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On Tuesday night (17), two indigenous people were shot dead, on the BR-101, in a stretch of the city of Itabela, in the extreme south of Bahia. According to the police, the pair were shot at around 17:00, at Km-787, when moving from Povoado de Montinho to one of the farms occupied by an indigenous group in the retaking process carried out by the Pataxó peoples of the extreme south region.
Occupations
Since the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on 1 January, the group has occupied around three farms in the region. Even though the occupation process has been happening before that. Analysts believe that since the current government supports the indigenous causes and is pro-preservation, the chances of new occupations have increased, including those promoted by social movements, like the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST). With new occupations, more and more violent incidents involving land disputes are expected to occur across Brazil.
The Attack
Witnesses reported that the shots were fired by men on a motorcycle and the victims were hit in the back. Such actions are often perpetrated by the angry farmers and/or a gunslinger.
Protest
After the murder, the indigenous people held a demonstration on the BR-101, which was blocked for about three hours, between 7:00 and 22:00. After the protest, the Indigenous Movement of Bahia and the Indigenous Federation of the Pataxós and Tupinambás Nations of the Extreme South of Bahia (FINPAT) made requests for increased security to the peoples of the region, who are in conflict with landowners, to the ministries of Justice and Indigenous Peoples, in addition to the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai).
Indigenous Land of Comexatibá
The deaths of the two indigenous is likely connected to disputes around the demarcation of Comexatibá Reserve, which is stopped since 2015. When the area identification report was published, the process received a barrage of lawsuits from farmers linked mainly to the cultivation of eucalyptus.
Similar Problems
Throughout the country, there are many similar cases of conflicts already in course or about to explode. In Amazonia, several incidents happened during the last government. In 2022, probably the most notorious was that of in which preservationist Bruno Pereira and the journalist Dom Philips were assassinated by illegal fishermen.
