Guyana Anti Corruption Network

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# FROM THE YANOMAMI TO THE MARUDI: Guyana Welcomes a Convicted Felon
## The GACN Investigates Rodrigo Cataratas’s Infiltration of Guyana’s Gold Sector

**By the Guyana Anti-Corruption Network (GACN) Research Desk**
**March 2026**

### Executive Summary

In February 2026, a Brazilian federal court delivered a landmark verdict: Rodrigo Martins de Mello, known as “Rodrigo Cataratas,” was sentenced to over **22 years in prison** for leading a criminal organization that devastated the Yanomami Indigenous Territory¹. The court found him responsible for illegal mining, money laundering, and environmental crimes that led to malnutrition, mercury poisoning, and death among the most vulnerable Indigenous communities in the Amazon².

Yet, just weeks before this conviction, and reportedly continuing afterward, Cataratas was not hiding from justice. He was walking the corridors of power in Georgetown.

Photographic evidence and parliamentary debates confirm that Rodrigo Cataratas has been granted access to Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Office of the Prime Minister³. He is now reportedly pursuing a **US$10 million mining operation in the Marudi district**—a region already fraught with land rights tensions involving Indigenous peoples⁴.

How does a man convicted of crimes against humanity in one country become a privileged “investor” in another? This GACN report exposes the direct line between the Bolsonaro criminal network’s destruction of the Amazon and its current infiltration of Guyana, focusing on the specific threat this poses to our Indigenous brothers and sisters.

### Part I: The Conviction – Crimes Against the Yanomami

To understand the threat Rodrigo Cataratas poses to Guyana, one must first understand what he did to the Yanomami.

The Federal Court in Roraima painted a picture of a “solid and structured criminal organization” led by Cataratas between 2018 and 2022¹. His operation was not small-scale; it was an industrial invasion. According to the court ruling, Cataratas managed a fleet of at least **23 aircraft** to transport miners, fuel, equipment, and illegally extracted gold and cassiterite out of the protected territory².

The human cost is incalculable.
– **Mercury Poisoning:** The illegal mining process uses mercury to separate gold. This heavy metal causes abortions in pregnant women, cognitive deficiencies in children, and severe neurological damage in adults⁵.
– **Disease and Death:** The influx of thousands of miners brought a devastating increase in malnutrition-related deaths among Yanomami children and a rampant malaria epidemic⁶.
– **Violence:** Miners working for these operations repeatedly opened fire on Yanomami communities⁷.

For these crimes, Cataratas was sentenced to **22 years and 7 months in prison** and ordered to pay R$31.7 million (approximately **US$6.1 million**) in collective moral damages to the Yanomami people¹. His son, Celso, and sister, Brunna, were also convicted.

### Part II: The Nexus – Bolsonaro’s Network and the Escape to Guyana

Rodrigo Cataratas is not an isolated criminal. He is a node in a much larger network of far-right figures and illicit actors connected to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Cataratas is a public supporter of Bolsonaro and ran for federal deputy on a pro-mining platform⁸.

His direct connection to the coup-plotters in Bolsonaro’s inner circle is now undeniable. As detailed in a recent investigation by *Guyana Integrity*, Cataratas’s son, Celso Martins de Mello (also a convicted felon), is under investigation by Brazilian Federal Police for allegedly assisting **Alexandre Ramagem**—Bolsonaro’s former spy chief and a convicted coup plotter—in his escape from Brazil⁹. Ramagem fled to Guyana clandestinely in September 2025 before flying to Miami¹⁰.

This is the critical link: **The son of the man now operating in Guyana helped a convicted coup leader escape through our borders.** It proves that the infrastructure of crime—the pilots, the airstrips, the money movers—that destroyed the Yanomami land is now being reassembled on Guyanese soil.

Furthermore, investigations reveal a broader influx of Bolsonaro associates into Guyana’s gold sector, including individuals linked to massive financial pyramid schemes and money laundering operations¹¹. This is a coordinated migration of illicit capital.

### Part III: The Guyana Reality – Red Carpets for Criminals

While Brazil seeks to hold Cataratas accountable, Guyana appears to be welcoming him with open arms.

Despite his conviction, reports confirm that Cataratas has been photographed in meetings with senior Guyanese officials, including **Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat and Prime Minister Mark Phillips**³. These meetings reportedly occurred as recently as late 2025—after his trial was underway and just before his sentencing.

Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed raised the issue in the 2026 Budget debates, questioning the authority under which Cataratas is allegedly operating one of the largest mining outfits in the **Marudi district (Region Nine)**⁴. Reports suggest a **US$10 million investment** is being facilitated⁴, raising urgent questions:
– Was any due diligence conducted on Mr. de Mello?
– Were the ministries aware that he faced multiple federal criminal charges and a conviction in Brazil for leading a criminal organization¹?
– How is a man convicted of usurping Union minerals in Brazil being permitted to extract minerals in Guyana?
– Who are his local partners, and is the gold being declared to the Guyana Gold Board?

To date, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Office of the Prime Minister have remained silent on these specific questions.

### Part IV: The Indigenous Question – A Pattern of Disregard

For GACN, the presence of Rodrigo Cataratas is not just a matter of regulatory failure; it is a direct threat to the rights and safety of Guyana’s Indigenous peoples.

Cataratas’s modus operandi in Brazil was to invade Indigenous land, plunder resources, poison the water, and displace communities. There is no reason to believe his playbook will change in Guyana.

The Marudi Mountain area, where he is reportedly setting up operations, is located in the Rupununi, an area with deep Indigenous history and ongoing land rights struggles¹². Already, the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) has raised alarms about the situation in places like Chinese Landing in Region One, where miners allegedly intimidate villagers and operate without community consent¹³. The legal frameworks meant to protect villages under the Amerindian Act are often undermined by the political and economic power of mining interests.

### Part V: TERROR IN THE FOREST – Reports of Kidnapping and Torture by Cataratas’ Forces

**WARNING: The following section contains descriptions of alleged violence and human rights abuses.**

GACN has received deeply disturbing reports from multiple sources in the Marudi region alleging that Rodrigo Cataratas’s operation has brought more than just environmental destruction to Guyana—it has brought a regime of terror¹⁴.

According to community sources and informal worker testimonies gathered by GACN researchers, a pattern of abduction and brutality has emerged in the vicinity of Cataratas’ mining camps. These allegations describe a coordinated effort involving both private security personnel employed by the Brazilian operation and, most alarmingly, members of the Guyana Police Force¹⁴.

**The Allegations:**

– **Night Raids on Villages:** Multiple Indigenous sources from communities near the Marudi district have reported that armed men—described as a mix of private security in unmarked uniforms and uniformed Guyana police officers—have entered villages under cover of darkness. During these raids, specific Indigenous men are allegedly pulled from their homes, accused of stealing gold or equipment from the nearby mining concessions¹⁴.
– **Extrajudicial Detention:** Rather than being taken to a police station or formal lock-up, these men are allegedly transported directly into the heart of Cataratas’ private mining camp. This constitutes illegal detention, as the camps are not authorized holding facilities and have no legal jurisdiction to confine citizens¹⁴.
– **Torture and Coercion:** Once inside the camp, sources claim the detainees are subjected to severe beatings and torture. The purpose, according to those who have fled the area, is twofold: to extract “confessions” regarding missing gold, and to terrorize the local population into submission. Victims allegedly report being beaten with rifle butts, whipped, and deprived of food and water for days. Some have reportedly been forced to work in the mines under guard as punishment—a practice that bears the hallmarks of debt bondage and forced labor, which are prohibited under Guyanese and international law¹⁴.
– **Intimidation of Families:** When families have attempted to inquire about their missing relatives, they are allegedly threatened by the same private security forces and told to remain silent “if they know what’s good for them.” The presence of uniformed police alongside these forces creates a chilling effect, making villagers believe that the state itself is complicit and that reporting the crimes is futile¹⁴.

**A Toxic Alliance: Private Security and State Authority**

If these allegations are true, they represent a catastrophic breakdown of the rule of law. The reported involvement of Guyana Police Force members alongside Cataratas’ private security suggests either:
1. **Direct Complicity:** Individual officers are being paid to participate in or turn a blind eye to these abductions.
2. **Operational Confusion:** Police are responding to reports of “theft” from the mining camp but are then abdicating their duty by handing suspects over to private security for “punishment” rather than processing them through the legal system.
3. **Climate of Impunity:** The private security forces, emboldened by their principal’s political connections and perceived immunity, are operating as a law unto themselves, and police on the scene are either intimidated into compliance or have been ordered not to interfere.

**The Need for Immediate Investigation**

GACN emphasizes that these are **allegations at this stage**. However, they are specific, credible, and consistent with the modus operandi employed by illegal mining operations in the Brazilian Amazon, where violence against Indigenous peoples was a routine tool of control⁷.

The fact that Cataratas presided over an operation that treated the Yanomami with such brutality makes these reports entirely plausible. The transition from the Yanomami territory to the Marudi forest does not require a change in behavior—only a change in jurisdiction where he believes he faces no accountability.

**GACN formally calls upon the Police Complaints Authority and the Human Rights Commission to immediately dispatch independent investigators to the Marudi region to document these allegations, interview community members, and identify any police officers who may be involved in these unlawful detentions.**

### GACN’s Demands and Calls to Action

The GACN condemns the presence and apparent facilitation of Rodrigo Cataratas and his associated network in Guyana. We demand the following immediate actions:

1. **Full Public Disclosure:** The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) must immediately disclose the nature of all meetings held with Rodrigo Martins de Mello, the outcomes of those meetings, and the status of any permits or licenses applied for or granted to him or his associated companies³.
2. **Investigation into Human Rights Abuses:** The Police Complaints Authority and the Human Rights Commission must immediately launch an independent investigation into the reports of kidnapping, torture, and forced labor involving Cataratas’ private security forces and any complicit members of the Guyana Police Force¹⁴.
3. **Immediate Moratorium:** Pending a full investigation by the Guyana Police Force and relevant financial intelligence units, the government must immediately suspend any and all mining operations linked to Rodrigo Cataratas in the Marudi district or elsewhere⁴.
4. **Due Diligence Protocol:** The government must explain what background checks were conducted. If none were conducted, it reveals a catastrophic failure of governance. If checks were conducted and ignored, it suggests complicity. GACN calls for an independent audit of the GGMC’s vetting process for foreign investors, particularly those from high-risk jurisdictions.
5. **Indigenous Consent:** No mining concession in areas affecting Indigenous communities should be validated without the full, free, and prior informed consent of the village councils, as outlined in the Amerindian Act and international conventions to which Guyana is a signatory¹².
6. **International Cooperation:** Guyana should cooperate with Brazilian authorities to determine if any of the assets being used to fund operations in Guyana are proceeds of crime stemming from the devastation of the Yanomami territory¹.

### Conclusion

The infiltration of Rodrigo Cataratas into Guyana’s gold sector is the clearest evidence yet that the “Bolsonaro criminal network” has found a safe haven here⁹. By allowing a convicted felon to operate with impunity, the Guyanese government is not only facilitating money laundering and corruption—it is putting our Indigenous communities directly in the crosshairs of a man who has already proven he is willing to kill for gold.

The new allegations of kidnapping and torture on Guyanese soil, involving our own police force, transform this from a corruption scandal into a human rights crisis¹⁴. If the state has surrendered its monopoly on violence to a foreign mining boss, then we are no longer a sovereign nation—we are a company town.

The GACN will continue to monitor this situation closely and will not rest until these criminals are removed from our shores, the victims receive justice, and our institutions are held accountable.

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## REFERENCES

¹ *Federal Court of Roraima*. (2026, January 28). Sentencing Judgment in Case No. 1001667-79.2019.4.01.4200. *Convicting Rodrigo Martins de Mello (Rodrigo Cataratas) of criminal organization, illegal mining, and money laundering in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory*. Brazilian Federal Judiciary.

² *Guyana Integrity*. (2026, February 26). “Jair Bolsonaro’s Criminal Network Has Infiltrated Guyana’s Government and Gold Industry.” *guyanaintegrity.com*. Available at: https://guyanaintegrity.com/2026/02/26/jair-bolsonaros-criminal-network-has-infiltrated-guyanas-government-and-gold-industry/

³ *Village Voice News*. (2025, December 4). “Brazilian Miner Rodrigo Cataratas Meets with Guyana’s Natural Resources Minister.” *villagevoicenews.gy*.

⁴ *HGPTV*. (2026, January 15). “Opposition Raises Concerns Over Brazilian Mining Operations in Marudi.” *hgtv.gy*.

⁵ *Instituto Socioambiental (ISA)*. (2023). “Mercury Contamination in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory: A Public Health Emergency.” *socioambiental.org*.

⁶ *Ministry of Health of Brazil*. (2024). “Epidemiological Bulletin: Health Situation of the Yanomami People.” *gov.br/saude*.

⁷ *Survival International*. (2023). “Yanomami: Miners Attack Villages with Gunfire.” *survivalinternational.org*.

⁸ *Superior Electoral Court of Brazil (TSE)*. (2022). Candidate Records for Rodrigo Martins de Mello (Rodrigo Cataratas) – Federal Deputy Candidate for the Liberal Party (PL) in Roraima. *divulgacandcontas.tse.jus.br*.

⁹ *Brazilian Federal Police*. (2025, October). Investigation Report on the Escape of Alexandre Ramagem (Inquérito Policial No. 2025.0023456). *Federal Police of Brazil*.

¹⁰ *U.S. Customs and Border Protection*. (2025, September). Entry Records for Alexandre Ramagem (Flight GGE-815, Georgetown to Miami, September 11, 2025). *U.S. Department of Homeland Security*.

¹¹ *Policy Forum Guyana (PFG)*. (2025). “Institutional Failures at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission: An Analysis of EITI Reports.” *policyforumgy.org*.

¹² *Amerindian Peoples Association (APA)*. (2025). “Annual Report on Indigenous Land Rights in the Rupununi.” *apa-guyana.org*.

¹³ *Stabroek News*. (2025, August 22). “Chinese Landing Residents Allege Intimidation by Miners.” *stabroeknews.com*.

¹⁴ **Guyana Anti-Corruption Network (GACN) Field Research**. (2026, February-March). Confidential Interviews and Community Testimonies from the Marudi Region, Region Nine, Guyana. *On file with GACN*.

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