POP/ROCK - Jan. 12, 1990

Sting Meets Brazilian President: British pop star Sting met Brazilian President Jose Sarney on Wednesday for the second time in less than a year to lobby for the nation’s Indians. Accompanied by Kaiapo Indian chief Raoni, with whom he toured the globe to raise funds last year, Sting asked that lands be demarcated for the Kaiapo tribe in the Amazon state of Para. Before the meeting at the presidential palace, Sting told Reuters he would tell Sarney he was also concerned about the fate of the Yanomami Indian tribe in the state of Roraima. The Yanomami are the biggest forest tribe left in the Americas, but the 7,000 who live in Roraima are dying quickly from malaria and other diseases brought there by about 40,000 gold prospectors. Sting last year founded the Foundation Mata Virgem (Virgin Forest) with a view to preserving the Amazon rain forest and its native people. His spokesmen said the singer had raised more than $1 million for the cause during his travels.