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| Guarani mother and child
© João Ripper/Survival |
Three Guarani children have starved to death so far this year; hundreds
more are suffering from malnutrition. Crammed onto tiny pockets of
land, the Indians have nowhere to hunt, fish or even plant crops.
According to official statistics, another fifteen Guarani children died
of starvation last year. The government has announced an increase in
the number of children who will receive food aid, but continues to
ignore the root cause of the crisis - the tribe's almost total
lack of land. Over the last seven decades, thousands of Guarani have
been evicted from their lands by soya planters and cattle ranchers;
barely 1% of the Guarani's original forest remains. Today they are
crammed together onto tiny reservations; as a result, suicide,
alcoholism and internal violence are rife.
Meanwhile, in an astonishing move, the courts are preparing to evict a
Guarani community who have re-occupied, at great risk to themselves, a
small fraction of the land they once owned. Their land, which they call
Nanderú Marangatú, is still occupied by a cattle rancher who regularly
threatens the Indians. The Indians have planted crops to sustain
themselves; eviction would mean a return to the small patch of land
where they will be unable to survive. Survival is protesting against
the planned eviction.
To read more about the Guarani, click here.
