The 'silent genocide' of the Brazilian Guarani tribe

Homeless and hunted, the Guarani tribe fights for their ancestral land

One of the oldest tribes in South America, the Guarani Indian tribe, was displaced after ranchers claimed their lands, forcing them to sleep on roadsides. Due to their persecution from the politically-powered land owners, the surviving Guarani people have been asking the Brazilian government to return their ancestral lands and vowed not to stop fighting for it until they die. 

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - The Daily Mail reported that many Guarani tribe members were murdered by gunmen hired by the ranchers in an effort to stop the tribe from fighting to reclaim their land.

Population of the Guarani Indians have suffered in South America after European colonization - from about 400,000, they are now just around 51,000 in Brazil while less is speculated in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. 

 Survival International told The Daily Mail that land owners or "ranchers" in Brazil forced the indigenous tribe out of their ancestral lands, which they lived on for over 500 years, to convert them to farms for soya and sugar cane. 

Although the government promised the Guarani an allocation of new land in 1993, the tribe continues to survive on roadsides and have branded the government's refusal to give them their land back as a "practice of silent genocide."

Many Guarani suffered diseases and violence against mercenaries or the "pistoleiros" hired to kill them so they couldn't attempt to retake their ancestral land. 

Suicide rates among the Guarani are also high. Since their forced evictions during the 1950s and 60s, the suicide rate has increased to 34 times the national average. In 1986, at least 517 Guarani allegedly killed themselves but it is believed that the true number is higher.

During a raid on August 29, tribal leader SemiĂŁo Vilhalva was reportedly shot dead and a one-year-old baby was shot in the head during the same raid. One week later, hundreds of Guarani people were forced to hide in the nearby jungle after an open fire was launched by the mercenaries. 

Sarah Shenker, of Survival International, said that the only way to save them is to give them back their home.

Many children also died after suffering from a variety of diseases including respiratory ailments as they live in open spaces and roads. The indigenous people don't have access to healthcare, which only worsens their plight. 

Thousands are ready to fight for their rights and vowed to retake the lands even if they must die to do so.

"For decades we expected these issues surrounding our rights to be resolved, in a peaceful manner, but the government does not appear to want a 'peaceful solution.' It appears to want, in the conquest of our lands, the shedding of our blood. It appears that the Brazilian government and justice want our death. We realize that if we do not paint ourselves and pick up our arrows, cudgels and take action we will continue to suffer starvation, thirst, suffering and injustice," said a tribe spokesperson in a statement with Intercontinental Cry.

Meanwhile, the UN urged the Brazilian government to "ensure that the human rights of the Guarani and Kaiowa indigenous people are fully respected, in strict compliance with international standards protecting the rights of indigenous peoples." Whether their urging goes unheard remains to be seen.

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