Violence against Brazil's indigenous people rose last year, report finds

Yawalapiti men take part in a protest against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during the Kuarup funeral ritual to honor the memory of Cacique Aritana, at Xingu Indigenous Park in Brazil, September 12, 2021. Picture taken September 12, 2021. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Violence against Brazil's indigenous people increased last year as land disputes and invasions of their reservations rose and the government failed to provide protection, the Catholic Church's Indigenous Missionary Council said on Thursday.

Its annual report on violence against the descendents of Brazil's original inhabitants said there were 182 murders of indigenous people in 2020, compared to 113 murders in 2019, a 61% surge.