Corporate Developers Seize Indigenous Lands in Brazil and Hire Hit Men to Murder Residents

10.1.16

Corporate Developers Seize Indigenous Lands in Brazil and Hire Hit Men to Murder Residents: In addition to this, there has been a steady flow of people forced to move to small territories after being displaced by economic development projects, as in the case of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, where the majority of the population - over 40,000 people - live concentrated on small reservations. These are communities that are exposed to assassinations by hired hit men, lack education and basic necessities, and endure deplorable health conditions. Infant mortality rates in the community are high and rising: According to official statistics, last year 785 children between the ages of 0 and 5 died.

"We, the Guaran�, principally from Mato Grosso do Sul, have been the greatest victims of massacres and violence," the Guaran� Kaiow� indigenous leader Araqueraju told Truthout. "They have killed many of our leaders, they have spilled much blood because we are fighting for the respect for and demarcation of what is left of our territories that the government does not want to recognize."