A series of Brazilian celebrities, led by three-time Pelé World Cup winner, have joined calls by authorities to step up the search for a British journalist and Brazilian indigenous defender who went missing in the Amazon rainforest.
Pelé, now 81 years old and considered one of the greatest players of all time, retweeted a video made by Phillips’ wife asking for more urgency in the search for her husband and Bruno Pereira.
“The struggle for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and indigenous groups belongs to us all,” the former Santos legend wrote on Twitter.
“I am moved by the disappearance of Dom Phillips and Bruno Ferreira, who are dedicating their lives to this cause. I join the many voices calling for intensified research. “
His words came when authorities in the remote region on Brazil’s border with Peru announced that they had arrested a man in connection with the couple’s disappearance.
The suspect was named Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira. Phillips, Pereira and a group of 13 Indians were reportedly threatened Saturday morning while traveling in the Vale do Javari region.
A witness to the meeting told the Guardian that Da Costa and two other gunmen threatened the group as they stopped by the Itaquai River in the state of Amazonas.
It was unclear what charges he had, but O Globo reported that military police officials said da Costa de Oliveira was seen chasing Phillips and Pereira at high speed on a boat carrying four other people. Police are looking for the other four.
Pereira, 41, a longtime advocate of indigenous tribes in a vast, remote area of the jungle, had received death threats for his work to help protect indigenous groups from drug traffickers and miners, loggers and illegal hunters coveting land in a region rich in natural resources. .
He and Phillips were last seen Sunday morning while traveling by boat through the Amazon region of Javari. They were returning from a two-day reporting trip but did not arrive as planned in the town of Atalaia do Norte.
Phillips, a longtime contributor to the Guardian, the Washington Post and other international publications, was researching a book on sustainable development in the region.
She received a scholarship from the Alicia Patterson Foundation to write the book and aimed to finish it later this year.
On Tuesday, his wife Alessandra Sampaio made an emotional appeal to the authorities to speed up their search, and when the case reached the headlines in Brazil, personalities from the world of sports, culture and the media joined in. .
Dr. Drauzio Varella, a public health expert and speaker who is one of Brazil’s most beloved personalities, described Phillips as “very serious” and said, “We need to clarify what happened.”
“Everyone is watching us and we need to find out what has happened and those responsible, if any, have to face exemplary sanctions,” he said in a video message.
In addition to Pelé, Everton and Brazil striker Richarlison retweeted the exciting video of Phillips’ wife, and Walter Casagrande, a former Brazilian player who is now a well-known presenter, made his own recorded message in support of two people he said were engaged in protecting. human rights and the environment.
“They are friends of our indigenous people and we cannot stand still,” said the former Corinthians, Porto and Torino striker. “It is the government’s responsibility to step up research … This is a very serious case.”
Corinthians football club tweeted their support; singer Gaby Amarantos made her own video; and Sonia Guajajara, an indigenous leader who was recently named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in 2022, raised the issue with U.S. climate envoy John Kerry on a visit to New York.
In Britain, the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, urged the Brazilian authorities “to do everything possible to find them as soon as possible and for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to use all diplomatic channels at your fingertips “.