Brazil biofuel: Shell axes 'illegal' sugar cane plan

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

14 June 2012 Last updated at 00:08 GMT

Brazil biofuel: Shell axes 'illegal' sugar cane plan

A biofuels company set up in Brazil by oil giant Shell has signed a landmark agreement giving up plans to buy sugar cane grown on indigenous lands.

The company, Raizen, was obtaining some of the raw material for ethanol from farmers who encroached on the lands of the Guarani tribe in Mato Grosso do Sul state.

The deal comes after months of pressure by the Brazilian authorities.

Indigenous leaders have welcomed the agreement.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18433008

[Judi Lynn]

1. Thank god something has gone right to help these indigenous citizens.

If only the government's great work in helping to achieve this important agreement can be continued to help them against the other monsters still prevailing, as mentioned at the end of the article:

The group suffers from a severe shortage of land in Brazil, which has worsened as a boom in agriculture has led farmers and ranchers to extend their holdings.

Indigenous activists say farmers in Mato Grosso do Sul frequently use violence and threats to force them off their ancestral territory, and that the local authorities do little to protect them.

Guarani leader Nisio Gomes, 59, has been missing since November.

His community says he was shot dead by masked men in front of them. Brazilian police say the case is unclear and his body has not yet been found.

Thanks for the government of Dilma Rousseff. A right-winger would never have helped.

Best hopes and thoughts to the Brazilian Guarani people.

Thank you, Eugene.