Last year in Brazil, violence against the natives increased by 40% from 2006. In 2007, 76 natives were killed, while 48 had been killed the year before. These statistics have been published, before the yearly report due out in April, by Cimi, the Missionary Pro-Native Council, a body of the Brazilian Bishops Conference. The number of murders that was recorded in 2007 is "the highest ever", as previewed by the agency Adital. In southern Mato Grosso alone, 48 people were murdered, i.e. 150% more than in 2006. Here are the reasons behind such escalation of violence against the natives, according to Roberto Liebgott, deputy-president of Cimi: "The negligence of the Federal Government with the natives, which does not bound or protect these populations". As is the case, for example, of the Guaranì Kaiowà and Dourado populations, 12,000 natives living in an area of 3,000 hectares, a very narrow place that results in a state of "confinement that worsens internal conflicts". Therefore, Cimi asks Funai (the National Natives Foundation, a governmental body, editor’s note) to bound the 32 areas that have traditionally belonged to the Dourado population, so as to decrease the residents’ density. In addition, in the Amazon region, over 40 populations live in isolation, forgotten even by the Government. (pca)” “
