In July 2024, leaders of the Ayoreo organizations (UNAP, AGAP, AGDAP) met with the Attorney General of the Republic at the National Congress. They had traveled from the Chaco to ask for one thing: to stop the clearing of land at the Faro Moro ranch, because their brothers in isolation live there, and the machinery is pushing them toward forced contact, disease, and death.
The Attorney General’s response, according to the report «Urgent action needed to stop genocide in the Paraguayan Chaco» by CODEHUPY, was to express «greater concern for the million-dollar investments in the area than for the fact that human lives are at risk.»
This is no minor incident. The Attorney General is the legal representative of the Paraguayan State. His statement reveals a troubling hierarchy of institutional values: private capital prevails over human lives.
However, the National Constitution of Paraguay (Article 4) establishes that «the right to life is inherent to the human person» and the State guarantees its protection. ILO Convention 169, ratified by Paraguay, recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to their territories. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples prohibits their removal without their consent.
We hope that the Paraguayan State, its institutions, and its officials will revise this hierarchy before it is too late for the last Ayoreo in isolation in the Gran Chaco.
And you, what would you do if your family’s life were in danger and a high-ranking official told you that a company’s interests are worth more than your family?
