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Action Case Brazil – Guarani Kaiowa – Malnutrition is killing indigenous children

OPEN LETTERS

In the State of Mato Grosso do Sul the Guarani Kaiowá population is of approximately 27.500 people. Traditionally the Guaranis were itinerant people whose territory included most of the southern part of Latin America.  For this people, the land where they live – the Tekohá – means “the place where we realize our way of being”, a social political space. In the early 20th century the Guarani-Kaiowás were enclosed in very small demarcated indigenous lands. Until the 70´s they were able to migrate to and find refuge in non-occupied lands. But with the progressive occupation of large extensions of the land in the region, including river banks, with the capital intensive production of soy beans, this space was progressively reduced. Since then, more and more indigenous families were forced into the limited demarcated land, seriously reducing their capacity to provide for themselves in terms of food, clean water, fuel for food production, medicinal herbs and increasingly worse sanitation conditions. In the 90`s a severe increase in the rate of suicides was observed as well as those of alcoholism.

In 2007, 76 indigenous people were assassinated in Brazil, out of them 48 were Guarani Kaiowas from Mato Grosso do Sul. Since 2005, 53 Guarani-Kaiowá children died of malnutrition, and presently there at least 600 others who present signs of malnutrition. The homicides, suicides, alcoholism, and malnutrition deaths are strongly linked to the limited extensions of land presently occupied by the Guaranis in Mato Grosso do Sul, and to their struggle against it. The government has limited itself to provide food and health assistance to the families, among other small-scale programs, but has not advanced in the demarcation of the 52 traditional lands demanded by the Guaranis.

Under the human right to food Brazil is duty-bound to provide adequate food and access to resources for the Guarani to feed themselves, as such access is currently beyond their control. Brazil should therefore take immediate measures to demarcate the land in question, and also step up social transfer measures to prevent further starvation deaths until the Guarani are resettled on their lands.

Read an article from Right to Food Quarterly Vol.6-No.1 2011 on the Guarani-Kaiowa (download below)

See the movie The Dark Side of Green on the Guarani Kaiowa at http://www.thedarksideofgreen-themovie.com/