Corporate Developers Seize Indigenous Lands in Brazil and Hire Hit Men to Murder Residents
In an effort to make way for new investment projects, the Brazilian
government and transnational corporations have been taking over
ancestral indigenous lands, triggering a rise in murders of indigenous
people in Brazil.
According to the report,
"Violence Against Indigenous People in Brazil," recently published by
the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI by its Portuguese initials), the
number of indigenous people killed in the country grew 42 percent from
2013 to 2014; 138 cases were officially registered. The majority of the
murders were carried out by hit men hired by those with economic
interests in the territories.
The states of Mato Grosso del Sur, Amazonas and Bahía figure heavily
in the statistics. An emblematic case was the brutal killing of the
indigenous woman Marinalva Kaiowá, in November of 2014. She lived in
recovered territories, land that for over 40 years has been claimed by
the Guaraní people as the land of their ancestors. Marinalva was
assassinated - stabbed 35 times - two weeks after attending a protest
with other indigenous leaders at the Federal Supreme Court in the
Federal District of Brasilia. The group was protesting a court ruling
that annulled the demarcation process in the indigenous territory of the
Guyraroká.
Forfour days and three nights, more than 1,500 indigenous individuals
filled one of the gardens in front of the National Congress with colors,
music and rituals. (Photo: Santiago Navarro F.)
