Mining company owners donatedover R$ 400,000 for candidates in the Tapajós region

An exclusive report by Observatório da Mineração revealed that businessmen linked to mining donated more than R$ 400,000 reais to candidates for city council and mayor in the Tapajós region, in southwest Pará, in the 2020 elections.

Five mining company owners are among the main donors: Valdinei Mauro de Souza, of Salinas Gold do Pará (R$ 200,000), Dirceu Santos Frederico Sobrinho, of F.D’gold (R$ 90,000), Marcio Macedo sobrinho, of Gana Gold (R$ 67,000), Ubiraci Soares Silva, of U S S Metais Preciosos (R$ 27,000), and Valmir Climaco de Aguiar, owner of mines without CNPJ (R$ 25,000).

According to the investigation, the donations were made to candidates running for office in Itaituba, Jacareacanga and Novo Progresso, cities where illegal gold digging is flourishing under Bolsonaro. In addition to being on the list of donors, Valmir Climaco de Aguiar, the reelected mayor of Itaituba, received the highest amount on the list, donated by Valdinei Mauro de Souza, known as “Nei Garimpeiro” [Gold Digging Nei].

In February, the cities were the target of “Operation Amazonian Caribbean”, launched by the Federal Police to fight illegal mining in the Tapajó River, under protests from Climaco, who even asked for intervention by the federal government.