“Ranchers with ties to the biofuel industry attack Brazilian tribe members”, 24 September 2015

…In 2013-2014,…[Brazil]…produced 7.3 billion gallons of ethanol from sugarcane…[U]sing ethanol on such a large scale raises concerns of its environmental impact…The demand in Europe and the United States for biofuel has also been fueling land grabs across the global South…[including in]…Brazil…The Guarani people…are…familiar with the destructive side of the biofuel industry…The profitability has no doubt incentivized the ranchers to hire armed men to guard their plantations. The Guarani people are inextricably tied to their land — and losing it means losing their livelihoods and their way of getting food and commodities. Many now live on the side of highways…or in…[overcrowded]…reserves… and rife with malnutrition. In the past…the Guarani people have been victims of forced labor on sugarcane plantations…[They]…have one of the highest suicide rates in the world…[In the last months]…Guarani tribes…have re-occupied their ancestral lands…[S]ince 2003, 209…[they]…have been killed due to the conflict with agribusiness and sugarcane plantations…On Aug. 29…Semião Vilhalva, a Guarani leader…, was assassinated after private armed guards surrounded his home. A week later…[others]…were driven from their home with gunshots — and after some…escaped, their homes and belongings were set on fire…[O]n Sept. 18, ranchers kidnapped the Guarani Indians…when they attempted to re-occupy their land…Meanwhile as biofuel and agriculture companies such as Cargill, Alcool Vale, and Biosev brag about the wonders of renewable energy, Survival International tells us that they are sourcing their sugarcane from the Guarani region of Brazil…According to Survival International, Bunge…is a major buyer of sugarcane from the Guarani territory…