According to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), there was already a history of disputes between Bruno and Amarildo over illegal fishing in Indigenous territory. The motive for the murders was allegedly Bruno asking Dom to photograph the accused’s boat.

The MPF also appealed to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) for one of the three men accused in the murders of Bruno and Dom to be taken to a jury trial. The appeal to reconsider the decision of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF1), which favored Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, was filed in January of this year.

According to the MPF’s argument, witnesses heard during the process placed the fisherman at the crime scene. Investigations showed that Oseney met with his brother, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, on the day and time of the murders. The agency also mentioned that Jefferson da Silva Lima confessed that Amarildo had summoned his brother and other relatives to go after Bruno Pereira.

For the MPF, Oseney was involved in the crime and should be judged by a jury, just like the defendants Amarildo and Jefferson, who are charged with double qualified homicide and concealment of a corpse. The agency argues, through the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of the 1st Region (PRR1), that the TRF1 decision violated Articles 413 and 414 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPP), as there is sufficient evidence to justify Oseney’s trial by jury.

Amarildo and Jefferson will be tried for double qualified homicide and concealment of the victims’ corpses. Both remain in custody. As for Oseney, he awaits the conclusion of the case under house arrest with electronic monitoring.

A cabocla opera

Milton Cunha, in partnership with UEA, launches the program ‘Toada do Milton,’ a project that will result in the carnival artist and researcher’s third postdoctoral degree

Ana Pastana – From Cenarium*

MANAUS (AM) – The State University of Amazonas (UEA), immersed in the tradition of the world’s largest open-air folklore festival, the Parintins Festival, is presenting, for the first time, a live TV program during the 58th edition of the festival. The show will be hosted by the artist, carnival producer, master and PhD in Literature, Milton Cunha. The project will be called “Toada do Milton.”

In addition to promoting popular culture, the project also includes a university extension component that will culminate in Professor Dr. Milton's third postdoctoral degree, in partnership with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the National Museum. The partnership

will result in the creation of the book A Ópera Cabocla.

“When the university called me, six months ago, asking: ‘Would you like to participate in a popular project in the square?’, I said ‘yes’, and ‘I’m going to turn this into my third postdoctoral degree.’ I had an old dream of writing the book A Ópera Cabocla. This cabocla opera [the project] has been with me since 2007. When the invitation came, I said: ‘Now is the time. I’m going to bring together the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the State University of Amazonas, and we’re going to produce this academic content, showcasing the narrative structure of the boi,’” said Milton Cunha to CENARIUM

Milton Cunha is an artist, carnival producer, master and PhD in Literature

Credit: Ricardo Oliveira

| Cenarium

The artist also thanked the invitation to take part in a pioneering project by the state university. “The joy of returning to Parintins and once again encountering the opulence of the bumbás’ expression is now enhanced by this pride of being part of a popular academic project that sheds light on other times of the island. I’m happy to be part of this, to bring to Brazil this wealth of reflections on those who are there, surrounding the spectacle of the oxen. It will be a space for a different voice, another perspective,” he emphasized.

For the rector of UEA, Prof. Dr. André Zogahib, the university extension project’s action during the Parintins Folklore Festival will energize the municipality during the bumbás celebration. “It is with great honor that I announce the presence of the artist Milton Cunha who, in addition to being a nationally recognized and renowned carnival producer, holds several academic degrees. He is a PhD, with postdoctoral studies in various cultural fields at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where he is also a professor. So, academic Milton Cunha will be present at this great festive and cultural movement that is the Parintins Festival,” he declared.

UEA

UEA will contribute to the project through the live broadcast of the program.

In addition, visitors attending the Parintins Festival will have the opportunity to learn more about research projects carried out by the public university of Amazonas.

“The State University brings Milton Cunha through a university extension action that culminates in the third postdoctoral degree of Professor Dr. Milton Cunha, in which he will address this Cabocla Opera through Labedis, the Laboratory of Studies of Discourse, Image, and Sound of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the National Museum. So, it is about this facet of the carnival producer, the researcher, the scholar of popular festivals that this project is inscribed,” said Darlisom Ferreira, UEA’s Pro-Rector of Extension and Community Affairs (Proex).

Darlisom also stated that UEA will provide a booth with information about the university, through the School of Arts and Tourism. “Of course, in addition to Milton’s prominent presence, the university will have a beautiful studio booth, where it will present its initiatives through the UEA School of Arts and Tourism — in dance, music, and theater — which are courses offered by the State University of Amazonas. And, in this COP30 year, the university will also bring its sustainability projects and this outcry for the preservation of life articulated with folklore, art, and Parintins culture,” he explained.

Toada do Milton

The program will be broadcast live from the Praça da Catedral in Parintins on June 27, 28, and 29, during the 58th Folklore Festival. Lasting three hours, “Toada do Milton” will begin at 1 p.m. on UEA’s official YouTube channel, with several segments designed to regionalize the interviews and take the guests on a journey through the history of the Caprichoso and Garantido bumbás, as well as other sectors of Tupinambarana culture.

Milton Cunha will receive guests in a studio designed so that, in addition to the channel’s viewers, visitors to the island can also follow everything up close, experiencing the festive atmosphere that takes over Parintins in June and that will now be part of the “Toada do Milton” program.

The 2025 Parintins project marks UEA’s nationally visible presence through the participation of Milton Cunha, an icon of national culture and a scholar of Brazil’s popular festivals. After traveling across the entire country, from the Campina Grande festival, São João do Maranhão, and Carnival, the artist will bring his résumé and trajectory to Parintins, diving into the Amazonian setting.

The program “Toada do Milton” will not only serve as a tool to showcase the importance of forming university extension research within the daily life of the festival, the production and dissemination of culture and knowledge, and the university’s folkloric expression in the North region, through a great researcher, but will also serve as the foundation for Milton Cunha’s third postdoctoral degree, at the National Museum and the Laboratory of Studies of Discourse, Image, and Sound (Labedis).

In addition to the “Toada do Milton” program, UEA will also hold, in the same studio structure, a university exhibition featuring projects developed by the institution’s professors, students, and collaborators during the university’s 25 years of foundation.

(*) With information from UEA’s press office.

Milton Cunha, UEA’s rector André Zogahib, and the State Secretary of Culture, Caio André Credit:

Sustainable and efficient

Dressing made from fishing waste shows strong healing potential

Alessandra Leite – Special for Cenarium

São Paulo (SP) – Produced from sustainable materials and with the potential to accelerate healing, a dressing that can be manufactured in the Northern Region and other locations, based on derivatives from fishery industry waste, was developed by researchers from the Fed eral University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), as an alternative to imported bandages used by the Unified Health System (SUS). The study was published on May 2 of this year in the journal Materials Research.

The dependence on imports increases treatment costs and makes the system more vulnerable to global supply crises. Named CH50BGF, the dressing was developed in foam format and combines chitosan – a natural polymer derived from the fishery industry – with bioactive glass micropar ticles, a ceramic material already used in biomedical applications.

According to the study’s author, Talita Martins, PhD in Metallurgical, Materials, and Mining Engineering from UFMG, in addition to favoring sustainable and local

Chitin, used in the dressing’s composition, costs

production, the combination provides high absorption capacity of exudates, liquids released by wounds, and promotes healing. In laboratory tests, CH50BGF demonstrated liquid absorption capacity of up to 160% in 24 hours, a performance considered superior to many commercial dressings available on the market.

“The technology can also be customized for different levels of secretion, such as third-degree burns or pressure injuries. Our prototypes with medical-grade chitosan produced at UFMG have shown even better results. Furthermore, the estimated cost is considerably lower,” highlights the researcher.

“The technology can also be customized for different levels of secretion, such as third-degree burns or pressure injuries.”

Talita Martins, study author, PhD in Metallurgical, Materials and Mining Engineering from UFMG.

The dressing, according to feasibility is produced using fishery waste, making the product more sustainable, whereas imported ones generally use petroleum-de-

Chitosan, according to the publication, acts as a natural antimicrobial, maintaining the ideal moisture for tissue regeneration and preventing infections, while bioactive glass releases ions that stimulate the formation of new blood vessels and collagen production, accelerating wound closure.

“This result reinforces the possibility of reconciling sustainability and high performance, not only ensuring the necessary porosity for absorption but also preserving the structural integrity of the dressing, even under saturation conditions. For a project aimed at replacing imported inputs, this result demonstrates the technical feasibility of a national alternative, with the potential to reduce costs and expand access to technologies in SUS,” says Eduardo Nunes, PhD in Metallurgical and Materials and coordinator of the study.

In terms of feasibility, according to Nunes, the national dressing can be up to 40% more economical compared to imported equivalents, especially because

it uses fishery industry waste that totals at least ten tons per year in the country, making it an environmentally beneficial option. “All of this is relevant given the high demand from SUS, which needs five million dressings per year for the treatment of chronic wounds,” he emphasizes.

Strengthening local chains

On a broader level, according to the study, the proposal strengthens local innovation chains, integrating research, industry, and agriculture sectors.

“It is an approach that helps ease pressure on public resources and paves the way for more resilient health policies capable of facing global crises without relying on external markets,” states Talita Martins.

Currently, the team is working to consolidate the entire production chain, from obtaining raw material to standardizing the final product, involving the improvement of sustainable extraction and purification processes from fishery waste.

“Our aim is to establish a robust protocol that positions Minas Gerais as a national reference in obtaining this biomolecule,” she emphasizes.

This result reinforces the possibility of reconciling sustainability and high performance.”

Eduardo

Nunes, PhD in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and study coordinator.

Appropriation is not appreciation

In recent years, and more intensely in recent months, we have witnessed a troubling movement from the folklore associations of Parintins. In an attempt to erase a past marked by the appropriation of Indigenous cultures, forged narratives have emerged: items with fabricated “Indigenous origins” and even board members who, overnight, suddenly declare themselves Indigenous, as if by magic.

This is not representation. It is makeup. It is a selective, opportunistic visibility that does not align with the greatness and responsibility that the Parintins Festival should honor.

Even more serious: thirty days before the festival, a member of the Caprichoso Arts Council, who had taken the ox to my village, danced with us, shared in our hospitality, voted against the proposal to include a seat with voice and vote for the SateréMawé people on the Municipal Council of Culture. A contradictory and revealing gesture that lays bare how Indigenous pres-

ence is often welcome only as scenery, not as a political and cultural subject.

It is unacceptable that, in 2025, it is still white people, and not Indigenous peoples, who determine who can or cannot occupy spaces of speech, decision-making, and representation. That is disrespectful. That is colonization disguised as a show.

Garantido and Caprichoso — and here I refer to both the elected and unelected leadership — must listen with humility to those who carry this history in their blood, memory, and struggle. Representation is not invented on paper: it is built with truth, listening, and respect.

Turning Indigenous rights into selfie props is a disservice. Not everything that shines in the bumbódromo is culture. Sometimes, it’s just disrespect lit up by LEDs.

I am Tito Menezes, the first Sateré-Mawé lawyer, a member of Boi Garantido, a performer since childhood, and a resident of Quilombo da Baixa, in Parintins. I have

worked in the defense of local, regional, and national Indigenous organizations, including before the Supreme Federal Court in the case against the Temporal Framework Law in Indigenous land demarcation. I am the Secretary-General of the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) in Parintins and have served as a consultant member of OAB commissions dedicated to the defense of Indigenous peoples' rights. I speak with the commitment of someone who lives, knows, and fights for this cause with roots, memory, and responsibility.

(*) Tito Menezes is the first lawyer from the Sateré-Mawé ethnicity, a resident of Quilombo da Baixa in Parintins (AM). He has worked in the defense of local, regional, and national Indigenous organizations, including before the Supreme Federal Court (STF), in the case against the Marco Temporal in Indigenous land demarcation. He is the Secretary-General of the Brazilian Bar Association in Parintins and has served as a consultant member of the OAB’s commissions dedicated to defending the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Tito Menezes

Opinion does not replace evidence: statements by Aleam deputies on BR-319 contradict scientific consensus

Lucas Ferrante

The repercussions of the clash involving the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), Marina Silva, in the Senate, reached the Legislative Assembly of the State of Amazonas (Aleam), where parliamentarians used their speeches to defend the paving of the BR-319 highway and to attack the minister. As a researcher with extensive scientific work on the social and environmental impacts of this highway, I am responding technically, based on evidence, to the statements made by these state deputies.

State deputy João Luiz (Republicanos) used the floor of the Amazonas Legislative Assembly to defend senators Omar Aziz and Plínio Valério, praising their role in the recent clash with Minister Marina Silva in the Senate. In his speech, the parliamentarian criticized the data presented by the minister on the oxygen collapse in Manaus, claiming that “there were not six deaths, but more than 15,000,” and showed images of trucks stuck in the mud on BR-319 to illustrate the poor state of the highway. The parliamentarian also rejected the comparison with the minister's home state, arguing that “the minister’s state has paved roads that provide access to the rest of Brazil,” and presented a motion congratulating the Amazonas senators for their stance in the Senate.

As the researcher who led the scientific alerts on the second wave of Covid-19 in Manaus, it is shocking to hear from deputy João Luiz a blind defense of political narratives that ignored, at the time, the warnings of science. Where was the deputy when, back in June 2020, we issued a tech-

nical note — requested by the Amazonas State Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP-AM) — warning of the imminence of a more lethal new wave of the pandemic? Where were his questions when this warning was nationally reinforced on Jornal Nacional, published in the journal Nature Medicine, and presented at the Amazonas Legislative Assembly (Aleam) months before the tragedy unfolded? The deaths did not occur due to the lack of BR-319, but because of negligence — including from Aleam — in ignoring technical alerts, and from the federal government at the time, which chose a slower, more expensive, and ineffective logistics method: the trucks stuck in the muddy highway that are now used by deputies as political arguments.

The comparison with Minister Marina Silva’s home state not only shifts focus from local responsibility but ignores that the true connection of Manaus with Brazil has always been through waterways and air routes. As we demonstrated in a scientific article in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, the choice of BR-319 for oxygen transport was not an emergency solution, but a political propaganda maneuver that cost hundreds of lives, increased inequalities, and is now used as justification for projects that pose environmental, health, and Indigenous threats in Amazonas. The people of Amazonas deserve public policies based on evidence, not political opportunism.

In the same session, deputy Carlinhos Bessa (PV) downplayed the environmental impacts of paving BR-319 with a reductionist argument: “Even my 12-year-old

son knows that environmental crimes happen much more now than if BR-319 were already paved.” Such a statement completely ignores the body of evidence produced by peer-reviewed scientific studies showing exactly the opposite. In an article published in Land Use Policy, we showed that even the expectation of BR-319’s paving has already caused a significant increase in deforestation along its route, including inside protected areas. Since the start of “maintenance” work on the highway in 2015, the deforestation rate near BR-319 has more than doubled, and previously intact areas have become targets for land grabbing, fires, and illegal occupations. The idea that asphalt brings order ignores the historical pattern of the Amazon, where every open road has served as a vector for forest destruction, expansion of agribusiness frontiers, and pressure on Indigenous Lands and Conservation Units, as evidenced by the Atlas of the Brazilian Amazon. The role of legislators is not to oversimplify complex problems with catchy phrases, but to face reality based on technical data and intergenerational responsibility.

Deputy Commandant Dan (Podemos) criticized media coverage of the clash involving Minister Marina Silva, claiming that “some media outlets disregarded our reality,” and reinforced his support for paving BR-319 with the phrase: “We here in Amazonas need solutions.” Indeed, Amazonas needs solutions — but they must be effective, sustainable, and evidence-based. Paving BR-319 does not represent a real solution to the region’s economic and logistical challenges. After its abandonment

in 1988 due to economic unviability, the State of Amazonas experienced its greatest period of economic growth, notably with the strengthening of the Manaus Industrial Hub (PIM), which in 2023 reached a record revenue of R$ 173.47 billion, employing over 100,000 people directly — all without a paved BR-319. The transport model that sustains this development is fluvial and aerial, not road-based. In a meeting held by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in 2019, a PIM representative categorically stated that BR-319 is irrelevant to the region’s industrial activities, exemplifying that companies like Samsung would never put a truckload of cellphones on the highway due to its insecurity and higher cost compared to river transport. Reinforcing BR-319 as an economic solution ignores that its paving accelerates deforestation, expands illegal activities such as land grabbing and drug trafficking, and disrupts local logistics chains. The real solution for Amazonas lies in strengthening waterway transport, investing in digital connectivity, ensuring public policies aimed at the bioeconomy, and protecting Indigenous and traditional territories. The paving of BR-319, far from being a solution, is part of the problem.

The president of Aleam, deputy Roberto Cidade (UB), reiterated his support for the Amazonas senators and for paving BR-319, endorsing the argument that the highway would be crucial for the state's progress. However, this narrative ignores both the current economic reality and the available technical data. The Manaus Free Trade Zone, the main economic driver of Amazonas, has been established and thrived over the past decades without relying on a land connection to the rest of the country. Its operation is primarily through river and air routes, which are better suited to the region's logistics. At the same time, studies conducted in partnership with the Management and Operational Center of the Amazon Protection System (Censipam), an agency linked to the Ministry of Defense, show that the expectation of paving has led to increased land grabbing, deforestation, and a growing presence of criminal factions in the region. The resumption of construction since 2015 has led to the conversion of vast public lands into illegal pastures and intensified violence associated with land conflicts.

Even more serious are the epidemiological risks associated with opening the highway. As we warned in articles published in Nature and The Lancet Planetary

Health, the paving of BR-319 exposes large blocks of primary forest to degradation fronts and human contact, creating ideal conditions for the emergence of new zoonotic epidemics. Ignoring this scientific warning is not only irresponsible — it is dangerous. All serious scientific studies indicate that paving BR-319, without a rigorous environmental protection plan and respect for human rights, will lead to environmental, health, and institutional collapse in the Amazon. Sustainable development is only possible with science, social justice, and environmental and political responsibility.

(*) Lucas Ferrante holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Alfenas (Unifal), and a master’s and doctorate in Biology (Ecology) from the National Institute of Amazonian Research (Inpa). He was the first author and leader of the research group that predicted the second wave of Covid-19 in Manaus, with widely cited studies published in international journals. He is the Brazilian researcher with the highest number of first-author publications in the world’s two leading scientific journals, Science and Nature. He is currently a researcher at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam).