May 18, 2022

10:05

Ívina Garcia – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The indigenous people of the Parakanã people, residents of the Apyterewa Indigenous Land in Pará, denounce that they are suffering threats of invasion in their villages. According to them, the threats began on Sunday 15th, when the indigenous people received audios informing them that ranchers were laying siege to their villages.

The conflict allegedly started after the Parakanã indigenous people advanced into their own territory and approached the farms. According to the complaint sent to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), non-indigenous people went to the village to warn of the threat made by the ranchers, that teams were being sent to attack the villages recently opened by the Parakanã. 

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In the audios sent to the MPF, of which CENARIUM had access, local residents report that they received, by radio, the reports of the threats. “He went at night and warned them: ‘I’m going to attack you’, that’s how he told the people”. In another excerpt, another indigenous person states that he is worried about the threats made to the Parakanã people.

“He says that the ranchers are there, blocking the roads, he says that there is a part where the invaders are on horseback invading the village”, informed the indigenous person.

History of Invasion

In an interview to CENARIUM, the public prosecutor, who works in Redenção, a municipality in Pará, Márcio Figueiredo, explained that the Apyterewa IT has a history of invasion. “The whole issue is that having this indigenous land homologated, in 2007, having one of the conditionalities for the Belo Monte Plant, the non-indigenous people have to be removed. It so happens that since then these conflicts have been escalating, both because of the size of the intrusion, and because of the size of the legal war that has been waged”.

Márcio explains that, over the years, decisions have been made for both sides, both for the approximately 3,000 indigenous people who currently live in the region, and for the farmers and non-indigenous people who invaded the site. “In 2020, Minister Gilmar Mendes determined that there should be a conciliation between the parties. However, this conciliation did not result, because since it is a demarcated indigenous land there is nothing to conciliate”, he explained.

Despite the back and forth, in the beginning of 2022 the STF decided that the land belongs to the indigenous people, in its entirety, and asked the non-indigenous people and invaders to leave. According to the prosecutor, the conflict would have started after two villages expanded their territory and arrived near an illegal farm in the region. “This village occupies a central place in the land, but the indigenous people themselves, wishing to occupy all their territory, are expanding their dwellings. And, it seems that two villages arrived near a farm that would be there illegally, and that is why, according to these reports, people from this farm, on horseback, would have gone to these villages further away to threaten the indigenous people, saying that the land was not theirs and that they should not be there,” he reported.

The Attorney General’s Office informed CENARIUM that after receiving the reports, which were largely disseminated through social networks, they contacted the Federal Police in Redenção, who on the afternoon of Tuesday, 17, made a flight over the site, which is difficult to access. After the team returned, the prosecutor contacted the police, who informed that there was no more conflict at the site.

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“The main thing is the continuity of the process of disintrusion from the Apyterewa indigenous land, with the multi-institutional presence of both the MPF, PF, Funai and Ibama. Certainly, there was environmental degradation where there was this intrusion. We are acting in the short term to respond to this information that has reached us and we will adopt short and medium term measures to guarantee the success of this operation,” he said.

The Federal Police issued a statement on Tuesday evening, 17, and reported that the invasion of the Apyterewa land was verified, close to where the two new villages were installed. According to the police, the farmers left the site before the arrival of the agents.

“The MPF is studying new measures to guarantee the safety of the indigenous people and has requested a report from the Federal Police on the incursion into the area. The National Indian Foundation (Funai) is also following the case. The understanding of the MPF is that the safety of the indigenous land depends on the definitive removal of the invaders,” says an excerpt from the note.