Irish Examiner view: Ever-increasing pressures on Brazil's indigenous people

Sad end to 10-day search for environmental campaigners

Federal police officers arrive with recovered human remains believed to be of the indigenous expert Bruno Pereira of Brazil and freelance British reporter Dom Phillips. Picture: AP Photo/Eraldo Peres

The tragedy which appears to have overtaken the British eco writer Dom Phillips and his Brazilian activist colleague Bruno Pereira during their trip along the Itaquaí river in Brazil is a sad end to a 10-day search that has foregrounded the challenges to Brazil’s environment, and the ever-increasing pressures on its indigenous people.

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, nailed his personal colours to the mast when he told a press conference that the expedition by the British journalist, with whom he has previously clashed when challenged over his environmental record, was “reckless”.