Darcy Ribeiro bluntly denounced what is happening in Mato Grosso: “They are killing the Guarani Indians”. In June 1996, the anthropologist published in Leaf a scathing text about the ongoing massacre and announced that he would file a complaint with the attorney general’s office.
The scenario described was devastating. Young indigenous people, opening their eyes to the world left to them, committed suicide by the dozen. “In truth, they are being killed by the despicable disregard of the invaders of their lands,” he writes. The old shamans continued to pray, believing that if they danced well, they would become so light that they could go to the Land Without Evil.
The scenario described was devastating. Young indigenous people, opening their eyes to the world left to them, committed suicide by the dozens. “In truth, they are being killed by the despicable disregard of the invaders of their lands,” he writes. The old shamans continued to pray, believing that if they danced well, they would become so light that they could go to the Land Without Evil.
The anthropologist singled out farmers as directly responsible for the tragedy. “Empty of any crops, they just want to plant more soybeans, no matter the cost, no matter who dies.” He recalled the previous extermination of the Oti and Ofaié, “surprisingly peaceful” people who never raised a hand against anyone.
Read the full text below, part of section 105 Columns of great repercussion, which recalls the chronicles that marked the history of the Leaf. The initiative is part of the celebrations of the newspaper’s 105th anniversary in February 2026.
Genocide (06/24/1996)
They kill the Guarani Indians in southern Mato Grosso. There is no place on earth for the former owners of all this land. All they can do is attach themselves to sticks to avoid being kicked out.
Young Indians, when they open their eyes to the world in which they must live, commit suicide by the dozens. They commit suicide. But in reality, they are being killed by the despicable disregard of the invaders of their lands. Everywhere they turn they see only Christian faces of disgust and repulsion.
The old shamans continue to pray and play their maracas to lead the ceremonies of their people. They believe that if they dance and pray well, they will become so light that they can go to the Sealess Land. They have been doing this for two centuries.
A wise Guarani, looking at the sunset, who for them is Maíra, their God, asks: why? Will the creator intend to sacrifice us? It seems so.
The Guarani believe that the Earth itself is exhausted and call for an end: “I’m tired of eating corpses.” The farm owners who surround indigenous communities are the killers.
Empty of any crops, they just want to plant more soybeans, no matter the cost, no matter who dies. Above all, they want to make more money by liquidating more Indians.
It is now the turn of the Guaranis. It’s time to tear them out of the little islands of land in the middle of the soybean fields. Years ago they told me of their murderous exploits in liquidating the Oti and Ofaiés, saying they did it to defend themselves from the danger posed by the Indians nearby.
The truth is that the Oti and Ofaiés, as surprisingly peaceful as the Guarani, have never raised a hand against anyone. Now they no longer need justification, they kill with hard iron, with a gun or with prejudice and discrimination that lead to disillusionment and loss of the will to live.
The Guarani are, as everyone knows, one of the most spiritual people who have ever existed. They preserve an old mythology of strange beauty which, in the face of the presence of white people, has gone from heroic to catastrophic.
The Solar Creator God and his Blue Tiger, larger than the sky, who presided over the birth of the Guarani, become ferocious dogs in the form of Christians who swarm everywhere, harassing and killing.
It was these Guaranis and their Tupi cousins who gave us the names with which we designate nature and taught us the uses of all things. We learned from them how to survive in the tropics. It was their women who also gave birth to the first Brazilians, still unconscious of themselves, but ready to build our people.
The most eloquent Indian intellectual I met, Marçal, was the one who greeted the pope in Manaus on behalf of more than 200 indigenous leaders killed by the whites. Because Marçal was shot dead by a farmer who coveted his land. The dead Marçal was buried, in pain, by all the Guaranis.
The killer, hailed as a hero by farmers, was brought before the jury and acquitted. Can he? Can our hearts remain indifferent in the face of so much injustice, so much pain that has lasted for 500 years and continues to hurt?
It is implausible, almost unbelievable, but the truth is that the sinister Minister of Justice made the president sign a decree that is being implemented to extend the pain of the Guarani to other indigenous peoples. Would it be possible?
My heart cannot bear this much barbarity, I am filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office to seek compensation. I ask him to take action before the Supreme Court to overturn the deadly decree.
About The Author
