Depending on how it is used, the word “bravo” can mean either courageous or irate in Portuguese. Joao Bravo Cinta-Larga seems to be both, complaining bitterly that the nickname “Lord of the Stones,” given to him by the Brazilian press, and the accusations that he has used the diamond wealth to enrich himself at the expense of his own community are malicious lies.
“I had a power plant built so that we can have electricity, and we also started a fish farming project,” he said. “We are not just diamonds.”
Other Cinta-Larga leaders have used money from diamonds to buy large herds of cattle or to invest in orchards, hoping to sell fruit to the Brazilian market. But the police say that tribal leaders also have hundreds of diamonds hidden away and that they have concealed mining equipment in the jungle, ready to resume prospecting on short notice.
Recently, the Cinta-Largas were persuaded to sell some of their stones through the government's savings banks rather than illegally to middle men, the argument being that they would get a fairer price. But the auction fetched much less than the Indians expected, adding to their distrust of the government.
“They promised that representatives of our people would be flown to the auction to see how it was done, and then they didn't keep their word,” Pio Cinta-Larga complained. “There were a lot of good stones, but instead of the millions they said we would see, we got almost nothing. They deceived us, just as the white man always does.”
Sposito responded that the Indians seemed to have forgotten that “taxes exist, and we can't create a law that eliminates that.” He added: “The leaders are aware of this. They all have cars and drivers licenses and bank accounts and houses in town. So they know what their obligations are.”
Geologists say the diamond potential of the reservation here has barely been scratched. Tribal leaders, however, seem torn between contradictory desires: to keep outsiders away so that they can exploit the wealth themselves and to leave the diamonds in the ground untouched.
“I used to think that money was good and that I wanted to be rich, but now I don't,” Pio Cinta-Larga said. “A little bit might be good, but a lot is not. It only brings problems and suffering, when what we really want is tranquility.”
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