Amid Political and Economic Pressure, Brazil Sees a Rise in Land Conflicts and the Murders of Indigenous People

This story written by Fernanda Canofre originally appeared on Global Voices on August 19, 2026.

On July 12, 2025, a 21-year-old Avá Guaraní Indigenous man was found beheaded in the city of Guaíra, Paraná state, southern Brazil, near an Indigenous territory. Next to the body, there was a letter with threats to the local Indigenous communities, including setting fire to school buses with children, if they didn’t leave the land. “This is not an empty threat, but one filled with hate,” said the message. A few months prior, four Indigenous youngsters, including a seven-year-old, were hurt in another attack in the same city. The region has been marked by a decades-long conflict since the construction of the Itaipu hydroelectric dam, which displaced communities from their territories.

The 21-year-old man, Everton Lopes Rodrigues, was the son of a local cacique (Indigenous leader), Bernardo Rodrigues Diegro, who told news outlet G1 that threats are recurrent. “They say our head is worth money. We are very scared; last night, no one could sleep in our community.”

Rodrigues was one of the 258 Indigenous people murdered in 2025 in Brazil, according to the latest “Report on Violence Against Indigenous People” from Cimi, the Missionary Indigenist Council, an organization that advocates for Indigenous rights and is linked to the Episcopal Conference of Brazil (CNBB). Launched this August 13, the report shows a rise in the number of Indigenous killings in the past year, above the average registered during Jair Bolsonaro’s government. As in Rodrigues’ case, the majority of the attacks and violations were connected to conflicts about land rights.

The data gathered by Cimi also mentions an increase in suicide cases, with 34 percent of the victims being under 19 years old and 41 percent between the ages of 20 and 29, and deaths of babies and children, with 57 percent of the cases being from causes considered avoidable.

The report points out that the country registered an increase in all three types of systemic violence against Indigenous people listed by them – violence against individuals, against patrimony, and by public power omission – all amid growing political and economic pressure to put a break on land demarcation.

See Also: Declassified Documents Expose the UK's Hidden Hand in Operation Blue Star

Less than one percent of the Brazilian population self-identifies as Indigenous, around 1.6 million out of 213 million people, according to the 2022 Census. Even though the number represents an increase compared to the previous study, and with some political advances achieved, governments still fall short of fulfilling their rights.

Boiling pressure

The 1988 Constitution, established in Brazil right after two decades under a military dictatorship, states that Indigenous peoples’ rights over lands traditionally occupied by them are original, preceding the establishment of the State itself, and recognizes them as the first inhabitants in the country, explains ISA’s page (Social Environment Institute).

Still, for years now, there has been an attempt to push a new framework to set a time limit on any land claims. If approved, the so-called “Marco Temporal” (milestone thesis) could determine that Indigenous people would only be able to claim territories they were occupying up to October 5, 1988, the date of the promulgation of the Constitution. This would affect communities displaced over the years, in some cases by the hands of the State itself, who could only return and reclaim their territories after this period.

In 2023, the thesis was ruled unconstitutional by the Federal Supreme Court with nine to two votes. Yet, after the decision, the National Congress rushed to approve a bill proposing to change the Constitution to fit this framework. Later, in 2025, the Supreme Court rejected the thesis again, but kept significant excerpts of the law that could delay or even stop the demarcation of some lands, says Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples’ Articulation (APIB). This month, the Court is analyzing appeals for the ruling and regulation regarding mining on Indigenous lands.

‘Fighting for territory is not a crime’

In their note, APIB says there is an escalation of threats against Indigenous people because of the current climate:

See Also: ’I Don't See Palestine as an Isolated Story‘: An Interview With Vivien Sansour, Founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library

Political pressure also comes through other ongoing proposals in Congress, such as bill 6093/2023, which could render around 98 percent of pending demarcation processes unfeasible. According to Cimi’s report, Brazil has 897 Indigenous lands still pending regularization; 582 of them haven’t even begun the demarcation process. Advances made by the federal government were important, they evaluate, but are still sparse and falling short of Indigenous peoples’ needs and demands. Cimi affirms in their report that “it is not possible to unlink violence and violations registered during 2025 from the attacks against Indigenous land rights over the year.”

The land of the community of the young Ava Guaraní Indigenous man killed in Paraná is among those pending regulation, despite having its limits recognized in 2018. The Federal Police are leading the investigation of his murder.

Cimi also highlights another aspect in this scenario:

A research study led by Apoinme, an association including Indigenous peoples from the northeastern region and the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, based on data from the National Oil Agency (ANP) and local communities, pointed out that 84 Indigenous lands could be affected by natural gas and oil enterprises, according to Alma Preta.

During the press conference for Cimi’s report, Tipuici Manoki, an Indigenous woman who lives in the Juruena River basin region, spoke about her people’s fight against such enterprises, carried out without consulting communities. This August 13, she said:

Mongabay had reported that Tipuici Manoki’s region was previously affected by pesticide contamination and dams.

[VP]

Suggested Reading: