Brazil. Solidarity statement by the Anarchist Libertarian Socialist Organization after land occupation by the indigenous M’bya Guarani in Jaraguá, in São Paulo.

Originally published by Abolition Media Worldwide.

The Anarchist Libertarian Socialist Organization is in solidarity with the M’bya Guarani in Jaraguá, in São Paulo, who a week ago occupied land near the Jaraguá Indigenous Land. The fight is to stop the continuation of deforestation in the region, and prevent the construction of a condominium of five residential buildings for the Minha Casa Minha Vida program by Construtora Tenda. The indigenous occupation began after a construction company cut hundreds of trees. In total, more than 4,000 trees were cut. In opposition, another 200 tree seedlings were planted by the M’bya Guarani in the places where the felling occurred.

The occupation aims at the political articulation and visibility of the struggle of the M’bya Guarani in the region. The company Tenda Negócios Imobiliários S.A, a publicly traded construction company, has among its shareholders Banco Itaú and the owner of AmBev, billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann, one of the richest men in the world. Tenda has an average turnover of more than R$300 million, mainly executing works under the Minha Casa Minha Vida Program.

Mayor Bruno Covas (PSDB) informed that the work was regular and that the indigenous people must prove the irregularities. However, the indigenous people also claim that the city of São Paulo cannot, alone, authorize a construction.

Due to the occupation, the works were temporarily suspended, and the indigenous people set up a camp on the ground. Negotiations are being arranged with Funai, the City Hall and the Public Ministry. Inspectors from the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (Cetesb) visited the site, finding irregularities in the work.

In an area considered to be of permanent preservation, the Guarani M’bya Guarani denounce that the construction would be irregular, as it is in an area of environmental preservation of the Atlantic Forest, considered a cooling zone of the Jaraguá State Park, in addition to having a river source. Even Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization obliges states to carry out prior consultations in the case of undertakings close to the Indigenous Lands, but the Indigenous people were not consulted.

The Tenda project is just a few meters from the limits of TI Jaraguá. The area of 532 hectares was declared to be of traditional occupation by the Guarani Mbya people by the Ministry of Justice in 2015. However, there is, to date, no lawsuit filed at Ibama, the federal agency responsible for licensing enterprises in an area of influence of Indigenous Land.

We are also in solidarity with the indigenous resistance struggle throughout the Brazilian territory; people who have suffered from genocide since colonization, and more recently from the murder of leaders, and from attacks by militiamen and private security guards hired by ranchers – militiamen and ranchers who are increasingly encouraged by the Bolsonaro government’s development project, which proposes to move forward agribusiness and mining in Indigenous Territory. In urban areas, the threats come from real estate developments that foment speculation and environmental crimes.

NO TO THE GENOCIDE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES!

IN DEFENSE OF THE JARAGUÁ INDIGENOUS LAND!

ALL SOLIDARITY TO GUARANI M’BYA!

SAVE THE FOREST! JARAGUÁ IS GUARANI!

Anarchist Organization Libertarian Socialism

February 2020

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