Death
of a Nation
The Guaraní
Before the arrival of the Spanish colonialists, the Guaraní populated large areas of South America. Today, they have been expelled and pushed onto small reservations. The forest in which they found food and shelter is now permanently deforested and used for monoculture crops and pastures. The Guaraní are losing their habitat and, therefore, the source of their nutrition and subsistence. This has resulted in physical and mental health problems and a sharp increase in suicides.
Estimates vary, as to how old the culture of the Guaraní is. Anthropologists have found rock carvings in Paraguay dating back more than 5,000 years, as well as ceramics dating back to 400 BC.
The Guaraní probably originated in the Amazon region spreading south in search of new land, where they found the fertile plains. At the time of the European’s arrival, the Guaraní were the largest nation in South America, having settled in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. The Guaraní were hunter gatherers but also farmed and kept a small amount of cattle.
Was the search for new land the only reason for their migration?
Were they a nation of warriors, as "Guaraní" is commonly translated?
The province of Misiones in Argentina has recognized "Indigenous Medicine" as complementary medicine in the public health system, alongside other alternative healing methods. However, it is still unclear how exactly this medicine will be reimbursed and who is officially authorized to practise it.
Brazil is an agrarian power
However, the focus is on exports, while more and more people at home suffer from hunger.
Jorgelina Duarte and Gerónimo Ayala are two of many young activists engaged in the five countries of the Guaraní Nation today. Both have had a Western education. To a reasonable degree, they can find their way in both worlds.Some of these representatives are often invited to Europe for conferences by NGOs and other organisations.
Many Guaraní, have enjoyed Western education. To some extent they manage in both worlds.
But the balancing act is not that easy for everyone and poses new problems for the communities.
For example, when does an indigenous person stop being indigenous, and how deeply can whites dive into the indigenous world?
In the furthest corner of the Bolivian Chaco, a Guaraní village is one of he last remaining resort, where the centuries-old culture still resists Western civilisation, but...
Forrest and Landgrabbing:
During the 19th century, European settlers were increasingly recruited to colonise and cultivate the land in remote areas and the Guaraní payed the price. Their culture and their customs were mocked, their laws ignored, their rights trampled on.
The creeping death from the soya bean field: Meat-hungry Europeans displace indigenous people of Paraguay .
For centuries, nature has given up her treasures to these proud nomadic people, who once inhabited large parts of South America. Then came the settlers, immigrants from Brazil, Asia and Europe, who began fencing pastures and fields and cutting down trees.
"About 40 years ago, the Japanese came," recalls the 60-year-old Guaraní chief. The Japanese knew what they were looking for in this lonely place in the border area: the sweet herb stevia rebaudiana. Soon after, they came back again, dug up all the bushes and left. A few leaves can sweeten a cup of coffee or tea." "Biopiracy" is what non-governmental organisations call such an approach.
Bartomeu Meliá, was born in 1932 in the Balearic Islands, Spain. He was a Jesuit priest, specialising in ethnology and linguistics and was considered one of the leading experts on the Guarani. (✝︎ 2019)
In 1882, Moisés Bertoni, agronomist, meteorologist and anthropologist, emigrated with a group of farmers from the poor Ticino valley to Misiones, Argentina. He discovered the sweet plant called Stevia
A new conflict over land and resources has escalated in southeastern Bolivia. The Chaco region is far from civilisation and is still contested. After the dissolution of the missions by the Spanish crown in the 18th century, the Indigenous people of Bolivia scattered and founded widely dispersed settlements. Later, 'new owners' appeared and fenced in pastures, trapping numerous groups of Indians on 'private property'. Now, they no longer want to be slaves anymore!
All countries in which the Guaraní are living today have established the rights of indigenous peoples in their constitutions and they guarantee the right of prior consultation – according to Article 169 of the Convention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) – if large-scale projects such as dams and mines are planned. But in reality these rights are not guaranteed. Governmental authorities are riddled with racism and corruption.
Sandra Weiss and Charlotte Eichhorn have been living and researching in Latin America for many years. In their reportages, they allow themselves to be immersed in completely different worlds. They get into the thick of it - and accompany their protagonists, sometimes for decades. This results in long-term, multidimensional observations.
Their reportages bear witness to the modernisation and globalisation of South America from the perspective of the people affected. The stories describe the resulting upheavals and problems as well as successful resistance and original alternatives. They are therefore an impressive and thought-provoking appeal to our Western civilisation
