Brazil’s leaders must take immediate action to save the country’s indigenous peoples from a Covid-19 “genocide”,a global coalition of artists, celebrities, scientists and intellectuals has said.
“Just in the Brazilian Amazon we have 103 indigenous groups which have never been contacted – they represent humanity’s pre-history,” Salgado said. “We cannot allow all of this to disappear.”
Sebastião Salgado, photojournalist
“The emphasis in the world is still on growth, on expansion. Whole economic systems are based upon growth and access to ever-greater amounts of resources. This cannot continue. That is why the change at hand is so monumental, so fundamental and far-reaching.”
Preventing collapse and the Wars of Desperation
Salgado – who is calling for the creation of an army-led taskforce to evict intruders from protected areas – admitted Bolsonaro would not act of his own volition. But he believed international pressure could force the government to do so, as happened last year when global outrage resulted in the military being deployed to extinguish fires in the Amazon.
And how will be we able to feed the hungry and restore the environment without coming together on these issues, realizing a greater context for our lives? How can we stop viewing our world as a place for expansion and growth only? We must gain new eyes.