Brazil has 700,000 Indians, mostly living in the Amazon rainforest Members of an indigenous tribe in Brazil have released four mine workers they had briefly taken hostage in a protest over health care.
The employees of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), the world's largest iron ore mining company, were seized in the north-eastern state of Maranhao. They were well-treated during their captivity, according to CVRD. Human right groups said the Indians blamed local health services for the deaths of five children in the region.
The government agency which handles indigenous affairs, Funai, had sent two officials to Maranhao to negotiate with them. The workers were abducted when 200 native Indians occupied part of a railway. The line is owned by CVRD and it is used to transport iron ore to an Atlantic port. In a statement, the firm condemned the abduction and said the indigenous protest was not related to its mining activities.