Sept 14 (Reuters) – Brazilian Indigenous Chief Raoni Metuktire, a prominent defender of Indigenous rights and the Amazon rain forest, has been diagnosed with cancer, the Chief’s non-profit organization Raoni Institute said on Monday.
Chief Raoni, 94, was diagnosed with “aggressive cancer” of the digestive system, the Institute said in a statement. He is currently in palliative care.
• Chief Raoni has been struggling with his health for a large part of the year, and the Insitute said the first signs of illness began to appear “a few months ago”, when he was first hospitalized with persistent abdominal pain. Imaging revealed an advanced-stage tumor.
• On June 19 he was transferred to a hospital in Sao Paulo, where he underwent surgery to treat an intestinal obstruction caused by the tumor.
• Following the operation in June, Chief Raoni was placed on palliative care.
• For decades, Chief Raoni has served as a global figure in the Indigenous movement, appearing alongside presidents, popes and even the musician Sting during campaigns to save the rainforest in the 1980s.
(Reporting by André Romani, Writing by Iñigo Alexander, Editing by Kylie Madry)
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