Brazil Indians occupy cattle ranch in widening land dispute

{Federal police ordered some 200 Terena Indians to leave a former congressman’s ranch in south-central Brazil on Thursday in the latest flashpoint of a widening conflict over land ownership in South America’s farm belt.}

The ranch’s owner, Ricardo Bacha, skipped a meeting in Brasilia with the country’s vice president over the land conflicts to return to the disputed area, claiming his wife and son were being held hostage by the Indians.

Brazil’s indigenous policy, which includes returning land to natives based on anthropological studies, is considered one of the world’s most progressive. But it has sparked violence since the country became an agricultural superpower and Indian policy clashed with farming interests.

Federal police planned to give the Terena Indians a day to respond to the evacuation order, said Francisco das Chagas, a police spokesman in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the ranch.

“The Indians may or may not leave; if they don’t obey, the police will draw up a plan for their removal,” he told Reuters.

Funai, the federal government’s Indian affairs agency in Brasilia, said in a written statement that the Terena had not taken anyone hostage and had not used violence, although they had ignited fireworks outside the ranch.

{wirestory}