Clevelândia do Norte is a district of the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian city of

Oiapoque Oiapoque () is a municipality in the north of the state of Amapá, Brazil. Its population is 27,906 and its area is . Oiapoque is also a major river in the same state, forming the international border with French Guiana. The Oyapock River Bridge, ...

Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...

, by the

Oyapock River The Oyapock or Oiapoque ( ; ; ) is a long river in South America that forms most of the border between the French overseas department of French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá. Course The Oyapock runs through the Guianan moist for ...

History

In 1922 an agricultural outpost called the Núcleo Colonial Cleveland was transformed into a political and criminal concentration camp during the presidency of

Artur Bernardes Artur da Silva Bernardes (8 August 1875 – 23 March 1955) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th president of Brazil from 1922 to 1926. Bernades' presidency was marked by the crisis of the First Brazilian Republic and th ...

( 1922–1926). Many Brazilian anarchist militants were sentenced to hard labour here. Of the 946 prisoners interned at Clevelândia between 1924 and 1927, 491 died. Many of the survivors returned to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

permanently sickened with

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. Since 1940, the 34th Infantry Battalion of Selva is stationed at Clevelândia do Norte.

Vila Brasil

The village of Vila Brasil is located in the district on the Oiapoque River opposite

Camopi Camopi (; ) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Camopi is mainly inhabited by Amerindians of the Wayampi and Teko tribes. History In 1738, a Jesuit mission opened on the ri ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. The village is inside the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park. Vila Brasil was founded in the 1930s as a tiny hamlet around the post of the

Indian Protection Service Brazil's Indian Protection Service (''Serviço de Proteção ao Índio'', abbreviated as SPI) was a government agency created to administer indigenous affairs. It was created by President Nilo Peçanha in 1910 in response to pressure from Marshal ...

. In the 1980s, it developed into a commercial centre catering to the French town of Camopi, because of significantly lower prices. In 2002, the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park was created, and even though the area was supposed to be uninhabited, it was decided to allow the village. In 2019, the population was estimated at 200 people.

Ilha Bela

Later, the village of Ilha Bela emerged next to Vila Brasil as a ''

garimpeiros Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a blanket term for a type of subsistence mining involving a miner who may or may not be officially employed by a mining company but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually ...

'' (illegal gold prospector) settlement. The population was estimated at almost 400 people in 2019. The village operates a safe haven for the gold prospectors who do their exploration in French Guiana. The French

3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment () is an infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is stationed in French Guiana. Its mission includes the protection of the Guiana Space Centre, a European Space Agency (ESA) f ...

has been stationed across the river to protect the border and prevent gold exploration. Ilha Bela was raided by the Brazilian police and army in May 2019, however everybody had left the village, and only supplies were confiscated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clevelandia do Norte Populated places in Amapá Neighbourhoods in Brazil Military installations of Brazil Squatting in Brazil