Sustaining lives in Brazil

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“I have always been a fighter for every person’s right to a dignified life. It is who I am. I have a strong sense for what is right and wrong, and what is happening to the indigenous community of the Guarani Kaiowa is definitely wrong. Their children are dying of malnutrition, and such cases aren’t the exception. Every single death is heartbreaking. At the same time other issues are at stake too. It is the way in which the indigenous population is being treated. Land is increasingly used for soy production and the indigenous communities, in turn, are continually losing parts of their ancestral territory. What they lose is not only their basic means of food production; it is, moreover, part of their identity. Here in Brazil, everybody knows that they value the land as “Mother Earth”. It is not just survival that it guarantees, but life. The land represents life in the deeper sense of the word, entailing a cultural, collective, and maybe even spiritual identity. You simply can’t compensate this loss with food aid. I will continue to support them. Fighting for their rights is fighting for life, dignity, and justice. It is fighting for my own human rights as well.”