The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) announced the partial reopening of the airspace over the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in Roraima, to allow the coordinated and spontaneous departure of miners who operate illegally in the region. The measure began to take effect this Monday (6) and will last a week, continuing until next Monday (13). According to the FAB, three air corridors were created. The aircraft will be authorized to fly as long as they remain within the established lateral and vertical limits.
The new rules were standardized by the FAB through Notam, which stands for Notice to Air Missions, which informs the aeronautical community about the operation.
“The change in the Air Defense Identification Zone (ZIDA) also adds that aircraft taking off from locations far from these corridors must fly perpendicularly until they enter one of them, and then continue their flight. The corridors are six nautical miles long. (NM) wide, which is equivalent to about 11 kilometers”, informed the FAB.
Intelligence sectors of the federal government and the indigenous movement itself identified the flight of prospectors of the indigenous land in recent days by land and waterway. As the main form of access to the territory is by air, the reopening for flights should speed up the departure of invaders.
Aircraft that fail to comply with the rules established in areas determined by the Air Force will be subject to Airspace Policing Measures (MPEA), which range from aircraft identification, route change requests and mandatory landing to warning shots and the so-called detention, which are shots with the purpose of causing damage and preventing the offending aircraft from continuing its flight.
O airspace blockade on the indigenous land came into effect at the beginning of last week, after the publication of a presidential decree.
prospectors
Representatives of the garimpeiros celebrated the measure, which will facilitate a resolution of the crisis with less possibility of conflicts. The reopening of airspace in the Yanomami area was a demand of the segment.
“We understand that the government is being sensitive to the crisis. It is a moment of panic for thousands of prospectors who voluntarily intend to leave the area. We asked, we mobilized in the way that could be done to help, so that there were no conflicts”, said the political articulation coordinator of the Garimpo é Legal Movement, Jailson Mesquita.
According to Mesquita, it is also necessary to keep the waterways open so that prospectors who are in canoes and other vessels can also leave the territory. “Those who were left behind were the least favored, who didn’t have money, who didn’t have conditions. Now, we’re going to see this withdrawal there, but it’s already a step, an important step”, he said.
*With information from Alex Oliveira – Reporter at Agência Brasil.
