Brazilian indigenous forest guardian killed, wound another in ambush

Paulo Paulino Guajajara was killed by armed loggers in the Araribóia region in Maranhão

Illegal loggers killed on Friday the indigenous warrior Paulo Paulino Guajajara in Bom Jesus das Selvas, state of Maranhão. Guajajara, also known as “Bad Wolf,” was part of a group of indigenous forest rangers known as “Guardians of the Forest.”

Organizations reported that the indigenous group was ambushed in their own territory, between the Lagoa Comprida and Jenipapo villages, in the Arariboia Indigenous Land.

The Guajajaras, one of Brazil’s largest indigenous groups with some 20,000 people, set up the Guardians of the Forest in 2012 to patrol a vast reservation. The area is so large that a small and endangered tribe, the Awa Guaja, lives deep in the forest without any contact with the outside world.

Illegal loggers and miners have been moving into tribal reservations in increasing numbers since right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office this year and vowed to open up protected indigenous lands to economic development.

Since taking office in January, Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, has been accused of harming the Amazon and indigenous tribes in order to benefit his supporters in the logging, mining and farming industries.

Indigenous leaders accuse the government of dismantling environmental and indigenous agencies, leaving tribes to defend themselves from the invasion of their lands.

Cover Pic Courtesy: Reuters