Paraguay Indigenous community evicted in land dispute [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Indigenous community Ka’a Poty 1 wants land back and compensation after armed police and guards allegedly burned homes.



The families of Ka'a Poty 1 have been living in improvised tents in a central square in Asunción since June 16. Nighttime temperatures have at times approached 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) [William Costa/Al Jazeera]

By William Costa
30 Jul 2021

Asuncion, Paraguay – Marta Díaz sits among a settlement of improvised tents made from plastic sheeting in a central square of Paraguay’s capital Asunción, just meters from the National Congress building. A brightly-coloured painted scene hangs nearby depicting rural, wooden houses set on fire as a group of unbelieving people look on, reflecting what happed to her community.

“We aren’t happy here. We came because of the pressure from bad people that threw us off our land, that burned it. We aren’t free,” she told Al Jazeera.

Díaz is the leader of Ka’a Poty 1, a community of the Ava Guaraní people – one of 19 Indigenous nations in Paraguay – who were forcibly evicted from their land in the Itakyry district in the east of the country on June 15 by a combination of armed riot police and private guards.

Since June 16, the 60 adults and 44 children have been camping in the harsh winter conditions of the city square, demanding justice and restitution of their land.

Ka’a Poty 1 are one of at least seven Indigenous communities to suffer violent evictions by state forces and armed civilians due to land ownership disputes in the past three months – prompting a large public outcry and condemnation from human rights organizations such as Survival International.



State forces and private guards arrive to evict the Ka’a Poty 1 Indigenous group from land in Itakyry district in eastern Paraguay on June 15, 2021 [Courtesy of Ka’a Poty 1 Indigenous community]

Díaz said that the eviction saw all the community’s houses, their temple, and school burned to the ground. Practically all their possessions were stolen, their crops were destroyed, and their pets were killed before their eyes. A pregnant woman miscarried, and a 15-day-old baby was hospitalized.

“We lost everything. They didn’t even let us take the clothes from our homes”, she said.

Indigenous people form one of the most marginalized and vulnerable sectors in Paraguay, with more than 30 percent facing extreme poverty, according to 2017 official figures – far above the national average.

More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/30/paraguay-indigenous-community-evicted-in-land-dispute