Brazil, another indigenous leader defending the Amazon assassinated
Environment — di Lorenzo Brenna
Zezico Guajajara, a Guardian of the Amazon, was shot and killed in circumstances that are yet to be clarified.
Brazil, another indigenous leader defending the Amazon assassinated
Zezico Guajajara, a Guardian of the Amazon, was shot and killed in circumstances that are yet to be clarified.
Despite the Covid-19 epidemic spreading to Brazil as well, forcing many communities into isolation, violence against indigenous peoples shows no sign of abating — communities that have recently been subject to the unwanted and dangerous attention of missionaries.
On 31 March, Zezico Rodrigues Guajajara was assassinated — an indigenous leader from the Araribóia territory, which is home to the Guajajara people and uncontacted groups of the Awá tribe, in the Amazonian state of Maranhão.
Another Amazonian Indigenous Leader Is Murdered in Brazil
"The murder of Zezico Guajajara, an important leader to his people and a marked enemy to loggers, is not an isolated incident."
#DefendEarthDefenders
@AmazonWatch press release: amwt.ch/4608
"The murder of Zezico Guajajara, an important leader to his people and a marked enemy to loggers, is not an isolated incident."
#DefendEarthDefenders
@AmazonWatch press release: amwt.ch/4608
The shadow of illegal deforestation
The body of the man — a teacher and director of the Azuru indigenous school education center — was found near his village of Zutiwa, in the municipality of Arame, which is home to around a thousand indigenous people. According to reconstructions of events, he was returning to the village on his motorcycle when he was killed by a shot fired from a hunting rifle. The motive for the murder is not yet known, nor has anyone been arrested. It is believed, however, that Zezico was assassinated by loggers operating illegally in the area, who had already repeatedly threatened to kill him.
Read also: Brazil, another guardian of the Amazon assassinated, Paulo Paulino
Natives under attack
Zezico Rodrigues is the fifth Guajajara to be murdered in the past four months, following the killings of Paulo Paulino Guajajara, killed on 1 November in an ambush by illegal loggers in the Araribóia territory; of Firmino Prexede Guajajara and Raimundo Benício Guajajara, killed in a shooting on 7 December; and of 15-year-old Erisvan Guajajara, stabbed to death in the municipality of Amarante on 13 December.
Read also: Who are the Guardians of the Amazon and why are they protesting
Just like Paulo Paulino, Zezico Rodrigues was also a member of the Guardians of the Amazon, a group of Guajajara who patrol the forest to protect it from illegal loggers and prevent its destruction. The Guardians' resistance has provoked a violent response from the powerful criminal networks of timber traffickers who illegally exploit the resources of the Arariboia indigenous territory.
The Guajajara call for justice
"We have lost another warrior, a great leader of the Guajajara people," declared Sônia Guajajara, of the Guajajara people and leader of the Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples (Apib). "Zezico Guajajara was an important indigenous leader, courageous and committed to the struggle in defence of our people. We call on the federal police to investigate and shed light on this brutal murder."
Under Bolsonaro, the natives are without rights
The already precarious conditions of Amazonian indigenous peoples have deteriorated sharply since the election of Jair Bolsonaro as president, who has emboldened timber traffickers, agricultural entrepreneurs and resource exploiters of all kinds, delegitimising the native peoples and encouraging the invasion of their territories.
Read also: Brazil, why under Bolsonaro indigenous peoples are left without land or rights
"The murder of Zezico Guajajara, a known enemy of the loggers, is not an isolated incident," said Ana Paula Vargas, of the NGO Amazon Watch, created to protect the rainforest and promote the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin. "His assassination is linked to the recent murders of other indigenous people who have suffered the consequences of the criminal activities of loggers who invade their lands and threaten their lives with guaranteed impunity. The Brazilian government is conniving and complicit in these murders."
The effects of the strategy of terror
The strategy of violence appears to be working, and the inhabitants of the more than 170 villages in the Arariboia territory feel, understandably, increasingly unsafe and abandoned. Local authorities, according to reports by the Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo, have decided to evacuate three Guardians for their own safety: the group's coordinator, Olímpio Guajajara, and the guardians Laércio and Auro Guajajara.
Read also
- Brazil, miners assassinate Waiãpi leader and invade village
- Brazil's Red January, natives protest against Bolsonaro
"We, the Guajajara people, depend on this land," Zezico Rodrigues said in an interview given to Amazon Watch in 2019. "Our culture, our identity and our values are tied to our territory. Our vision is that the Earth needs us and we need her. We receive no financial resources or political support from the Brazilian government to sustain us in this battle to defend our territory, but we continue to fight because it is the only choice we have."