Archaeologist Renzo Duin has spent more than two decades documenting dense archaeological landscapes hidden under Suriname's forest canopy. Speaking to Mongabay, Duin described pottery fragments and a ditch-enclosed site he found in what his team perceived as pristine rainforest, during a 2004 expedition into the mountainous tri-border area shared by Brazil, Suriname and Guyana. Experts cited by Mongabay say the country pledged to permanently protect 90% of its forests, yet they warn that neglecting Indigenous stewardship history leaves the ecosystem exposed to ongoing illegal deforestation. Illegal gold mining, Mongabay reports, pollutes Suriname's rivers with mercury and cyanide.
A report based on the Amazon Underworld research finds illicit actors present in 768 of 1,310 municipalities across six Amazon countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Colombia shows the highest share, with 98 percent of its municipalities affected, followed by Venezuela at 82 percent. Brazil's Comando Vermelho is reported in almost 500 municipalities, including in Bolivia and Peru. According to the same research, gold has overtaken cocaine as the region's most lucrative criminal industry.
Flávio Bolsonaro and his wife and two daughters touch down at Miami‑Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday at about 09:00 ET. The United States State Department has issued visas allowing their entry. Bolsonaro, who lost the presidential runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had been ordered by Brazil’s Supreme Court to surrender his passports amid money‑laundering and tax‑evasion probes. He entered Argentina on Tuesday night via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge, then flew to Ecuador before the private jet continued to Miami.