At the end of 2008, approximately 40 Guarani Kaiowá families won a stay in their struggle for traditional land. On 22 December, the president of the Regional Federal Tribunal of the 3^rd Region (TRF3) appeals court judge Marli Ferreira suspended for 120 days the dispossession order for about 130 Guarani Kaiowá who live in the land Laranjeira Ñanderu, in Rio Brilhante, in southern Mato Grosso do Sul.

 

The appeals court judge concurred that the dispossession of the indigenous people, anticipated for the beginning of January, would bring grave consequences for the physical integrity of the people, who would probably then live on the side of the road, running the risk of being run over by vehicles, as stated by Cacique Faride Mariano de Lima. The TRF3 granted a period of 120 days for the National Foundation of the Indian (FUNAI) to find a peaceful solution to the situation, avoiding conflicts between the indigenous and the ranchers that demand the reintegration of possession of the land.

 

In these 120 days, FUNAI is also obligated to work to conclude the regularization of the area to avoid, in the definitive, the removal of the indigenous people from the land. Since 1971, there have been studies for identification and recognition of the indigenous lands of the region of Rio Brilhante, among these the land Laranjeira Ñanderu.

 

The lack of demarcation of the traditional lands is the central reason for the grave problems that face approximately 40 thousand Guarani Kaiowá who live in Mato Grosso do Sul. In November 2007, FUNAI, the Federal Public Ministry and the indigenous people signed a Term of Adjustment of Conduct (TAC), which anticipates the study for identification of the 36 lands claimed by Guarani Kaiowá in the state. According to the TAC, the studies need to be concluded by April of 2010.

 

Brasília, 8 January 2009

Cimi – Conselho Indigenista Missionário