Judges in Brazil have allowed a Guarani community to stay on its ancestral land, which it reoccupied having been forced to live in a makeshift camp for over a year and a half.
The judges have suspended an eviction order which threatened to force the Indians to leave their land and face appalling living conditions on the side of a road or in an overcrowded reserve.
The 170 Guarani of Laranjeira Nanderu community can now remain on a small patch of their land, until further land studies are carried out. Their territory is currently being occupied by a ranch.
Ten Guarani representatives traveled to São Paulo to attend the meeting where the judges made their decision.
A Guarani man from Laranjeira Nanderu said, ‘This is our dream, nothing else. Just for the studies to be done to show that we have the right to our ancestral lands’.
The ruling follows interventions from the Guarani, as well as Survival International, Brazilian NGO CIMI, and other organizations.
The Brazilian authorities are responsible for mapping out and protecting all Guarani land for the Indians’ exclusive use.
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Act now to help the Guarani
Your support is vital for the Guarani’s survival. There are lots of ways you can help.
- Donate to Survival’s campaign for the Guarani
- Write to the Brazilian government using Survival’s online letter-writing tool
- Write to your MP or MEP (UK) or Senators and members of Congress (US).
- Write to your local Brazilian embassy
- If you want to get more involved, contact Survival
