• The progressive field accounted for most of the profiles and interactions about the topic on Twitter and argued that the Bolsonaro administration had a project for “indigenous genocide”. Actions of former ministers such as vetoes for ICU hospitalization and provision of drinkable water stood out;
• Profiles aligned with the far right attempted to exempt former president Jair Bolsonaro of the humanitarian crisis by classifying indigenous people as Venezuelans or even denying the existence of Yanomamis.

With more than 70% of the profiles and interactions on Twitter, the progressive field dominated the discussion about the Yanomami humanitarian crisis and strongly blamed former president Jair Bolsonaro and former ministers of his administration for the situation. Those were the findings of a survey by the School of Communication at FGV, which analyzed posts about the topic on Twitter, Facebook and Telegram between January 20 and 25, 2023.

The prominence of the progressive field in the debate was also seen on media coverage of the topic by progressive vehicles, which accounted for almost half of the links shared on Facebook, compared to 12% coming from websites aligned with the far right. However, conspiratory narratives attempted to exempt former president Bolsonaro, going as far as denying the existence of the Yanomami people, with high circulation on Telegram.

Twitter

Map of interactions in the debate about the humanitarian crisis in Yanomami territory on Twitter
Period: January 20 to 25, until midday

 

Source: Twitter | Elaborated by: School of Communication, Media and Information at FGV

Left wing (Red) – 51.6% of profiles | 69.0% of interactions
Group formed by left-wing profiles associated with the @lulaoficial administration, such as @andrejanonesadv, @nisia_trindade and @randolfeap, commenting on the humanitarian crisis and blaming the former president Bolsonaro and the former minister Damares Alves for neglecting the situation. The highlight was a news story saying the government ignored 20 reports on the topic and the deaths of 570 children due to starvation. Government members also announced governmental measures to deal with the crisis and stated that the Yanomami people will no longer by ignored by the Brazilian State.

Right wing (Blue) – 23.0% of profiles | 17.0% of interactions
Group supporting the former president Jair Bolsonaro, including political leaders allied with him, such as former minister @damaresalves and senator @flaviobolsonaro, who defended the previous administration and mentioned measures related to the protection of indigenous communities. The second narrative to defend the Bolsonaro administration was led by @atrombeta3, who claimed that the indigenous people in question are in fact Venezuelans, and that President Lula and Nicolás Maduro are to blame for the crisis. There was also a secondary narrative claiming that the images are old and that Lula is using the case for political gain.

Progressive Profiles (Orange ) – 21.1% of profiles | 12.6% of interactions
Group of progressive profiles denouncing the humanitarian crisis in Yanomami territory and blaming the Bolsonaro administration for the situation. The group states that the former president was alerted of the situation, and demanded the “pro-life gang” to mobilize. They also argued that the situation should be treated as genocide and made comparisons with Nazi Germany. These profiles also stood out: @lazarorosa25, @choquei, @drbrunogino.

 

Evolution of the debate about environmental topics associated with Lula and Bolsonaro on Twitter
Period: January 20 to 25

Source: Twitter | Elaborated by: School of Communication, Media and Information at FGV

 

• Mentions to the terms indigenous peoples, mining, agribusiness and Amazon were considerably more associated with the former president Jair Bolsonaro than with President Lula. In both peaks of the term indigenous peoples, for instance, associations with Bolsonaro were three times more frequent than with Lula – which suggests, due to the volume and content of the messages, a strong perception that the former president is seen as directly connected with the onset of the Yanomami humanitarian crisis;
• In mentions to Bolsonaro, the term indigenous peoples is frequently associated with “genocide” and “murderer”, as well as “misery”, “malnutrition” and “illegal mining”. In turn, in mentions to Lula, the term is more associated with the president’s actions to mitigate the humanitarian crisis and in his promises to end illegal mining in indigenous territories;
• The most relevant tweets classified the humanitarian crisis as a government project of the former president and his allies, such as the former ministers Damares Alves and Ricardo Salles and the former vice president Hamilton Mourão;
• There was strong repercussion of criticism against actions taken by the former minister for Human Rights in 2020 after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Users mentioned vetoes to ICU beds, cleaning and hygiene products, informative material about the pandemic, and drinkable water intended for indigenous populations;
• The group aligned with Bolsonaro argued that the indigenous peoples in this extremely vulnerable situation are, in fact, Venezuelans. With this false statement, they highlighted that the one to blame for the situation is not the former president, but the alleged “Bolivarian socialism” of Hugo Chávez e Lula.

 

Major terms related to the humanitarian crisis in Yanomami territory on Twitter
Period: January 20 to 25

Source: Twitter | Elaborated by: School of Communication, Media and Information at FGV

 

• The major tweets highlighted the ample media coverage of the topic and the reactions of political actors in the progressive field, particularly President Lula and the congressional representative Guilherme Boulos. The deaths of 570 indigenous children were mentioned in a large part of the publications;
• Users highlighted the announcement of measures to mitigate the humanitarian crisis of the Yanomami people and blamed the Jair Bolsonaro administration, particularly its facilitation of illegal mining in indigenous territories and its deliberate undermining of monitoring agents;
• Users also claimed that Bolsonaro ignored 21 requests for help by the Yanomami against miners, which was denied by followers of the former president. Profiles aligned with Bolsonaro also questioned where the NGOs demonstrating against the tragedy had been, and claimed that the indigenous people were Venezuelans, meaning Bolsonaro could not be blamed for their situation;
• Former members of the highest echelon in the Bolsonaro administration were accused, by the progressive group, of conniving or being neglectful regarding the tragedy, particularly the former minister for Human Rights and current senator Damares Alves, the former minister for the Environment Ricardo Salles, the former minister for Health Marcelo Queiroga, and the former president of Funai Marcelo Xavier. Vetoes for ICU beds and drinkable water for indigenous populations were some of the examples mentioned.

 

Facebook

Map of links in the debate about the humanitarian crisis in Yanomami territory on Facebook
Period: January 20 to 25, until midday

 

Source: Twitter | Elaborated by: School of Communication, Media and Information at FGV

Left-wing media (Red) – 17.8% of profiles
Group centered around links from left-wing communication outlets, such as Brasil de Fato, Blog da Cidadania, Diário do Centro do Mundo and Carta Capital, reproducing content blaming the former president Bolsonaro and the former minister Damares Alves for the Yanomami humanitarian crisis. The links reproduced the claim that Bolsonaro ignored 21 requests for help, as well as Lula’s visit to Roraima to follow the case and the measures announced by his administration. The traditional media, particularly G1 and Uol Notícias, also covered the situation of the indigenous people through reports given by professionals sent to provide humanitarian help.

Local left-wing media (Yellow) – 9.3% of profiles
The highlights in this group were websites in the North region of the country, such as Sumauma and BNC Amazonas, who also blamed Bolsonaro, emphasizing the situation of the indigenous people and the deaths caused by neglect. Some of the posts stated that the former president’s inaction was deliberate, and that his objective was the genocide of the indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Independent progressive media (Orange) – 8.3% of profiles
Group formed by progressive media portals such as Revista Fórum, The Intercept Brasil and Jornal GGN, with links to stories containing statements made by President Lula and the former presidents Dilma and Bolsonaro about the case. The group also mentioned the potential relationship between the crisis and illegal mining and criticized pro-Bolsonaro leaders for attributing the humanitarian crisis to a farse.

Independent right-wing media (Blue) – 7.4% of profiles
This group mobilized links from independent right-wing portals associated with former president Bolsonaro, such as Poder DF and Agora Notícias Brasil. The content claimed that the indigenous peoples in Roraima are Venezuelans, blaming President Lula and Nicolás Maduro. They also claimed that the case was a “farse of the left wing”, and that Lula is making political use of the case to benefit from the tragedy.

Traditional media (Green) – 7.0% of profiles
Group centered on links by traditional media portals such as G1, CNN Brasil and IG Último Segundo. The group commented on the neglect regarding the health of the Yanomami population, highlighting the work of the Ministry of Health in rescuing indigenous people with malnutrition and malaria and reporting an alleged lack of support from the Bolsonaro administration to provide health care in the territory.

Anti-Bolsonaro alternative right-wing media (Purple) – 4.5% of profiles
Group led by the website O Antagonista with the presence of other portals that are not aligned with the left wing, such as W Brasil, G1, Brasil de Fato and A Verdade. Links were reproduced criticizing Bolsonaro and highlighting the request made by PT congressional representatives for the Federal Prosecution Office to investigate the former president and the former minister Damares, as well as denouncing an Evangelical NGO that received resources intended for the health care of indigenous peoples.

Telegram

Posts related to the humanitarian crisis in Yanomami territory on Telegram
Period: January 20 to 25

 

Source: Telegram | Elaborated by: School of Communication, Media and Information at FGV

 

• The narratives circulating in right-wing groups on Telegram included exempting the Bolsonaro administration for the Yanomami health crisis and claiming that the Lula administration is interested in facilitating the entry of foreign NGOs into indigenous territories to gain financial advantages;
• The most frequent argument is that the Yanomami facing this extremely vulnerable situation are in Venezuelan territory, meaning that the former President Bolsonaro could not be held responsible for their condition. There was an attempt to associate the tragedy with left-wing public policies in Venezuela, which are often compared to those of the PT;
• The son of the former president, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, posted a video on his official channel on the platform accusing Lula and the PT of developing an allegedly improper association between the Bolsonaro administration and the Yanomami health crisis. Users used ironic statements to claim that the left is trying to blame Bolsonaro for a situation prior to his government;
• A long text circulated in different groups defending that the Yanomami were a tribe “invented” by the Europeans. The central argument was that a Swiss organization allegedly invented the ethnic group to justify the undue exploitation of natural resources. Users also stated that the Yanomami Reserve should be nullified through military intervention.