Paraguay:
Action to protect Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation cannot
be delayed
The Ayoreo Indigenous People are one of an estimated 100 uncontacted
tribes around the world and the only uncontacted people in South
America outside the Amazon basin. The Totobiegosode (‘people from
the place of the wild pigs’) are the most isolated sub-group of
the Ayoreo and live in the Chaco, a vast expanse of dense, scrubby
forest stretching from Paraguay to Bolivia and Argentina. They are
extremely vulnerable to any form of contact with outsiders because
of their lack of immunity to diseases, warns an emergency submission
sent in November 2008 by Survival International to the United Nations.
(1)
Though some have still
managed to avoid all contact with outsiders, since 1969 many of
them have been forced out of the forest harassed by deforestation
carried out by land speculators and ranchers. Two Brazilian companies
-Yaguarete Pora SA and River Plate SA- are currently devastating
the Totobiegosode’s ancestral territory and livelihood to make way
mainly for grazing cattle for beef.
Widespread condemnation
and pressure from the public in Paraguay has come as a result of
satellite photos that revealed the destruction of the Indigenous
Peoples’ land, as well as increasing media coverage of the issue
around the world and a letter campaign from Survival International.
(2) Paraguay’s National Environment Council (CONAM)
announced the decision to withdraw Yaguarete’s licence to work in
the area. Still, when a government team went to investigate the
activities of the Brazilian Yaguarete Pora SA in the area, it was
barred from doing so by the company’s employees.
The Global Forest Coalition (3) reports that “This tragedy is occurring
in Paraguay's largest reservoir of carbon and is happening in a
department where deforestation is banned by the Department's Law.”
The amount of Totobiegosode’s
land bulldozed in the northern Chaco has almost tripled since May
last year. The push for agrofuels has added to the traditional land
grab to graze cattle for beef. The Minister of Agriculture of Paraguay
was in the Chaco Region promoting crops for agrofuels as a profitable
scheme. The Argentinean firms Carlos
Casado and Patagonia Bioenergía joined to create a company to produce
in Paraguay Jatropha curcas for agrofuel. (http://www.biodiesel.com.ar/?p=1001#more-1001).
According to GFC, “The
Ayoreo’s land is being deforested at a tremendous rate. More than
200 hectares have been clear-cut and another 1,000 hectares are
slated to be cut by the end of the year. The deforesters vow that
they will meet this deadline ‘come what may.’ The lands will be
designated for growing 5 species of oleaginous plants for ‘bio-diesel’
production including Jatropha curcas.” The GFC informs that “The
company Carlos Casado already has a ‘field trial’ of 15,000 hectares
in the western part of the Chaco”.
Projects and policies
that devastate the cultural diversity of the society, the environment
and the climate run counter to the discourse of President Fernando
Lugo, who has promised to protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights and
the environment. As Survival International warns: “Lugo must take
action to protect the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode now. Wait any longer
and it may be too late.”
(1) “Emergency report
to UN about uncontacted tribe”, Survival International,
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3938
(2) “Glimmer of hope
for uncontacted tribe”, Survival International,
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3929
(3) “Agrofuel Production
Threatens the Life of last remaining Indigenous
Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation South from the Amazonian
Basin,” 11 December 2008, Global Forest
Coalition, sent by Rachel Smolker, Global Justice Ecology Project/Global
Forest Coalition, e-mail:
