Following the tragic death of researcher and protector of native tribes of the Amazon region, Rieli Franciscato, NGO's and researchers fear retribution on the tribes by the government forces of Brazil. The hundred tribes still living in isolation in the Brazilian Amazon area have been facing persecution, intimidation and demands to leave their lands by private corporations and also government officials, as the country plans to tap into the natural riches of the Amazon rainforest. This is also assumed to be the reason why the tribe, usually known for their hospitality, attacked Fransiscato and the two police officers who were with him.

Many researchers view the industrial expansion into tribal lands as a kind of "domestic colonialism" and as such quite similar to the colonisation of the country itself by the Portuguese starting in 1500 and lasting until the early 1800's. Ironically, Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, has accused other countries of "colonialism" when they have demanded better management of the environment in the Amazon area and stronger actions to suppress the vast forest fires in 2019 and again in 2020.