A senator from the Amazonian state of Roraima has recently come under fire for defending wildcat miners in indigenous lands — even while working as the head of a select panel set up to investigate the situation of the indigenous Yanomami people.
Senator Chico Rodrigues is a typical political chameleon from the so-called “Big Center,” a group of rent-seeking politicians open to supporting whoever is in power in exchange for political appointments and other favors.
Elected in 2018 for an eight-year term, Mr. Rodrigues became famous nationwide in late 2020, when Federal Police agents caught him stashing cash “between…