BRASILIA — The government of the Brazilian state of Maranhao plans to set up a police task force on Monday to protect the Guajajara tribe from illegal loggers that killed one of its warriors in a clash over deforestation on their Amazon reservation. Illegal loggers ambushed an indigenous group that was formed to protect the forest and shot dead one of its leaders and wounded another on Friday, the tribe said. Maranhao Governor Flavio Dino said his state would send a task force of policemen to protect the Guajajaras and train them in security practices, though not weapon instruction. “Given the difficulty federal agencies are having in protecting indigenous lands, we will try to help them and the indigenous guardians of the forest,” Dino tweeted on Saturday. The area is so large that a small and endangered tribe, the Awá Guajá, lives deep in the forest without any contact with the outside world.

Source: National Post November 04, 2019 18:45 UTC