Bolsonaro says that the disappeared Pereira and Phillips were "reckless"

Bolsonaro: Continue the search for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira 1:12

(CNN) --

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said the activities of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous affairs expert Bruno Pereira -- both of whom disappeared on June 5 -- were "reckless" and that Phillips was not " well seen" in the Javari region, in the Brazilian Amazon.

In an interview on YouTube with journalist Leda Nagle, Bolsonaro said that if they had been "assassinated" the bodies would be missing in the Javari River.

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"You see, this Englishman was not well regarded in the area, he wrote many articles about gold miners, about environmental issues. In that area, which is very isolated, many people did not like him, he should have been more careful" said the Brazilian president.

He highlighted the danger of his expedition and said it had not been authorized by Funai, the Brazilian government agency for indigenous people.

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"It is very reckless to walk through that area without being adequately prepared, in physical terms but also with weapons, and also duly authorized by Funai, it seems that they were not," Bolsonaro said.

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Last week, Funai president Marcelo Xavier criticized Phillips and Pereira for entering indigenous territory without "authorization" from Funai.

In response to Xavier's criticism, INA (Associated Indigenists), an association of indigenous specialists, wrote in a tweet last Wednesday, "It is not true that Bruno and Dom were careless regarding the request for authorization to enter indigenous land. Simply because they did not enter indigenous land. The expedition took place near, but not within the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory."

"Both of them decided to enter a completely hostile area, alone, without security, and the problem occurred. Since the first day, these people are being searched for in the area and we are not having success. Traces have appeared, pieces of viscera from human bodies, of which a DNA test is being done here in Brasilia," Bolsonaro said.

Jair Bolsonaro