Ituna/Itatá invasion escalates as Indigenous Land faces fires and illegal clearing

More than 500 people have invaded Brazil's Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land, cutting over 30 kilometers of illegal roads and setting fires in territory belonging to the isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava people. A federal court ordered National Public Security Force deployment within 48 hours on August 26; as of September 11, no forces had arrived.

The invasion follows a new state law creating the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area, which entirely overlaps the federal Indigenous land and lets private landowners build homes and raise cattle there, a legal contradiction prosecutors say invaders are exploiting. Federal prosecutors are now seeking daily fines against the government for the enforcement gap, while blaming Pará state officials for withholding cooperation.

Evidence includes audio of a man rallying up to 200 people to surround government agents, burn their vehicles and force them out on foot, plus a state government vehicle allegedly used to support the illegal settlement. Fires reportedly followed each round of federal inspections, which officials describe as retaliation timed to an unusually severe dry season.

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