The Indigenous Affairs Ministry said it had received reports of farmers attacking indigenous Guarani Kaiowa people in the city of Douradina in Mato Grosso do Sul state on August 3, injuring 11 people. Five of them were taken to hospital for treatment of gunshot and rubber bullet wounds.

Officials said another attack on the Guarani Kaiowa occurred on the evening of August 4, sparking a fire. Tear gas was used and four gunshots were heard, but the perpetrators were not identified. They said at least one farmer was injured.

Prosecutors will open a police investigation to look into possible criminal activity, authorities said.

According to the Indigenous Affairs Ministry, "the Guarani Kaiowa indigenous people are reclaiming their land" in the Panambi-Lagoa Rica territory, an area recognized as indigenous in 2011 before the court suspended the process.

The Guarani Kaiowa set up camp to reclaim their land on July 14, said Anderson Santos, an attorney with the Indigenous Mission Council, a human rights group. Local landowners responded by setting up their own camp about 150 metres away and harassing the indigenous camp.

On the night of August 4, farmers removed a rope set up by an indigenous group to mark the land they claimed, and burned the indigenous tents.

The Department of Indigenous Affairs said legal uncertainty surrounding indigenous land claims fueled the violence. Supreme Court judges and lawmakers met to resolve differences over a controversial indigenous land law.

Violent land disputes have increased amid ongoing debate over a movement to limit indigenous claims to ancestral lands. Less than half of Brazil’s 1.6 million indigenous people live on about 13% of the country’s land.

Brazil's Justice Ministry said on August 5 that more federal law enforcement police will be deployed to the state of Mato Grosso do Sul following land clashes between indigenous people and farmers.

The ministry said the National Public Security Force had increased its presence in the area since early July but would now deploy more agents to reinforce it.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters, AP)