Thaindian News

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Brazilian officials are concerned that an uncontacted tribe living in the Amazon rainforest may have been harmed by armed drug smugglers. Officials say the armed men who wielded heavy machine guns overcame the security provided for the tribe.

The tribe was shown this year when a helicopter picture of their village revealed the way of life of the tribesmen. It is estimated that about 100 tribes around the world do not know about the existence of the bigger world. The Brazilian government is protecting similar tribes in the Amazon forest and they do not force them to have contact with mankind because of their vulnerability to the many viruses and disease that exists outside of their world. In the past, 50 percent of all tribesmen who were brought in contact with civilization died within a year because of diseases.

The ‘missing’ tribe is made up of about 150 people. They were located near the Brazil-Peru border. Until last month, the Peruvian leader Alan Garcia had denied the existence of the tribe thereby allowing logging activities near their village.

Head of the Brazilian Indians department Carlos Travassos described the situation as a “catastrophe.”

He said that, “This situation could be one of the biggest blows we have ever seen in the protection of uncontacted Indians in recent decades. It’s a catastrophe.”