Raoni Metuktire has cancer, group says

Brazilian Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire has gastrointestinal cancer and is receiving palliative care at home, the Raoni Institute said Monday.

The institute said medical teams recommended palliative care because of the 94-year-old's age, clinical condition and the high risks of aggressive treatments.

Raoni is receiving care in Peixoto de Azevedo, the nearest major town to the Indigenous territory where he lives. His organization said palliative care was meant to ensure the best possible quality of life and did not mean an absence of treatment.

Raoni was hospitalized in June after an upper intestinal obstruction and aspiration pneumonia. The institute said examinations after surgery in Sao Paulo showed that a cancerous tumor had caused the obstruction.

Raoni, a leader of the Kayapo people, has campaigned for decades to protect the Amazon rainforest and Indigenous communities. He first gained prominence in the 1970s when he opposed construction of a trans-Amazonian highway during Brazil's military dictatorship, and he later toured internationally with British singer Sting in 1989 to raise awareness about Amazon deforestation.