Illegal logging in Paraguay, killing of Indians in Brazil

Grupo San José investors lobbied over 'hiding tribe'

Guiejna, an Ayoreo woman forced to flee her house as bulldozers started clearing her forest home.
© Survival International

Shareholders in Spanish construction giant Grupo San José have been urged to withdraw from the company after satellite images revealed the involvement of its subsidiary in the destruction of land inhabited by uncontacted Indians.

Grupo San José shareholders include Spanish banks Ibercaja, Caja de Burgos and Banco Caja Castilla la Mancha*. Its subsidiary company, Carlos Casado, owns a large expanse of the Chaco forest in Paraguay which is inhabited by uncontacted Ayoreo Indians.

Carlos Casado, whose President is Spanish tycoon (and Grupo San José founder) Jacinto Rey González, has denied any illegal activities, despite satellite images proving it has begun work in the heart of the Ayoreo’s land.

Last year, government authorities caught the company red-handed as it was clearing the forest and constructing roads and reservoirs without the required environmental license.

Hardwood logs illegally felled by Carlos Casado on Ayoreo land.
© Survival

Many Ayoreo have already been contacted and have been claiming title to the land owned by Carlos Casado for more than twenty years. Their uncontacted relatives who remain in the forest are extremely vulnerable to diseases brought in by outsiders, and unwanted contact could be deadly. The uncontacted Ayoreo are being forced to flee as their forest is being rapidly bulldozed to make way for cattle.

An Ayoreo told Survival, ‘Please do not touch the forest, because it gives us life. Please stop the bulldozers.’

In 2009, Survival International successfully lobbied shareholders such as the Church of England and the Rowntree Trust to disinvest from mining giant Vedanta Resources, because of the company’s intention to mine the sacred mountain of the Dongria Kondh tribe.

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, said today, ‘Multinational companies have destroyed tribal peoples with near complete impunity for centuries, flouting national and international law in their pursuit of profit at any human cost. But the Vedanta case proves that shareholders don’t turn a blind eye when they find out their money is bankrolling human rights abuses – Grupo San José should take note and stop the destruction of the uncontacted Ayoreo immediately.’

Note to editors:

*Ibercaja was listed as a shareholder in Grupo San José in 2009, and Caja de Burgos and Banco Caja Castilla la Mancha were listed as shareholders in 2010. Survival has asked the companies to confirm that they are still shareholders, but they have not done so.

– Download Survival’s letter to Grupo San José’s shareholders (pdf, 352 kb)

Read this online: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/9035

Guarani anger over teenager's death

Guarani Indians have traveled to Brasília to warn of the violence they are forced to endure.
© MPF

Guarani Indians have traveled to Brazil’s capital, Brasília, to warn of the ‘complete disrespect’ and ‘permanent human rights violations’ they are suffering as a wave of death and violence has swept over their communities.

Last month, 15-year-old Guarani boy Denilson Barbosa was shot dead, reportedly by the owner of the ranch which occupies part of the Indians’ ancestral land.

Since then, several communities have reported gunmen intimidating them and firing shots into the air, and three Guarani have died of unknown causes. Their deaths are being treated as mysterious.

Guarani leaders have received death threats via anonymous phone calls, and they fear their movements are being closely monitored by the ranchers’ gunmen.

Having seen much of their land taken from them to make way for ranches and sugarcane plantations, thousands of Guarani now live in overcrowded reserves or roadside camps. Their efforts to take back their ancestral land, rightfully theirs according to Brazilian and international law, often result in violence.

The delegation of seven Guarani leaders met with various government authorities in Brasília, and urged them to map out Guarani lands and implement an emergency security program as soon as possible.

They also called for the rancher thought to be responsible for Barbosa’s death to be investigated and brought to trial.

Many Guarani have been killed by gunmen in recent decades, and in almost every case, the perpetrators have not been punished.

Earlier this year, hundreds of Guarani commemorated the ten year anniversary of the killing of internationally renowned leader Marcos Veron. His killers remain free.

Survival is campaigning for the Guarani’s ancestral land to be returned to them before they are forced to endure further killings.

The Guarani stated, ‘We Guarani… are sure that only the definitive demarcation and return of our ancestral lands will put an end to indigenous misery and hunger, and guarantee more dignified lives for the next Guarani generation’.

Read this online: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/9037

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