"We know our rights and we will fight for them": Indigenous rigths in Brazil

Amnesty International, 2010, 15 pages

For the Guarani-Kaiowá of Brazil, as for all Indigenous Peoples, traditional lands are vitally important for their identity and way of life. Some 30,000 Guarani-Kaiowá live  in Mato Grosso do Sul state in the Brazilian midwest. For over a century, their communities have been driven from their lands by the expansion of large-scale agriculture – a process that continues to this day. The consequences for affected communities can be devastating. Thirty-five Guarani-Kaiowá families of the Laranjeira Ñanderu community, including around 85 children, are living in makeshift shacks by the side of the busy BR-163 highway in Mato Grosso do Sul. Their living conditions are deplorable and they face threats and harassment from armed security guards hired by local farmers.