Nov 25, 2019, 12:45 pm
(This post was last modified: Nov 25, 2019, 12:49 pm by Resurgence. Edited 4 times in total.)
![[Image: 0bb60d4e75d31f9a71e38df1e45560e6.jpg]](https://extraimage.net/images/2019/11/25/0bb60d4e75d31f9a71e38df1e45560e6.jpg)
An indigenous Amazon Guardian has been shot dead by loggers and another wounded after they were ambushed by loggers. Paulo Paulino Guajajara, known also as Kwahu Tenetehar, was shot in the neck and died in the forest. His colleague, Tainaky Tenetehar, was shot in the back and arm but escaped.
The Amazon Guardians have been patrolling their territory in the eastern Amazon, which has been heavily invaded by loggers, for several years. Uncontacted members of the Awa tribe also live in the territory.
At least three Guardians have previously been killed, and many of their relatives have also been killed as loggers and land grabbers have targeted their territory, known as Arariboia, which is now the last area of forest left in the region.
Earlier this year Paulo Paulino told Survival:
Quote:“It makes me so mad to see this [forest destruction]! These people think they can come here, into our home, and help themselves to our forest? No. We won’t allow it. We don’t break into their houses and rob them, do we? My blood is boiling. I’m so angry.”
Sonia Guajajara, head of APIB, the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, said today:
Quote:“It’s time to stop this institutionalized genocide! Stop authorizing the bloodshed of our people!”
Survival International Brazil researcher Sarah Shenker, who accompanied the Guardians on one of their operations earlier this year, said today:
Quote:“Kwahu was completely dedicated to defending his forest and his uncontacted relatives, despite the risks. He was also one of the most humble people I’ve ever met.
“He knew that he might pay with his life, but he saw no alternative, as the authorities did nothing to protect the forest and uphold the rule of law."
“This is the reality of life for many of Brazil’s indigenous people."
“But the Guardians won’t give up, and nor will their allies. If President Bolsonaro thinks this kind of brutality will win, he’s very much mistaken.”
President Bolsonaro has been accused of encouraging the loggers and land grabbers. He is known for his indifference to environmental concerns and for indigenous peoples.
Comments from Bolsonaro Over the Years:
Correio Braziliense newspaper, April 12, 1998
Quote:“It’s a shame that the Brazilian cavalry hasn’t been as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated the Indians.”
Campo Grande News, April 22, 2015
Quote:“The Indians do not speak our language, they do not have money, they do not have culture. They are native peoples. How did they manage to get 13% of the national territory.”
Campo Grande News, April 22, 2015
Quote:“There is no indigenous territory where there aren’t minerals. Gold, tin and magnesium are in these lands, especially in the Amazon, the richest area in the world. I’m not getting into this nonsense of defending land for Indians.”
Campo Grande News, April 22, 2015
Quote:“...[indigenous reserves] are an obstacle to agri-business. You can’t reduce indigenous land by even a square meter in Brazil.”
In Congress, posted on January 21, 2016
Quote:“In 2019 we’re going to rip up Raposa Serra do Sol [Indigenous Territory in Roraima, northern Brazil]. We’re going to give all the ranchers guns.”
Video by Correio do Estado, June 10, 2016
Quote:"This unilateral policy of demarcating indigenous land by the Executive will cease to exist. Any reserve that I can reduce in size, I will do so. It will be a very big fight that we’re going to have with the UN."
Interview with Marcelo Godoy, Estado de São Paulo, April 2, 2017
Quote:“I fought with Jarbas Passarinho [former minister of Justice] right here. I fought with him about the high treason he committed in demarcating the Yanomami reserve. Criminal.”
Hebrew Club, Rio de Janeiro April 3, 2017
Quote:“Not a centimeter will be demarcated either as an indigenous reserve or as a quilombola [territory for descendents of African slave communities].”
Estadão, April 3, 2017
Quote:“You can be sure that if I get there [elected President of Brazil] there will be no money for NGOs. If it’s up to me, every citizen will have a firearm in the house. There will not be a centimeter demarcated for indigenous reservations or quilombolas.”
Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, February 8, 2018
Quote:“If I become President there will not be a centimeter more of indigenous land.”
Espírito Santo August 1, 2018 quoted on Indigenistas Associados web
Quote:“If I’m elected, I’ll serve a blow to FUNAI [Brazil’s department for indigenous affairs]; a blow to the neck. There’s no other way. It’s not useful anymore”
Globo News, August 3, 2018
Quote:“We are going to integrate them into society. Just like the army which did a great job of this, incorporating the Indians into the armed forces.”
https://countercurrents.org/2019/11/amaz...by-loggers
https://www.survivalinternational.org/ar...-Bolsonaro