Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Brazil - There is a new attempt to force a community of Guarani Indians from Potrero Gua'u, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, from their ancestral lands. In a judgment issued, a local judge ordered the Guarani Indians removed from their lands. The Indians, he said, were "invaders" who were illegally occupying land that belonged to ranchers.

The judgment comes after the Guarani successfully reoccupied their ancestral lands, from which they were evicted two decades or more ago. FUNAI, the Brazilian government Indian agency, started the process of recognizing the lands as belonging to the Guarani, so this latest judgment comes as a blow to the campaign to secure lasting land rights for the Guarani.

With a population of 25,000, the Guarani Indians are Brazil's largest indigenous people, however, social problems caused by lack of land has driven many Guarani to alcoholism and suicide. There have been over 250 suicides reported over the last 12 years.

700 Guarani Indians started to re-occupy ancestral lands from which they were evicted in the 1970s and 1980s. In the three months since the re-occupation, the 108 families have built homes and planted crops.

Since being forced off their ancestral lands, the Guarani have made repeated demands for demarcation. In November 1997, community leaders went to Brasilia to demand action. Although work on identifying Guarani lands began in December, there are few signs of progress.

In a letter to FUNAI, the Guarani said that FUNAI, "have not listened to us and we have seen no action by the authorities. We have already waited many years and many months. For this reason, we have decided to occupy our tekoha [land] again today. We are exercising our right to have our tekoha. And we will never ever leave there again."

A statement made by the Guarani of Potrero Gua'u read, "... we the indigenous people of the community of Potrero Gua'u met to discuss and to decide what to do about our traditional land, or 'tekoha.' We want the President of FUNAI together with the General Procurator to listen to our demands and to take measures to restore our land to us. Because up to now they have not listened to us and we have seen no action by the authorities since the survey of our traditional tekoha, Potrero Gua'u."