Survival

For the Guarani, land is the origin of all life.   View this email in your browser

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Dear Supporter, Last month the Guarani community of Pyelito Kuê told us they were planning to carry out a “retomada” or re-occupation of their ancestral land. In preparation, men, women and children gathered in their oca (communal prayer house), and guided by their spiritual elder, they danced, sang and prayed, calling for courage and hope for a better future on their land. News of a pending retomada is always a tense and worrying time for us here at Survival. After days of trying to reach the community, we finally spoke to their leader Marcio, who, together with around 30 of his relatives, had been kidnapped, rounded up into the back of a truck, driven away and eventually dumped by a roadside. This was his message: “It’s terrible here. The gunmen attacked us in the middle of the night. They burned all our belongings. They shot at us. Some of my relatives were injured and many people fled. I don’t know where or how they are now.”  Marcio had a narrow escape. Guarani leaders are being murdered one by one in systematic attacks. Semião Vilhalva, leader of a neighbouring community, was assassinated by ranchers' gunmen just three weeks prior. Retomadas are truly terrifying. It takes immense courage to stand up to the hostile ranchers and gunmen who shoot at the Guarani daily. So why do they do it? Why are more and more Guarani willing to carry out retomadas? The Guarani are tired... tired of waiting for justice and for government promises to be fulfilled. According to Brazil’s constitution, their land should have been returned to them by 1993, but 22 years on, many Guarani remain landless and destitute. Squeezed onto tiny areas, often on dangerous road sides, the Guarani experience pollution, illness, hunger and one of the highest suicide rates in the world. During the attack, communications equipment from Survival's "Tribal Voice" project, a ground-breaking initiative which allows remote tribes to speak directly to the outside world, was destroyed by the gunmen. We are now working to get the community back in contact as quickly as possible. They must not be silenced.  Despite everything, the Guarani remain resolute. Marcio told us: “We’ll do everything it takes to get our land back. We will not give up.” We now desperately need your support to continue our efforts to secure Guarani lands. Our funding model relies almost entirely on public generosity. With so many worthy causes out there, fundraising in this way isn't easy, but it does mean we can never be influenced by government and corporate priorities. Just $5/£3 a month would give us the security we need to plan ahead and step up our global campaigning efforts. If you are already a regular donor, please consider an extra donation now to push the campaign. The future of tribal peoples depends on you. Thank you for your support. Yours faithfully, Stephen Corry Director