Guarani child dies of starvation

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A Guarani child has died of starvation and at least four others are suffering from malnutrition in the community of Kurusu Mba, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Gleide Barros was 18 months old when she died on 10 December.

Around 60 Guarani families from Kurusu Mba are camped beside a highway and depend solely on the government’s food aid programme, as they are landless.

They were evicted from their land in 1972 by cattle ranchers, and spent years living on a government reserve. Tired of waiting for the authorities to return their land to them, they have made three attempts to reoccupy part of their ‘tekoha’ or ancestral land. Each attempt has been violently repelled by the ranchers and their gunmen. Two leaders have been killed and several other Guarani hurt.

In the last five years alone, 80 Guarani children have died of malnutrition in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Guarani man Elizeu Lopes says, ‘It is a very precarious situation. We don’t have anything.’ Lack of land is widely recognized as one of the main causes of malnutrition among Guarani children, as families cannot feed themselves.

The Guarani also face high rates of suicide, violence and alcoholism.

Kurusu Mba is one of many Guarani ‘tekohas’ occupied by ranchers. FUNAI, the Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department, has set up a specialist group to identify and map out land traditionally occupied by the Guarani, with the aim of recognizing several large territories encompassing many tekohas. However the state government and ranchers’ groups have mounted a high profile campaign to derail the project.

Survival International has opened a fund to support the Guarani, in association with the the film ‘Birdwatchers’, which stars Guarani-Kaiowá Indians. All donations will go towards helping them defend their rights, lands and futures.  

Read Survival's report on tribal peoples' health, 'Progress can kill'