We publish an inofficial translation of an article by A Nova Democracia that was sent to us.
Urgent: Shock Troop slaughters Guarani Kaiowá youth in Amambai, MS
The Shock Troop of the Military Police (MP), mobilizing a helicopter and around 100 agents together with gunmen at the service of the large estate, carried out a cowardly massacre against Guarani Kaiowá youth in the early hours of the 24th of June in the retaken territory Tekoha Gwapo'y Mi Tujury in Amambai, in Mato Grosso do Sul. According to reports from the Guarani Kaiowá people received by the editorial staff of AND, five people were killed and ten others were hospitalised, some of them in a serious condition.
The attack began at 4am with the arrival of the gunmen at the resettlement. The reports of the indigenous people reveal that the military police also invaded and surrounded the territory with six vehicles and corroborated the attack under the pretext of a repossession without any legal validation, without a court order and therefore in an illegal action. From a helicopter, the reactionary military fired on the indigenous people on the ground, throwing gas bombs at the resisting masses.
At least six youths shot by the reactionary military were taken to the Amambai Regional Hospital. In spite of the attempt of the military police to delay the treatment of the wounded, according to a note issued by Aty Guasu, the indigenous people Nayara Souza, 15 years old, Wilke Vasques, 17 years old and Natieli Rodrigues, 23 years old are still under medical care and police escort.
Young woman shot during attack that brought together police and gunmen against Guarani Kaiowá people in Amambai, MS. Photo: Reproduction
Young man killed in massacre promoted by police and gunmen in Amambai, MS. Photo: Reproduction
Young indigenous people present in the territory filmed the attacks while resisting.
The retaking
The night before, on the 23rd of June, approximately 30 indigenous Guarani Kaiowá promoted a reoccupation of part of the Kurupi/São Lucas territory. The action took place in response to the murder of the young indigenous man Alex Ricarte Vasques Lopes, 18 years old, who occurred on the 21st of May on the Taquaperi farm in the municipality of Coronel Sapucaia (MS).
This was one of the repossessions promoted by the Guarani Kaiowá people after the murder of young Alex. On the 22nd of May another occupation took place on the Taquaperi farm, site of the crime promoted by the latifundium.
Pseudohumanists cover up criminal action
In contrast to the pseudohumanist coverage of the odious crimes against indigenous people committed in the Amazon, in the face of yet another barbaric massacre once again promoted by the military police, reactionaries who claim to be concerned about the "indigenous issue" act with permissiveness, making room for the continuation of the massacre, especially when the indigenous masses take the democratic path of self-demarcation and reject the opportunist line of waiting eternally for the "merciful" action of the institutions of the old State, institutions all closely linked to the interests of the latifundium and the bureaucratic monopolies in the countryside (agribusiness).
The press monopoly, under the cloak of "impartiality", covers up the latifundium and endorses the position of representatives of the old State, like the genocidal Antonio Carlos Videira, Secretary of Public Security. The reactionary claims that the indigenous people are infiltrators who planted marijuana in Paraguay and aim to dispute leadership; a speech nothing new, lying and miserable, to try to demonize the indigenous masses who fight for their sacred right to territory expropriated by the latifundia. He also claims that the MP helicopter has "bullet marks" to justify the macabre slaughter.
When reporting the massacre, the press monopoly Rede Globo, for example, which does its best to deceive public opinion by pretending to be a "defender of the indigenous people", pointed to the injured, especially the police officers, creating the perfect breeding ground for the continuation of the genocidal action, one more in a war against the native peoples that has already lasted 522 years.
An indigenous man in an audio file denounces this: "These journalists are liars. They said that the indigenous people had rifles on the news. Where are the indigenous people going to buy a rifle?", and continues: "If they were armed they would have brought down the aircraft that was flying low over there. The secretary is lying and the media is covering it up.
The AND team will continue to monitor the unfolding of the massacre in the coming days.
