The executive secretary of the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), Luis Ventura, states that, currently, the public security forces operating in the Nhanderu Marangatu Indigenous Land (TI), in the municipality of Antônio João (MS), perform the function of private security to serve private interests. The assessment was shared in an interview given today (18), to Agência Brasil and has as its context the overlap of the Barra Farm, where the young man Neri Guarani Kaiowá was executed with a shot to the head. 
The suspects are that the perpetrators of the shootings, which hit other indigenous people with rubber bullets and lethal ammunition, were military police officers. The victim was 23 years old and left behind an 11-month-old son. Forty years ago, Marçal de Souza Tupã’i, one of the greatest leaders of the Guarani Kaiowá people, was murdered in the same territory, with five shots, inside his home, which was in the Campestre village.
For Ventura, the criticism regarding the misuse of property is aimed primarily at the Military Police. “They say they are complying with a court ruling from the 3rd Regional Federal Court (TRF3), but that is not true. The ruling is not an eviction order or a repossession order, nor does it allow the Military Police to harass the community. The only thing they allow, and this is serious enough, is for the police to be in the area to ensure security,” he notes.
The first attack, in the most recent wave of violence against the Guarani Kaiowá, occurred on September 12. According to the CIMI secretary, the following day, during a visit to the IT, something worried the authorities who were part of the Human Rights Mission organized by the Collective of Solidarity and Commitment to the Guarani Peoples: the security agents’ blatant disregard for the indigenous people.
“We noticed the tense situation, we tried to mediate and talk to the Military Police force and the colonel and what we noticed was hatred, anger against the indigenous people. A very visceral issue and a determination to continue attacking, treating the indigenous people as invaders, despite being on approved indigenous land, evidently characterizing their position as private security, of a rancher”, he says.
The Barra Farm is claimed by Roseli Ruiz, who is expected to participate in the next meeting of the conciliation committee at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to discuss actions involving the time frame for demarcation of indigenous lands, as an expert on indigenous rights.
“They are calling someone an expert on indigenous rights who is occupying approved territory and ordering the Military Police to shoot indigenous people. Her daughter, Luana Ruiz, a rural lawyer, is a special advisor to the Civil House of the government of Mato Grosso do Sul and is the one who is requesting the presence and maintenance of the police in the area. And she is part of the government,” Ventura reports.
Another aspect highlighted by the CIMI secretary is the fact that the Military Police disturbed the victim’s body, which suggests that their objective was to destroy evidence and make it difficult for the Guarani Kaiowá community to access him. “All of this has absolutely to do with the current situation in the country in relation to the rights of indigenous peoples, because the delay by the State in guaranteeing possession of their territories, in demarcating indigenous land, is what fuels and sustains violence against indigenous peoples,” recalling that, in the case of the Panambi – Lagoa Rica TI, the government took two months to send a force from the National Force and that the contingent is much smaller than that of military police.
Note of repudiation
Late this afternoon, the Dom Paulo Evaristo Human Rights Defense Commission (Arns Commission) released a statement of repudiation in light of the escalation of violence against indigenous peoples across the country. The organization, which was part of the delegation that visited the region last week, reports that it collected “shocking” testimonies.
“Videos with criminal threats are circulating to double the bet that the indigenous people will be expelled or eliminated in the coming days. In the villages, access to food, health and education for children has been restricted every day. Police raids on the settlements report episodes of violence, ranging from physical confrontations to vandalizing the few belongings of these communities. Even agents from Funai [Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas] have been constrained in the region. In short, the situation is unsustainable,” says the entity.
Federal Deputy Célia Xakriabá (PSOL-MG) today sent an urgent letter to the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, and other authorities, denouncing the case. In the letter, the parliamentarian requested the immediate suspension of police operations in the Nhanderu Marangatu Indigenous Territory and the opening of an investigation, in addition to the permanence of the National Force in the territory. The deputy also requested an emergency meeting with the minister, to strengthen actions to protect the indigenous peoples.
Other side
Last week, the State Secretariat of Justice and Public Security of Mato Grosso do Sul reported that there is no order for repossession being carried out, nor are there any preparations in the rural area of the municipality of Antônio João. “The government reinforces its commitment to maintaining peace in the countryside and combating, promptly and effectively, fires of criminal origin,” the secretariat said in a statement. Agência Brasil asked the agency for a statement on the new accusations made by CIMI, and is awaiting a response.
The report attempted to contact Luana Ruiz and Roseli Ruiz, through the Civil House of the government of Mato Grosso do Sul, but there was no response by the time this article was published. The report is also awaiting a position from the STF.
