Silvino is an Indigenous Guarani Paĩ tavyterã leader who is at the head of the Paĩ Reta Joaju association, an organisation constituted by Indigenous communities (tekoha) from the north of Paraguay’s eastern region in the administrative departments of Amambay, Concepción and Canindeyú.
He is a defender of Indigenous peoples’ rights, mainly in relation to care of territories, self-determination and autonomy, climate justice, and strengthening of organisations and public advocacy.
He actively participates in territorial recovery and land restitution work, generating spaces for dialogue that allow for joint actions by the communities.
Human rights defenders and journalists are facing significant insecurity, harassment and killings.
Land rights defenders have faced particularly violent repression. In 2012, one of the lead figures of the land rights movement, Mr Vidal Vega, former head of the Campesinos sin Tierra (Peasants without Land) and a key witness into the Curuguaty massacre, was assassinated in front of his family. According to the Paraguayan Human Rights Coordinator, between 1989 and 2013, 115 land rights defenders from campesino organisations were killed or forcefully disappeared.
