Desenvolvimentismo, integração territorial e agrotóxicos: a questão dos Nambiquaras do Vale do Guaporé durante a década de 1970

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the use of herbicides, particularly Tordon 155, which is primarily composed of 2,4,5-T, against the Nambiquara Indigenous peoples in the Guaporé Valley region of Mato Grosso during the 1970s. It also seeks to construct a historical analysis of the territorial integration process that led to the use of such chemicals, beginning with the construction of the BR-364 highway in the early 1960s. The research investigates how developmentalist policies aimed at national integration and economic exploitation, combined with the omission of Brazilian institutions, resulted in environmental destruction of the Nambiquara territory and violence against its peoples. Grounded in Environmental History theory, which explores the relationship between humans and nature, the study examines the impact of BR-364 and agribusiness expansion in the region, contrasting Indigenous and settler modes of life and production. The sources used include documents from government institutions such as FUNAI, reports from the National Intelligence Service (SNI), materials from NGOs like the National Association for Indigenous Action and the Indigenous Missionary Council, as well as newspaper articles from the period. The need to integrate the national territory through the expansion of Brazil’s agricultural frontier, driven by developmentalist policies, culminated in a profound environmental transformation of the traditional Nambiquara lands in the Guaporé Valley, as well as the use of Tordon 155 on Indigenous communities and their villages.