Tool but also weapon, according to use and according to latitude. It is true for any technology, it is even more so for those that allow broadband connection. The Associated Press, in a long report, points out how in the Brazilian Amazon forest federal agents increasingly find the satellite antennas of Starlink. This is the global network of four thousand low-orbit satellites for Internet access wanted by Elon Musk and his Space X.
The summit
Lula’s return, acclaimed at Cop27: “Climate security depends on the Amazon”
by Luca Fraioli
Miners use it to coordinate logistics, receive alerts on law enforcement raids, and make payments without ever having to return to population centers. In one of the latest seizures by the Brazilian Environmental Agency on Tuesday, in addition to the Starlink terminal, mercury, gold, ammunition, fuel and various equipment were found. The area is that of Ouro Mil, controlled by the criminal organization Primeiro Comando da Capital, which is one of the largest in Brazil with around 20,000 members of which over 6,000 are in prison. Tuesday’s seizure adds to seven other Starlink dishes unearthed by law enforcement in the past five weeks.
Starlink opens up to public Internet testing. And launch more satellites
by MATTEO MARINI
In recent years, tens of thousands of illegal prospectors have contaminated Amazon waterways with the mercurio used to separate gold. They already used satellite communications for data transfer, but using slow and less reliable platforms than that of Space X. Now, however, the ease of use of Starlink, which has been available in Brazil since last year, has led to the spread of access points in the forest because they do not require the intervention of a technician.
Brazil
Record deforestation in the Amazon, losing almost 3,000 football pitches a day
As we said at the beginning, any technology can be used for different purposes. For example, in Atalaia do Norte, in the western part of the Brazilian Amazon near the borders with Peru and Colombia, Starlink represented the first real access to advanced web services, from streaming music to movies and series to video calls. It is proving so successful that the hotels that have the Space X connection have literally been overrun by the locals. Obviously illegal miners also use it, buying the terminals from unauthorized resellers who sell them through social networks. This is because a stable and fast connection allows the leaders of criminal organizations to remotely manage dozens of sites without having to visit them periodically.