Iconic Amazon Indigenous leader Chief Raoni diagnosed with aggressive digestive cancer

Chief Raoni Metuktire, aged 94 and long-standing champion of Indigenous peoples and the Amazon, has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer affecting his digestive system, according to a statement from his Raoni Institute. Initial signs of illness appeared a few months earlier when he was admitted for persistent abdominal pain, and scans identified an advanced-stage tumor. On June 19 he was transferred to a hospital in São Paulo, where surgeons addressed an intestinal obstruction caused by the growth.

Following the operation, doctors placed him in palliative care to manage symptoms. Throughout his life, Chief Raoni has stood beside presidents, popes and musicians such as Sting, leading high-profile campaigns to safeguard the rainforest since the 1980s. His current condition underscores the vulnerability of a figure who has become an international emblem for Indigenous and environmental advocacy.