Photos: Indigenous tribe blocks key Brazil grains export route

A member of the Kayapo tribe looks at stranded truck drivers as they block highway. Many trucks on the blocked road carried containers full of corn. Farmers in the Amazon often set fire to their plots at this time of year to prepare them for soybean planting. Smoke from fires that started weeks ago hovered over the blocked road.

Tens of thousands of Brazilians are confirmed to have died nationwide from the virus, and the actual number is believed to be higher. Bei Kayapo, an Indigenous leader, said the deaths of the four elders were incredibly challenging. "They are our history, our museums. They have all the stories of our people,'' he said. Above, a Kayapo tribe block a highway near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil.

About 400 Kayapos Mekragnotire people live in 15 separate groups in the region. They claimed to have few doctors, scarce personal protective equipment and no nearby intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients. They wore headdresses of yellow, green and blue feathers, and brandished bows, arrows and clubs. Some had colorful beads, armbands and headbands of Brazilian soccer clubs.

They wore headdresses of yellow, green and blue feathers, and brandished bows, arrows and clubs. Some had colorful beads, armbands and headbands of Brazilian soccer clubs.

A Kayapo Indigenous man attends a protest at sunrise as they block highway near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil.

Brazil's health ministry says the virus has infected nearly 20,000 Indigenous people and killed at least 338. Experts believe both figures are largely underestimated.

An Indigenous of the Kayapo group wears a face mask as a precaution against the new coronavirus during a protest.Protesters received some masks after blocking the road, but few seemed to know how to wear them.

Kayapo Indigenous members block a road with a banner that reads in Portuguese "Defending the Amazon. Without listening to Indigenous people, there will be no concession and nor grain railway," near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil. Tens of thousands of Brazilians are confirmed to have died nationwide from the virus, and the actual number is believed to be higher.

The Kayapo Mekragnotire people blame authorities for the deaths of four of their elders and infections of dozens more on their land in southern Para state, near the city of Novo Progresso. Leaders said people from outside their territory spread the new coronavirus among them because there were no restrictions on entry to their land. About 400 Kayapos Mekragnotire people live in 15 separate groups in the region

Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil . Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories.

A health worker checks the blood pressure of a Kayapo Indigenous man during a protest on highway BR-163 near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil. `Health care here is precarious. There are not enough health care workers to handle the situation. We need urgent support in the middle of the pandemic,'' said, a Kayapo Mekragnotire leader. `We need more personal hygiene supplies, more masks. If the government had done its job, we wouldn't be here in the middle of the pandemic."

They wore headdresses of yellow, green and blue feathers, and brandished bows, arrows and clubs. Some had colorful beads, armbands and headbands of Brazilian soccer clubs.

Dozens of Indigenous people, many daubed in black paint representing their grief and fighting spirit, blocked a major highway in Brazil's Amazon to pressure the government for help in protecting them from COVID-19.