A video released last week by human rights groups shows masked gunners opening fire on Makuxi Indians in Brazil after tribespeople began building shelters on a farming operation inside a national Indian reserve last month.
The situation is "an emblematic case" for Indians across Brazil, who regularly clash with developers, farmers, loggers, and other interests over land use, said Fiona Watson of Survival International.
The new footage—released by Survival International and the Indigenous Council of Roraima State (CIR)—shows people firing assault rifles and throwing homemade bombs at the Makuxi in the Raposa Serra do Sol Reserve.
Ten Indians—six of them under the age of 18—were injured in the attack.
The gunners are believed to have been working for Paulo César Quartiero, according to Survival International. Mayor of a nearby town and a major rice farmer, Quartiero has refused to stop farming in the protected reserve.
Violence has been escalating since early April, when a petition was filed with the Brazilian Supreme Court to authorize farmers to stay in Raposa Serra do Sol. A final ruling is expected in August.
Hired Guns?
The 4.2-million-acre (1.7-million-hectare) Raposa Serra do Sol Reserve was created by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in April 2005.
About 19,000 Indians from several tribes live in Raposa Serra do Sol, including five different Makuxi ethnic groups.
Many of these groups are at least partially integrated into the modern world, and most speak both their tribal languages and Portuguese.
(Related: "Photos Spur Debate on Protecting 'Uncontacted' Tribes" [June 3, 2008].)
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