Last Updated on October 8, 2025
In a fraught escalation of a land conflict in Mato Grosso do Sul, Guarani and Kaiowá Indigenous communities attempting to reoccupy territory in Brazil’s Terra Indígena Guyraroká (TI Guyraroká) were violently expelled by the state’s Tropa de Choque (Military Riot Police) on Sept. 22. The incident has triggered appeals to the United Nations and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
According to Brasil de Fato, the confrontation occurred in the morning of Monday, Sept. 22, when Tropa de Choque forces attacked the Indigenous reoccupation of Fazenda Ipuitã — a rural property overlaid on the territory claimed by TI Guyraroká — using rubber bullets and force to carry out an eviction without a court order.
Local Indigenous leaders say at least two people were struck by rubber-bullets during the operation.
Community members had originally retaken the land on Sunday, Sept. 21, in order to halt the aerial spraying of agrochemicals near their villages. They also wanted to press the advancement of their land rights, which they are being denied.
They immediately requested involvement from FUNAI, Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, but by the time FUNAI’s regional coordinator, Cris Tupan, arrived on site, the eviction had already occurred.
Indigenous representatives say the Tropa de Choque leveraged the absence of federal oversight to intensify the confrontation.
The Indigenous community said in a statement, “In recent days, the community has been forced to take a drastic attitude to protect its own survival, resulting in a new wave of state repression and the spread of false information with the aim of delegitimizing its struggle.”
“The recent events unequivocally demonstrate the total failure of the Brazilian State to fulfill its obligations to protect the life, integrity and territory of the Guyaro community. The absence of FUNAI during the attack, the violent action of the police and the lack of supervision on the use of pesticides show that the State is not only omitted, but actively acts to perpetuate the violations of rights,” they continued.
The conflict in Guyraroká is not new. The Guyraroká territory was recognized in 2004; but ten years later, the demarcation procedure was annulled because they were not living on the land when Brazil’s constitution came into force in 1988.
Because of that decision, the Indigenous community has been confined to a 50 hectare region surrounded by farms, where they have faced constant threats.
According to Mongabay, the Guyraroká community’s leader Ambrósio Vilhalva was found dead just meters away from his home in 2013. “Police later said the murder was not connected to the local land dispute.”
Meanwhile, the region has seen repeated incidents of agrochemical spraying over Indigenous villages, even targeting homes and a school. Indigenous leaders and human rights advocates describe these incidents as “chemical attacks.” In one operation earlier this year, Brazilian federal environmental agencies seized 202kg of contraband agrochemicals hidden on a farm within the territory.
For the Guyraroká community, it appears that Brazil’s legal norms on land rights and Indigenous protection continue to exist only on paper, not in practice.
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