Three years after British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were brutally murdered in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, the dangerous conditions that led to their deaths remain unchanged, according to a prominent Indigenous leader.

Beto Marubo, who represents the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Vale do Javari (UNIVAJA), delivered a stark warning during a recent interview with Mongabay: “If Dom and Bruno were in the Javari Valley today, they would be killed again.” The sobering assessment highlights the ongoing lack of federal government presence in Brazil’s Amazonas state, where the two men were killed on June 5, 2022.

While Brazilian authorities have conducted raids and investigations led by the Federal Police and environmental agency IBAMA, and opened dialogue with local communities, these efforts have fallen short of creating lasting change. Most troubling, none of the perpetrators have been brought to trial despite the high-profile nature of the case. “It didn’t have the impact we expected,” Marubo explained, noting that the international attention failed to prompt meaningful action from those in power.

The root causes behind the murders persist: drug trafficking and increasing invasions of Indigenous territories continue to threaten the Amazon’s most vulnerable regions. This ongoing violence not only endangers Indigenous communities and environmental defenders but also undermines conservation efforts in one of the world’s most critical ecosystems. The case underscores the urgent need for sustained government commitment to protecting both the Amazon’s people and its irreplaceable biodiversity.