THIS YEAR ALONE, 19 INDIGENOUS PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN VIOLENT CIRCUMSTANCES IN MATO GROSSO DO SUL

 

It has been announced that three indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá people in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul suffered violent deaths between 12 and 13 March. From January to March 2005, news of six homicides and ten suicides was published in this state, according to an analysis carried out by Cimi. In all, there has been a total of 19 deaths. From January to April, 28 indigenous children have also died as a result of health problems, usually as a result of malnutrition.

 

“There is a high incidence of cases of violence in Mato Grosso do Sul and the types of violence involved are more varied than in other regions of the country. There are homicides, suicides, and deaths caused by people being run over on highways that cross the indigenous lands. There is also sexual violence, cases of malnutrition and a high rate of alcoholism, which is a form of violence because it is brought on by the type of contact [between the indigenous people and the surrounding society]”, according to the analysis of the lawyer Rosane Lacerda, who tracks the cases of violence against indigenous people in Brazil.

 

One of these deaths this week was caused by being run over. The person responsible for the accident did not stop to help the victim, a 30-year-old teacher who lived in the Sucuriy settlement and was studying pedagogy at the University of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. Another indigenous person, aged 32, was knifed in the Bororó, settlement in Dourados. The third case reports that a 22-year-old indigenous woman was found hanged in the recently ratified Ñande Ru Marangatu land.

 

On the subject of Ñande Ru Marangatu, the Cimi coordinator in Mato Grosso do Sul, Egon Heck, considers that “in spite of the importance of the ratification of Ñande Ru Marangatu, the ranchers still occupy more than 90% of the land and there is a permanent uneasy atmosphere in the area”.

 

The conflicts are, directly or indirectly, due to the manner in which contact was established in this region, the conditions in which the indigenous people are forced to live and, therefore, the situation of the indigenous lands in the state. “When an indigenous person is run down and killed on a highway that crosses the indigenous land, this is linked to the question of land, since this highway was not built because the indigenous people needed it there. It was built to serve the economic interests of the state, and of the ranchers”, Rosane Lacerda states.

 

In Mato Grosso do Sul, different peoples live in reduced areas, where conflicts are increasing as the population grows. The lands, whose boundaries were defined without paying respect to the full extension of the Guarani tekoha (traditional lands), are situated near to cities, have been invaded by highways, and do not have the room necessary for the development of the traditional social and economic organization of the Guarani. “With no room to plant, young men and adults work in the alcohol and sugar cane plants, are absent from the community life, and when they come back, bear all the scars of living in the plants”, the lawyer says. 

 

Land: the crucial question

 

During the Aty Guasu, the Large Gathering, of the Guarani held at the end of last month, the indigenous representatives mentioned 32 conflict situations involving Guarani-Kaiowá indigenous lands in the south of Mato Grosso do Sul, where there is a population of more than 30,000 people, living on under 20,000 hectares of land. In spite of there being several processes underway to straighten out this situation, the majority of the 40 indigenous lands belonging to these people continue in the hands of ranchers, producing soy for export.

 

Terra Yvy Katu: one more expulsion announced

 

In spite of all this context, a further petition for the withdrawal of the Guarani from repossessed areas of MS has been accepted by the Federal Court, in the second instance. The Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region has given 15 days notice, from the date on which Funai and the institutions responsible received news of the decision, for the three farms, situated in the municipality of Japorã, 427 km from Campo Grande and repossessed by the indigenous people in 2004, to be vacated. According to the Federal Court in Naviraí, notification was sent by post on Friday (8 April).

 

Hunger and contaminated water

 

The Federal Court continues to deny land to the indigenous people in the settlements in Dourados, where there are 11,000 indigenous people concentrated into 3,500 hectares. There, along with the lack of room for production, contamination of the water available for consumption by the indigenous people has been mentioned as one of the reasons that the children have such difficulty in getting well.

 

According to the regional coordinator of the National Health Foundation (Funasa) in Mato Grosso do Sul, Gaspar Hickman, “the indigenous people very often have powdered milk but don’t have any drinking water to dissolve it in”.

 

Since the start of the year, Funasa has been claiming that 100% of the settlements in MS have a water supply network. However, the Foundation’s own data shows that in the Bororó and Jaguapiru settlements, in the Dourados indigenous land, only 46% (914 of the 1,983 houses) are connected to the network. According to Funasa, R$ 400,000 was made available at the end of 2004 to improve the water supply to the Bororó settlement, in Dourados. The work was to start up at the beginning of 2005.

 

Yesterday (14 April) Funasa and Unicef announced an investment of around R$ 260,000 in basic sanitation in the Dourados settlements. Funasa has set aside a further R$ 4.1 million to carry water and the domestic sanitation structure to three settlements in MS.

 

Since news of the deaths of the children started to be publicized, special committees have been set up in the municipality of Dourados, in the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the House of Deputies and in the Federal Senate to evaluate and propose alternatives for the situation in Mato Grosso do Sul. Countless campaigns to collect food have been made, as well as partnerships with the Brazilian Army and the Pastoral da Criança (Children’s Ministry). “These initiatives, often unconnected, have not been able to substantially alter the situation that this population is living in. The urgent and necessary measures concerning recognition of the indigenous lands and restructuring the indigenous economy are not being taken, especially those involving food production and environmental recovery”, in Heck’s opinion.

 

Brasília, 14 April 2005.

 

Cimi – Indianist Missionary Council