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Paper short abstract:

This paper addresses the impact of the growth of the ethanol industry in Mato Grosso do Sul/ Central Brazil on the Guarani Indians. Stress is laid on how sugarcane cultivation has affected those communities, their environment, their land rights, placing them under situations of great vulnerability.

Paper long abstract:

In the wake of the discussions over the oil crisis and over the production of environmentally clean fuels capable of reducing greenhouse carbon emissions, Brazil stood tall as a pioneer. The country is often regarded as the one to first establish a long-term project aimed at gradually substituting fossil by biofuels and replacing entirely gas-run cars by flexible-fuel vehicles which can run at any percentage of ethanol. While the Brazilian ethanol program has been internationally hailed as an environmental success, the human costs of ethanol production have been virtually ignored. As the sugarcane industry grows by leaps and bounds, the production of its raw material encroaches upon traditional indigenous land awaiting demarcation or official recognition. The plight of the Guarani Indians in Mato Grosso do Sul/Brazil - the largest ethnic group in the country, in a State which holds the second indian population in Brazil - dates back to the 1950´s when they were forced out of their traditional land to live in tiny and packed reservations. As indigenous social movements try to regain access to their traditionally occupied territories, they are met with great resistance. The entire ethanol production chain has affected directly or indirectly the Guarani territories, jeopardizing their material and spiritual subsistance, their environment, placing them under constant threat of physical violence. Behind the success of biofuels there lies the violations of human rights as well as the failure to comply with ILO 169 Convention of which Brazil is a signatore.

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