Den brasilianske regering har sendt 200 soldater til delstaten Mato Grosso do Sul under en strid med indfødte indianere, som har besat en farm, ejet af en lokal politiker, som de siger, ligger på deres fædrene jord og jagtmarker i generationer.
A member of the Terena tribe was killed at the farm last week when police moved in to evict (udsætte /fjerne) the indigenous group, writes BBC online Thursday.
The Terena have since re-occupied the farm and one was injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen. Two others have been reported as missing.
A judge has issued an eviction order for the indigenous group to leave the farm.
The dispute is only one of many which is pitching indigenous groups against the Brazilian authorities.
Some 2.000 members of the Kaingang and Guarani groups are blocking highways in Mato Grosso do Sul in protest against the government’s decision to halt the granting of ancestral lands to indigenous communities.
And in the Amazon region, the Munduruku indigenous group has been occupying the site where construction is under way on the huge Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, set to become the world’s third largest. The occupation has led to building work on the dam being disrupted since last week.
Under Brazil’s constitution about 13 per cent of the country has been set aside as indigenous territories.
The country’s powerful farming lobby has accused the government’s Indian affairs office, Funai, of using the policy to seize land settled by farmers more than a century ago, and handing it to indigenous groups.
In response to pressure by the farm lobby, the government agreed last month to restrict Funai’s role in land decisions and to temporarily halt the handover of land.
