The bill faces a tricky and lengthy voyage through Congress. Even supporters of the measure say it will be controversial in a country where legal and illegal mining by wildcatters—called garimpeiros in Portuguese—has left a trail of bloody land disputes with indigenous groups and environmental damage such as mercury spills.
Just weeks ago, a group representing Yanomami Indians said residents of a small village in southern Venezuela were massacred by garimpeiros who crossed illegally from Brazil. Venezuela's government said no such massacre took place.
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