This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights. A letter released at the beginning of October 2012 by the indigenous community Guarani-Kaiowá Kue / Mbarakay, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), led to an enormous mobilization in Brazil and overseas. On the internet, many citizens followed the struggle waged by this community in the municipality of Iguatemi, under threat of eviction from their lands, and people signed various online petitions. This mobilization was such a success that the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd region, in São Paulo, suspended the operation to expel the Guaraní-Kaiowá from their encampment, answering the request of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI). Maria do Rosário, National Secretary of Human Rights in the Presidency of the Republic, announced on October 30 on Twitter [pt]: @_mariadorosario: Acabamos de receber decisão judicial que suspende reintegração de posse do território dos Guarani-Kaiowá. Recurso do Gov.Federal foi acatado! @_mariadorosario: We have just received the judicial decision that suspends the eviction of the Guaraní-Kaiowá. The appeal of the Federal Gov. has complied! Guarani Kaiowa children. Expedition to Pyelito Kue village, Mato Grosso do Sul, November 2012. Photo by Percurso da Cultura on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). The 50 men, 50 women and 70 children of the tribe Guaraní-Kaiowá will be able to stay on the Cambará Ranch in Iguatemi-MS, where they have been confined to an area of 2 hectares (equivalent to two football fields). The decision should stand until the identification and demarcation of the final indigenous territory by FUNAI. The solution is precarious, as relations with the owner continue to be tense and dangerous. On Wednesday October 24, an indigenous woman from Pyelito Keu was sexually assaulted [pt] by eight men on a ranch, according to allegations by indigenous people. The Ministry of Justice send a new contingent of national forces to maintain order in the region. For Attorney General Marco Antonio Delfino de Almeida [pt] the mobilization on social networks was a success: a mobilização das redes sociais foi definitiva para alcançar esse resultado. Provocou uma reação raramente vista por parte do governo quando se trata de direitos indígenas. The mobilization by social networks was definitive to achieve this result. It provoked a reaction rarely seen by the Government on indigenous rights. Meeting of Guaraní-Kaiowá teachers and leaders, November 2012. Photo by percursodacultura on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) Guarani-Kaiowá leaders, denouncing the genocide perpetrated on the ethnic group, commemorated the announcements, but concluded that only the demarcation of land will cease the conflict between Indians and rural producers of the region. They sought to increase the solidarity network for the Guaraní-Kaiowá. The struggle is not only against eviction, but for the definitive demarcation of indigenous lands. Ladio Veron, Guaraní-Kaiowá leader, explains the difficulties to site Carta Maior, in an interview [pt] published on October 28: In the state of Mato Grosso do Sol, 43,000 Guaraní-Kaiowá demand the return of their original lands that they call “tekoha”. They want to leave the reservation and put up encampments, that are mostly legal. There are more than 30 Guaraní-Kaiowá encampments confined to roadsides or within ranches in areas that Indians have occupied. Add this to more than 20 areas that were taken back and regularized after strong pressure by the indigenous who lost a number of community leaders in the struggle. However, all of these areas are very limited. Ypoi village. Photo by Percurso da Cultura on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) A technical note [pt, pdf] published by FUNAI in March 2012 concluded that the territory reclaimed by the indigenous in Pyelito Kue and Mbarakay has been occupied since ancestral times by the ethnic groups Guaraní and Kaiowá. Since 1915, when the first Indigenous Land was instituted, and principally from the 70s and 80s, the expulsion of indians in favor of land owners of agricultural lands has increased (principally to increase sugar cane and soy production), in addition to the confinement and regrouping of different ethnic groups, resulting in insecurity and social and cultural uprooting. The site of the International Committee of Solidarity with the Guaraní and Kaiowá refers [pt] to the economic weight of sugarcane production in this region: “A cana que hoje está sendo plantada lá e colhida como etanol já é misturada com sangue indígena Guarani Kaiowá”, disse o cacique. O peso do agronegócio na região teve uma guinada após acordo do ex-presidente brasileiro Lula com ex-presidente dos Estados Unidos George Bush sobre a produção de biocombustíveis.