Manaus, 11/7/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - An airstrip in northern Brazil, which was built by a mining company in the 1980s, located just three kilometers from the Colombian border, has been destroyed by Brazilian authorities for a second time. The first time the landing field was blown up was in July 2002. It is located in an area known as Serra do Caparro, municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, 850 kilometers from Manaus, and then, as now, was being used by Farc guerrillas and drug traffickers.

The 57 indígenous communities that occupy some 8,000 square kilometers of Indian reserve lands in the region, which is known as Dog's Head ("Cabeça do Cachorro"), are pleased that the government has destroyed the airstrip near them. Besides the guerrillas and drugs shipments, it also was used as a base for prospectors who invade Indian lands in search of gold and gems.

The second destruction of the airstrip took place on Wednesday (November 4) in a joint operation by the Federal Police and the Air Force. Ten airplanes were used: 4 AMX, 5 F-5 and a C-130 fuel tanker, besides helicopters. The new Brazilian Amazon Vigilance System (Sivam) was also used in the operation.

The Indian group nearest the area are the Baniwas, a community of 232 individuals, who occupy a reserve of 450 square kilometers. Members of the tribe informed Brazilian authorities that the airstrip was back in use and cooperated with the operation, known as "Princesa dos Pampas," because they wanted to free themselves of the triple threat to their existence (drugs, guerrillas and prospectors).

The head of the local Indian Affairs office (Funai), Edson Caldas Lopes, says that his work in the area is to protect the Indians from unwanted, illegal outsiders. He says that Funai's main concern at the moment is with Farc guerrillas who have been known to kidnap Indians to make them fight with the guerrillas. Lopes says that with the destruction of the Caparro airstrip there are no longer any illegal landing fields in the Amazon region. (AB)