International
‘Man of the hole’ dies, last known survivor of Amazon tribe
AFP | by Ramon SAHMKOW
For more than 20 years he lived alone in the Brazilian Amazon eating nuts, fruit and game — a symbol of the struggle of indigenous people who exist in isolation in the rainforest.
Now this man whose very name was unknown is dead, and his passing has made headlines around the world.
His life was marked by massacres that left him as the lone survivor of a small tribe attacked by gunmen apparently hired by ranchers seeking to exploit the pristine Amazon.
He was found dead lying in a hammock on August 23 in Tanaru Indigenous Territory. Authorities found no signs of violence and believe he died of natural causes.
The man was covered in the bright feathers of a bird called the guacamaya, a kind of macaw, local news reports said.
The Tanaru Indigenous Territory covers 8,000 hectares (30 square miles) of protected rainforest in Brazil’s southwestern Rondonia state, bordering Bolivia. The reserve is surrounded by sprawling cattle ranches.
Rife with rogue miners and wood cutters whose work is illegal, it is one of the most dangerous regions of Brazil, according to the Survival International NGP.
The Tanaru land “is like an oasis of green in the sea of destruction,” said NGO director Fiona Watson.
An arrow shot
The “man of the hole” was first spotted in 1996 by a documentary team traveling with officials of the National Indian Foundation, a government agency that was probing a massacre committed against his tribe.
Proving the presence of indigenous people in the Tanaru forest area was necessary in order to grant the area legal protection.
The footage was featured in a documentary called “Corumbiara” in 2009.
In it, the man’s eyes are seen peering out from inside a straw hut. A spear pokes out at one point, as if to scare visitors away. But no one utters a word.
Over the years Funai teams came back with representatives of neighboring tribes to try to determine what language the man spoke and learn more about his people.
But he made clear he did not want to engage anyone. Feeling threatened, one time he shot an arrow that left a visiting team member seriously wounded.
“One can only imagine what this man was thinking, going through, living on his own, not able to speak to anybody and I think very frightened because any outsider for him represented a threat, given his terrible experience,” Watson said.
After that, authorities just tried to patrol his territory and look for signs that he was still alive.
In the last known footage of him alive — shot in 2011 but not released until seven years later — he is seen semi-naked cutting down a tree with an axe.
Besides bows and arrows that showed he hunted, there were gardens where he grew fruit and vegetables, such as papaya and manioc.
“We saw one of his gardens and it was full of produce — very beautifully kept,” said Watson who visited the site in 2005.
But what most fascinated researchers were the many holes he dug — some two meters (seven feet) deep and with sharp spears at the bottom.
Funai said officials found 53 places that had been his home in the Tanaru territory, always with the same structure: a small straw hut with one door and a hole.
The holes were used to trap animals but experts think they may also been a place for him to hide from intruders or had some kind of spiritual purpose.
The holes, Watson said, are “a mystery that has died with him,” as is the history of the Tanaru people.
Funai has identified 114 indigenous groups that live in isolation in Brazil’s part of the Amazon.
International
Brésil : 11 morts et 45 blessés dans un violent accident entre un bus et un camion
Onze personnes ont perdu la vie et quarante-cinq autres ont été blessées lors d’une collision frontale entre un camion de marchandises et un autobus dans le centre-ouest du Brésil, ont annoncé les autorités ce samedi.
L’accident s’est produit vendredi à 21h40, heure locale, sur la route BR-163, près de la localité de Lucas do Rio Verde, dans l’État du Mato Grosso.
Selon la Police routière fédérale (PRF), un autobus reliant la capitale de l’État, Cuiabá, à Sinop est entré en collision frontale avec un camion transportant des graines de coton.
« L’accident a fait 11 morts », a indiqué la PRF dans un communiqué, précisant qu’une enquête est en cours pour déterminer les causes du drame.
Les blessés ont été transportés vers des hôpitaux de la région : 11 sont dans un état grave, 26 présentent des blessures modérées et 8 sont légèrement touchés, selon la police routière.
Le conducteur du camion a subi des blessures modérées.
La société de transport Rio Novo, propriétaire de l’autobus, a confirmé l’accident.
« Notre priorité est de prendre soin des victimes et de leurs familles », a déclaré l’entreprise dans un message publié sur les réseaux sociaux.
Les accidents mortels sont fréquents sur les routes brésiliennes, un pays aux dimensions continentales.
Dimanche dernier, huit personnes avaient trouvé la mort dans une collision impliquant deux voitures et une moto dans l’État de Minas Gerais (sud-est).
En mai, une collision frontale entre une minifourgonnette et un camion avait fait neuf morts et dix blessés, également dans le Minas Gerais.
International
U.S. doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to $50 million
In February, the United States designated eight Latin American criminal organizations as “global terrorist” groups, including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, and the MS-13 gang. In July, it added the Cartel of the Suns to the list — a group Washington claims is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Last Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, raising it from $25 million to $50 million, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on social media platform X.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that labeling the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization allows for a strategic shift in dealing with the Venezuelan regime, as it is now also considered a direct threat to U.S. national security, according to El Espectador.
In an interview with The World Over on EWTN, Rubio said the designation enables the U.S. to “use intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, or any other element of American power to go after them.” He stressed this is no longer just a law enforcement matter, but a national security operation.
When asked at the White House whether he believes it is worth sending the military to combat Latin American drug cartels, Trump responded:
“Latin America has many cartels, a lot of drug trafficking, so, you know, we want to protect our country. We have to protect it.”
International
Three injured in early-morning New York City shooting
A shooting in New York City early Saturday morning left three people injured, a police spokesperson told AFP.
The incident occurred at around 1:20 a.m. local time (05:20 GMT) following a dispute. An 18-year-old woman sustained a scratch to the neck, while a 19-year-old man and a 65-year-old man were injured in the lower limbs.
The victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were reported to be in stable condition.
The alleged shooter was taken into custody at the scene, and a firearm was recovered. As of now, the suspect has not been formally charged.
Videos circulating on social media show scenes of panic among the crowd, though AFP has not been able to verify their authenticity. The incident comes just weeks after another shooting in a Manhattan skyscraper that left four people injured before the gunman took his own life.
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