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| Guarani children
© © João Ripper/Survival |
At least twenty Tupinikim and Guarani
Indians were seriously wounded last week when 120 federal police
attempted to evict them from their land on behalf of the company
Aracruz Cellulose.
The police invaded the Indian villages of Córrego D'Ouro and Olho
D'Água in the state of Espírito Santo on Friday 20 January, firing
rubber bullets and destroying houses. They were also armed with tear
gas and sub-machine guns.
The Tupinikim and Guarani communities, tired of waiting for their land
to be officially recognised, had reoccupied it in May 2005 and marked
out its boundaries. Their land had been in the hands of Aracruz
Cellulose for almost forty years.
The company had obtained an eviction order from a local court, but
according to local human rights organisations, the Indians had received
no prior warning of the eviction. Local organisations also allege that
the machinery used to destroy the Indians' houses was supplied by
Aracruz Cellulose.
