Starlink, a division of Elon Musk's SpaceX, has almost 4,000 low-orbit satellites across the skies, connecting people in remote corners of the Amazon and providing a crucial advantage to Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. The lightweight, high-speed internet system has also proved a new and valuable tool for Brazil's illegal miners, with reliable service for coordinating logistics, receiving advance warning of law enforcement raids and making payments without flying back to the city.
Since taking office this year, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has sought to crack down on environmental violations, particularly illegal mining in Yanomami land, Brazil's largest Indigenous territory. In recent years, an estimated 20,000 prospectors contaminated vital waterways with mercury used to separate gold. They have disrupted traditional Indigenous life, brought disease and caused widespread famine.
Starlink -- which first became available in Brazil last year and has spread rapidly -- solved those problems. Installation is do-it-yourself, the equipment works even on the move, speed is as fast as in Brazil┬┤s large cities and it works during storms. That project with the government hasn't advanced, however. SpaceX and the communications ministry haven't signed any contract, and only three terminals were installed in Amazon schools for a 12-month trial period, the ministry's press office said in an emailed response to questions.In Atalaia do Norte, on the western reaches of the Brazilian Amazon near the borders with Peru and Colombia, Rubeney de Castro Alves installed Starlink at his hotel in December.
The benefits of connectivity were immediately apparent to bad actors in the Amazon, Hugo Loss, operations coordinator for Brazil┬┤s environment agency, told the AP in a phone interview. An unauthorized reseller of Starlink in Boa Vista, the gateway for travel into Yanomami territory, has been marketing the units in a WhatsApp group for illegal miners and promising same-day delivery. Her price for a terminal is $1,600-- six times what Alves pays for service at his little hotel in Atalaia do Norte. Others are selling the Starlink terminals on Facebook groups for illegal miners, like one called "Fanatics for Prospecting.
Brazillian Government is organized crime, get your facts and reporting out of your a55 !! Demonizing Musk is a Left-Wing screw job.
So, the same thing with Trudeau bringing it to the north?