... to introduce the People of the Paraguayan Land
Today, however, indigenous communities are like ghettos, isolated and blocked off. Many indigenous families are forced to abandon their ancestral lands and to move to the cities where they are not welcome. The few shamans who survive continue to pray for us from within the forests; they are saddened and devastated because we, the white people, “don’t know how to live or coexist with sacred ground.”
Today, however, many peasant farmers are without land, and 80% of the fertile land is in the hands of 2% of the population. These suffering landless peasants have a story to tell, and they beg to be listened to.
Today, however, the Bañados are threatened with eviction from these untitled lands. Through tremendous sacrifice, they have turned these once uninhabited shores into livable areas and together they have constructed a new Bañados culture. But once again, their pursuit for land continues.
I do not wish to be the voice of the voiceless, as the “people of Paraguayan land” have their own voice, their own words. But I assure you that, when you listen to them, you will find yourself at the “heart” of the Paraguayan people.