This archive report was first published on 4 November 2019.
On a fateful Friday, Paulo Paulino Guajajara and his fellow tribesman Laercio Guajajara were ambushed by loggers while patrolling the Arariboia territory in northeastern Brazil's Maranhao state.
Both men were members of the Guardians of the Forest, a group of over 100 tribesmen who risk their lives to protect their land from criminal logging gangs.
Paulo Paulino was fatally shot in the neck, while Laercio managed to escape with a gunshot wound to the back, according to Survival International, a group that advocates for indigenous rights.
The attack occurred when the two men were searching for water in the jungle, the Maranhao government's human rights secretariat confirmed on Twitter.
"Violence and death threats against the guardians have been happening for years," said Sarah Shenker, a researcher with Survival International who knew Paulo Paulino, in an interview with AFP.
"There is a lot of impunity. The authorities are unwilling to protect the indigenous lands," Shenker charged.
"Their racist words and genocidal, anti-indigenous proposals give a kind of green light," she added.
Greenpeace condemned the attack, stating that the two men were "the most recent victims of a state that refuses to comply with what the constitution determines."
"It is time to stop this institutionalized genocide. Stop authorizing the bloodshed of our people!" Sonia Guajajara, coordinator of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, tweeted in response.
Since taking office in January, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of harming the Amazon and indigenous tribes to benefit his supporters in the logging, mining, and farming industries.
Amazon deforestation nearly doubled in the first eight months of the year, and raging fires in the region made international headlines.
Human Rights Watch warned in September that the threats and attacks on forest defenders were "only getting worse" under Bolsonaro's administration.
Justice Minister Sergio Moro tweeted that police would investigate the murder, promising to bring those responsible to justice.
"The Brazilian government has to accept that it is their responsibility to protect those lands. That they do not, their absence there, is what pushes the guardians to assume this defense -- a very hard and dangerous job," Shenker told AFP.
Laercio had previously spoken out about the dangers faced by the Guardians of the Forest, saying in a video interview released by Survival International: "They want to kill us all."
The Arariboia territory is home to approximately 5,000 indigenous people, including the Guajajara and Awa tribes.
Three other forest guardians have died in previous attacks in the region, Survival International reported.
