Blood Gold Mining Pros And Cons

The country of Brazil occupies nearly half of the South American continent with an estimated population of, 3 million square miles. Within Brazil lies the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon rainforest.Gold mining, the extraction of gold in a desired place, is very prevalent in the Amazon forest. The article “Blood Gold” sheds light on the illegal mining being carried out in the Amazon forest and how it negatively impacts the indigenous people of the land. Illegal mining is seen as somewhat profitable, bringing “more than a billion dollars a year”. Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, is supported by a powerful lobby called “the three B’s” – Bible, Beef, and Bullets. The Bible stands for the new found evangelism within the Amazon rainforest.

These doings have always been seen as a way of oppression on indigenous people and a way to “conform” into a “right” way of living life. The Beef stands for the conflicts that have been brewing as a result of the illegal gold mining persisting in the Amazon forest. For decades, people have been trying to extract gold in areas of the forest that were deemed illegal. Due to the massive monetary gain, the president at the time turned a blind eye to illegal mining.Gold miners' constant disinterest in the environment and the people living within it, while also building mines to extract gold, have always been one of the raging conflicts. Also, the lack of government interference pertaining to gold mining is also another issue. President Bolsonaro constantly spoke out publicly on how he would not be advocating for “Indians” during his presidency which set a negative precedent involving the whole mining issue.Native tribes like the Kayapo are negatively impacted by the gold mining on their sacred land. Burials repeatedly being destroyed by miners serves as one of the many issues the Indigenous people of the Amazon, faced as a result of