Brazilian Air Force Indigenous Relief Missions

Doctor Siosaka of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) attends a Yanomami indigenous girl near a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) airstrip on the Yanomami reserve in Roraima state, Brazil. Health conditions for the Yanomami have improved ever since the beginning of relief missions by the FAB. The FAB uses its infrastructure and know-how to promote a three part policy for the remote Amazon region near the Venezuela and Guyana borders: To show a presence of state in the inaccessible area, by taking medical personnel to those areas and finally, to train pilots in during real-life relief missions in an extreme environment. The increased presence in the area is, in part, to combat drug trafficking from Colombia into Brazil through Venezuela, which has increased after borders areas with Colombia have become more secure. Some say it may also be a reaction to Venezuela's recent acquisition of Russian-made helicopters and fighter jets. (Australfoto/Douglas Engle)

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