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Seven Indigenous Guarani, including two children and a prominent community leader, were killed Aug. 14 in a crash with a grain cargo trailer that reportedly broke loose from the truck pulling it in central Brazil.<\/p>\n
All seven were from Kalipety village in the Tenond\u00e9 Por\u00e3 Indigenous Territory in S\u00e3o Paulo state.<\/p>\n
A fisher who witnessed the crash told police that the corn-filled cargo trailer detached from the truck and \u201cviolently\u201d struck the passenger car, according to a police report seen by Mongabay. The force of the collision caused both vehicles to catch fire, killing everyone in the car and incinerating the bodies. The truck driver fled the scene of the accident, the witness said.<\/p>\n
The bodies have not yet been officially identified but community members confirmed that the victims were Kara\u00ed Tiago Hon\u00f3rio dos Santos, 34; his wife, Kerexu Laudiceia Benites, also a community leader, 31; their children, Jaxuka Luna Benites Santos, 7, and Tadeu Hiago Wer\u00e1 Mirim Benites dos Santos, 14; his sister, Kerexu Cleonice Hon\u00f3rio dos Santos, 42; Ileo Benites, 32; and Genilson Euz\u00e9bio Karay Mirim, 30.<\/p>\n
Kara\u00ed Tiago Hon\u00f3rio dos Santos was the executive coordinator of the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission and Guarani Inter-Village Committee, where he worked to further the rights of the Guarani and other Indigenous peoples in Brazil. He also spearheaded environmental recovery and agrobiodiversity efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Tiago\u2019s] journey was interrupted in such a brutal way, and what a sad coincidence that [it was] by a truck loaded with corn.\u201d Tatiane Klein, an anthropologist and friend of Kara\u00ed Tiago who worked with him for more than a decade, told Mongabay by phone. \u201cThey were going to Mato Grosso do Sul to visit relatives and exchange traditional seeds that they cultivate in the <\/span>Kalipety [Guarani village].\u201d<\/p>\n According to Klein, he was a serious and generous leader with a collective approach to his leadership, often pushing others to speak and training younger leaders. She described him as both strategic and very hands-on.<\/p>\n In 2019, he led a campaign<\/a> in which Guarani communities bought six shares valued at 17 reais each ($3 today) of Brazil\u2019s largest railway operator, Rumo. The move granted them access to the annual shareholder meeting, where they challenged other shareholders on Rumo\u2019s failure to deliver environmental and Indigenous protection commitments. The company\u2019s railway expansion project affected 13 villages across five Indigenous territories.<\/p>\n Within a year, the Guarani committee signed an agreement<\/a> with the company for environmental mitigation programs and compensation worth 68 million reais ($13 million today).<\/p>\n According to Klein, Tiago\u2019s older sister Cleonice served on the Indigenous territory\u2019s collective leadership council and was a key figure in the Guarani women\u2019s movement. Laudiceia, Tiago\u2019s wife, was a teacher in the community and worked to reinvigorate traditional knowledge on medicine and plants.<\/p>\n Mongabay reached out to Guarani leadership. They said they were grieving and not ready to speak publicly about the deaths.<\/p>\n Banner image: <\/strong>Kara\u00ed Tiago speaks at an event about community-based tourism based in 2019. Image courtesy of Rafael Hupsel via ISA<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
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