Guaíra, Brazil — A recent attack on the Avá-Guarani community in the Tekoha Guasu Guavira Indigenous Land has intensified calls for enhanced security measures and highlighted ongoing land disputes in Brazil’s Paraná state. Early Thursday, two Indigenous individuals were reportedly injured during a confrontation involving agricultural workers, exacerbating tensions in a region already fraught with conflict over land rights.
Witnesses from the Avá-Guarani community allege that a truck and four tractors, loaded with what was claimed to be poison, aggressively entered the Yvyju Avary area at about 10 a.m. The trucks, reportedly hired by a local large-scale farmer keen on expelling Indigenous people from the land, resulted in one person being run over and another assaulted with sticks.
Nazany Martins, a local Indigenous leader, characterized the attack as part of a continuing pattern of aggression. “These assaults by non-Indigenous groups and major landholders have become increasingly violent and frequent,” Martins said. “This time, they not only injured our people but killed several community dogs.”
The Guarani Yvyrupa Commission (CGY) explains that such incidents are common due to conflict over territory currently under the process of regularization. Despite negotiations with some local farmers reaching peaceful resolutions, others have responded with hostility, choosing violence over dialogue.
Just four days before the recent attack, a neighboring village was similarly harassed. According to residents, an unidentified vehicle circulated the area, capturing images of Indigenous leaders before gunfire erupted from a nearby farm. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in that episode, but the fear among the Indigenous community remains palpable.
CGY has officially requested federal intervention to safeguard the Avá-Guarani populations. They have stressed the urgency of thorough investigations and appropriate prosecutions to address the escalating violence, which they describe as reaching critical levels.
In response to these urgent calls, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security indicated that the National Public Security Force, along with Federal Police and National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), have been deployed to the region. Their primary roles are not only to mediate existing disputes but also to conduct routine patrols and aid local law enforcement in maintaining order.
The Tekoha Guasu Guavira land spans roughly 24,000 hectares and was outlined by FUNAI in 2018, though it has not yet been formally marked. Since a resurgence of Indigenous movements in July aiming to reclaim this territory, violent incidents have surged. An attack in August, among the most severe, resulted in six Indigenous peoples sustaining injuries, with two in critical condition. The assault reportedly involved firearms and chainsaws, with threats of further violence issued against the villagers.
An Indigenous resident, recalling earlier incidents, expressed an escalation in hostility. “Previous attacks were alarming, but now there’s an overt display of weaponry that suggests the perpetrators are becoming bolder,” the resident reflected.
As federal forces continue their presence in the area, both to prevent further violence and foster negotiations, the situation in Tekoha Guasu Guavira remains a focal point for national attention on the rights and protection of Indigenous territories in Brazil.