Update: 14 arrested and 25 missing in a macabre police operation in Bahia

We share some excerpts an article from A Nova Democracia. We have previously reported on how the latifundium had carried out previous attacks and announced its intention to attack the peasants again.

The situation in the Indigenous Land of Barra-Velha, in the far south of Bahia, has reached a critical point following a joint operation by the Civil Police and the Military Police, which resulted in at least 14 arrests and 25 missing persons. This operation is part of a series of systematic attacks against the peasants of the Pataxó and Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe indigenous peoples, orchestrated by the repressive forces of the old State and supported by goons in the service of local big landlords.

According to a report from the Council of Pataxó Chiefs, the attacks were deliberately carried out in at least five villages: Vale das Palmeiras, Vale da Seriema, Corumbalzinho, Encantada, Nova, and Pé do Monte Pascoal, all located between the cities of Prado and Itamaraju. In each of these villages, missing residents have been reported. A Pataxó chief, in a complaint to the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), mentioned that although five indigenous peasants were released, there is a total of 25 missing, of which nine are on the list of those arrested, while the whereabouts of the rest are unknown.

The most violent attack occurred in the village of Vale da Palmeira, where police brutality was so extreme that women and children were forced to take refuge in the jungle. A Pataxó witness reported that the police fired indiscriminately, causing panic among the villagers. In this attack, one indigenous person was shot, and six others were arrested. The vice-chief of the mother village Barra Velha stated that they are not asking but demanding their right to have their territory demarcated and recognized.

The Pataxó peoples have demanded to know the whereabouts of the prisoners in order to identify the missing and prevent them from being tortured by the police forces. The invasions of their lands have occurred with the approval of Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT), who has used the police to attack the most impoverished communities. In a recent incident, the police killed nine people in the municipalities of Terra Nova and Cachoeira, leading Pataxó leaders to assert that the government takes superficial measures while secretly orchestrating attacks.

A report from a local media outlet revealed that in the first 18 days of March, at least 50 people were killed during police operations in the state. In a coordinated attack less than two weeks prior, goons in the service of big landlords attacked the TI Comexatibá and the TI Barra Velha do Monte Pascoal, resulting in the death of young Pataxó Vitor Braz and the burning of a leaders’ house.

These attacks occurred while a delegation of over 300 indigenous people from the Pataxó and Tupinambá peoples was in Brasília demanding the immediate demarcation of their lands. During the meeting, Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski stated that the lands would not be demarcated until the constitutionality of the “Temporary Framework” law is voted on in the Supreme Federal Court (STF), claiming that there is no security for demarcation.

Tired of the inaction of the institutions of the old State in the face of genocidal attacks from the latifundium, the Pataxó and Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe peoples reclaimed their lands in 2022. However, big landlords, organized in the Invasão Zero movement and backed by the police, have intensified their attacks, resulting in the murder of leader Nega Pataxó. The confessed murderer was released on bail.

In a context of increasing violence, the Invasão Zero movement suffered a significant defeat in Barro Branco camp, Jaqueira, Pernambuco, where peasants organized by the League of Poor Peasants (LCP) managed to repel the paramilitaries. Now, under the name “Agro Union Bahia” (UNAGRO), big landlords are expanding their attacks against indigenous peoples, actively participating in the repression of those who fight for their right to land.