"Avá-Guarani Indigenous people are a target of violent attacks in southern Brazil", 21 October 2024

...The Avá-Guarani community, located in the Tekoha Guasu Guavira Indigenous Land in Guaíra, in the state of Paraná, was the target of yet another violent attack by big farmers on Thursday morning (17). The conflict left two Indigenous people injured, one after being run over by a truck and the other beaten with sticks by men identified as employees of a rural property in the region.   

Based on reports from residents of the community, a truck and four tractors loaded with poison advanced on the Yvyju Avary community, inside the Indigenous Land, at around 10 am, allegedly at the behest of a big farmer who is demanding the expulsion of the Indigenous people from the area. The National Public Security Force was called in to intervene, and the victims were taken to a hospital. “The big farmers have a truck full of non-Indigenous people making attacks. They've run over people and also killed the community's dogs,” said Indigenous leader Nazany Martins.   

According to the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission (CGY, in Portuguese), the Avá-Guarani community live in constant tension due to big farmers' attacks against Indigenous territories that are being regularized. One big farmer in the region agreed to negotiate the sale of his land for the demarcation of the Indigenous Lands, while another chose to resist violently, escalating the conflicts.   

This attack is part of a series of aggressions that have been taking place in recent months. Last Sunday (13), the Y'hovy village, also in Guaíra, was shot at from a neighboring big farm after a suspicious car drove around the area filming Indigenous leaders. Although no one was injured in the incident, the atmosphere of insecurity persists...

Since July, the Indigenous people of the region have faced an intensification in acts of violence following the start of the movement to retake their traditional territory, the Tekoha Guasu Guavirá Indigenous Land...