The Brazilian chief Raoni Metuktire, an iconic defender of the Amazon in the world, was admitted to intensive care on Saturday due to respiratory problems, his doctors announced. The most influential indigenous leader in Brazil, 93 years old, was transferred as a preventive measure to the Dois Pinheiros hospital’s intensive care unit in Sinop (central-west), and “his condition is stable,” the doctors wrote in a statement.
Already hospitalized for five days in early May for a hernia and suffering from chronic obstructive respiratory disease and heart problems, the indigenous leader returned to the hospital on Thursday due to a new discomfort, the text specifies.
Recognizable by his large lower lip plate, Chief Raoni has traveled the world and met with presidents, monarchs, and popes to advocate for the Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest threatened by climate change, river pollution and deforestation.
Born in the village of Kapot, in the state of Mato Grosso (central-west), Raoni saw his first white man at age 20. He became known in Brazil starting in the 1970s, by campaigning against the construction of the Trans-Amazonian Highway during the military dictatorship (1964-1985). He made his first international tour in 1989, after meeting British musician Sting in the Amazon.
