BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A week before what the Indigenous Krenak people now call “the death of the river,” they say they could feel it coming. The birds stopped singing, the air grew heavy, and an unusual silence settled over their village in Minas Gerais, a southeastern Brazilian state where forested hills give way to the winding Doce River.Then, on Nov. 5, 2015, the mud came.A mining dam owned by Samarco — a joint venture between Brazilian company Vale and Anglo-Australian giant BHP Billiton — burst upstream near the town of Mariana, unleashing a torrent of toxic iron ore waste. It buried the nearby community of Bento Rodrigues and swept down the Doce River valley, killing 19 people and contaminating waterways for nearly 600 kilometers (370 miles) before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor the Krenak people, who once relied on the river for food, rituals, and daily life, the damage was not just environmental but spiritual.“It was the saddest day for my people,” said Shirley Djukurnã Krenak, an Indigenous leader whose community has lived for generations along the Doce River. “We felt the death of the river before it arrived.”The Mariana disaster poured an estimated 40 million tons of mining waste into the Doce basin, devastating one of Brazil’s most ancient river systems, whose valley has shaped the landscape of Minas Gerais for millions of years.Ten years later, reconstruction and reparations have dragged on through legal disputes, and the river remains contaminated by heavy metals. Local communities say little has changed, even as Brazil strives to define itself as a leader of global climate policy while hosting the United Nation’s COP30 climate summit — an event some are skeptical will bring change.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“For us, the fight isn’t about speeches at COP,” Krenak said. “It’s about survival.”A test for Brazil’s climate credibilityBrazilian Pre …
