Este grupo de ayoreo-totobiegosode fue contactado por primera vez en el año 2004. ©GAT/Survival

Cuando fue avistado, el hombre se escondió detrás de un árbol y huyó poco después. Al día siguiente, un campamento abandonado, un plato de barro y alimentos listos para cocinarse fueron encontrados en las cercanías.

Este hombre pertenece al pueblo indígena de los ayoreo-totobiegosode (cuyo número de integrantes se desconoce), que habita en los bosques secos del norte de Paraguay. Los totobiegosode han perdido enormes extensiones de su tierra en los últimos años a manos de terratenientes ganaderos, como es el caso de la empresa Yaguarete Pora S.A.

El hombre fue avistado en la zona sur del área que posee Yaguarete. En una carta remitida al Gobierno de Paraguay sobre el avistamiento, líderes totobiegosode ya contactados expresaron: “Estamos muy preocupados por la situación de ellos, porque están siendo amenazados por la deforestación en la zona”.

Las autoridades paraguayas sancionaron recientemente a Yaguarete por ocultar la existencia de los totobiegosode en el área en la que tenía licencia para trabajar. A principios de año la empresa ganó el Premio 2010 al Mejor Lavado de Imagen Ecológico que concede la ONG Survival International, por “disfrazar de forma sistemática la destrucción de gran parte del bosque de los indígenas como si de un noble gesto a la conservación se tratara”.

Según declararon hoy fuentes internas a Survival International : “Esto es una prueba más de que los indígenas aislados existen. Y esto va a poner las cosas aún más difíciles en el futuro a terratenientes ganaderos como Yaguarete.”

www.survival.es

This group of Ayoreo-Totobiegosode
made contact in 2004. ©GAT/Survival

When spotted, the man hid behind a tree, and later fled. The next day an abandoned camp, a clay dish, and game ready for cooking were found nearby.

The man is one of an unknown number of uncontacted Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians living in the dry forests of northern Paraguay. The Totobiegosode have los huge swathes of their land in recent years to cattle-ranchers, such as the Brazilian firm Yaguarete Pora S.A.

The man was seen just to the south of the area owned by Yaguarete. In a letter to the Paraguayan government about the sighting, already-contacted Totobiegosode leaders said, ‘We are very concerned about [our relatives still in the forest]. They’re threatened by the deforestation in that region.’

Yaguarete was recently fined $16,000/£10,500 by the Paraguayan authorities for concealing the existence of the Totobiegosode in the area where it was given a licence to work. Earlier this year, the company won Survival’s ‘Greenwashing Award’ 2010 for ‘dressing up the wholesale destruction of a huge area of the Indians’ forest as a noble gesture for conservation.’

Survival International’s director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘This is further proof the Indians exist. It’s going to make things even more difficult for cattle-ranchers like Yaguarete in the future.’

www.survivalinternational.org

When spotted, the man hid behind a tree, and later fled. The next day an abandoned camp, a clay dish, and game ready for cooking were found nearby.

The man is one of an unknown number of uncontacted Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians living in the dry forests of northern Paraguay. The Totobiegosode have lost huge swathes of their land in recent years to cattle-ranchers, such as the Brazilian firm Yaguarete Pora S.A.

The man was seen just to the south of the area owned by Yaguarete. In a letter to the Paraguayan government about the sighting, already-contacted Totobiegosode leaders said, ‘We are very concerned about [our relatives still in the forest]. They’re threatened by the deforestation in that region.’

A clay dish for toasting seeds was found where
the isolated Indian was spotted. ©GAT/Survival

Yaguarete was recently fined $16,000/£10,500 by the Paraguayan authorities for concealing the existence of the Totobiegosode in the area where it was given a licence to work. Earlier this year, the company won Survival’s ‘Greenwashing Award’ 2010 for ‘dressing up the wholesale destruction of a huge area of the Indians’ forest as a noble gesture for conservation.’

Survival International‘s director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘This is further proof the Indians exist. It’s going to make things even more
difficult for cattle-ranchers like Yaguarete in the future.’