Brazil: Indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá Peasants Confront the Latifundium

Featured image: Indigenous peasants stand up to the repressive forces of the old Brazilian State.

Indigenous peasants from the Guarani-Kaiowá community retook land from the Ipuitã latifudium on Sunday, September 21. This latifundium is located in Caarapó, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS). These lands are part of Indigenous Territories, a legal status that is still awaiting approval from the federal government.

The peasants have faced continuous attacks from the big landlords, who have even carried out assaults with chemical weapons to destroy the crops of the peasants on these lands. A Nova Democracia has previously reported on the struggle of the Guarani-Kaiowá in this area.

The Military Police (MP) were sent to the area to intimidate the peasants and force them to leave. They also stated that they would return with paramilitaries from the National Force.

On the same day that the land was retaken, the old State sent the shock of the MP. Dozens of military personnel arrived with heavy weaponry, and the Indigenous peasants were expelled from this retaken land.

After this confrontation, another group of indigenous peasants faced attacks from the shock troops of the MP in Caarapó, in the Indigenous Territory of Dourados-Amambaipeguá III.

The police blocked access to the land retaken by the indigenous peasants in this area. Once again, this is an Indigenous Territory pending legal recognition. This process has taken more than 16 years and is still going on. The repressive forces of the old Brazilian State blocked all access to the land and fired upon the indigenous people. The justification was that they were conducting a drug trafficking investigation.

A Nova Democracia is the source of all the pictures and videos used in this article.