The sister of British journalist Dom Phillips has said that her brother was aware of the dangers of traveling to dangerous regions of the Brazilian Amazon, but that she continued to report from the area because she was committed to telling the story of indigenous peoples and the struggle for development models that could save. the rain forest.
Sian Phillips said his brother, whose body was found along with indigenous activist Bruno Pereira this week, believed his work on a book called How to Save the Amazon was “urgent.”
“I think it minimized the risks to some extent, but we knew there were risks,” Sian told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
“This was the last trip [for his book]. This was the trip with Bruno to tell the story of the Indians living in the Javari Valley and tell their story, ”he said.
“He also believed that it was urgent. And that there was no time to change the model of capitalism: it had to happen within the society that Brazil has.”
Phillips had been working on his book for over a year and his four-day trip to the far west of Brazil was one of his last reporting trips. I was hoping to finish writing the manuscript by the end of this year.
However, he and Pereira, an experienced explorer of the region who knew the local natives well, disappeared on June 5. Their bodies were found Wednesday, buried in a dense part of the forest two hours from the nearest big city.
Police were taken to the scene by one of the two brothers arrested for their involvement in the murder. One of the men confessed to the murder, police said, and a third man wanted by police, Jefferson Lima da Silva, turned himself in to authorities on Saturday.
The area of the Javari Valley is full of illegal logging, mining and fishing and it is believed that Pereira knew of the couple’s fishing racket.
Phillips’ brother-in-law Paul Sherwood said the reporter was aware of the dangers inherent in the report, but that he planned ahead and took reasonable precautions.
“He was a prudent man. He was not reckless,” Sherwood told Today. “He planned these trips and Bruno was the guy who understood this part of the world better than probably any non – indigenous person.
“But no, I would have been aware that there would have been a lot of people who would have been happy to see him on his back because it was an awkward truth that he was discovering.
“We are now almost certain that they were attacked by people involved in illegal fishing. What we don’t know is what’s behind this.
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“Were they acting alone, as the police recently said, or was there a greater involvement of other powerful people, organized crime?
“There is a lot of drug trafficking and organized crime involved in poaching.
“We want the kind of justice that makes it possible for journalists and protectors of the rainforest to feel safe to continue informing and helping indigenous people.”