On Sunday night, October 22, 2023, Arnaldo Benítez Vargas, one of the spiritual leaders (tekoaruvicha) of Yvy Pyte, suffered an attack by people linked to the conflict of invasion of their ancestral territories and the advance of systematic genocide against the Paĩ Tavyterã Peoples in Paraguay.
The leaders of Yvy Pyte have been denouncing a series of violent acts and abuses in their territories before the corresponding judicial and governmental bodies, seeking a definitive solution to the conflict, since the lives of the members of the community are at risk.
Last October 11, the leaders of Yvy Pyte went to the Public Prosecutor's Office to denounce that the invaders would not stop shooting guns, and that third parties were being used by them against the process of defending the territories that the leaders have been promoting.
If these land conflicts do not reach a definitive solution, deaths may continue to occur since other people are threatened, gunshots continue, people are being forcibly displaced, their kokue and other means of sustenance are being destroyed and they are being pressured to separate.
Tekoaruvicha Arnaldo Benítez Vargas joins the long list of Indigenous defenders murdered in the process of protecting their territories against the dispossession of their lands, as stipulated in Article 64 of the National Constitution.
We urge the President of Paraguay, the Minister of the Interior, the Attorney General, the Police Commander, and the President of INDI (Paraguayan Indigenous Institute) to guarantee the effective protection of the life, physical integrity, and territory of the Paĩ Tavyterã People.
We call for the support and accompaniment of the national and international community so that these events end once and for all and the Paĩ Tavyterã can live in peace (py'a guapýpe oiñeime haguã).
October 23, 2023
Leaders of Tekoha Guasu Yvy Pyte
PIA, Archdiocesan Indigenous Pastoral - CIPAE, Church Committee for Emergency Help - CONFERPAR, Religious Conference of Paraguay - CEADUC, Anthropology Studies Centre of the Catholic University - GEA, Ary Ojeasojavo Ancestral Studies Group - AIP, Indigenist Association of Paraguay - REDESPI, Network of Private Entities at the Service of Indigenous Peoples
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Related:
Affected by an External Conflict in Paraguay Guarani Paì Tavyterã Peoples Threatened
Cultural Survival Calls for Solidarity with Yvy Pyte Community of Paĩ Tavyterã Peoples
