One month into office, opponent calls for “impeachment” of urban village chief – Capital

2023-10-18 22:37:00

Of different ethnicities, rival of the current president denounces fraud in the electoral process

Oca where the election was held on October 1st this year (Photo: Paulo Francis)

After the impasse involving the delivery of houses from Agehab (Popular Housing Agency of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul) at the end of September this year, indigenous people of the Guarani-Kaiowá and Terena ethnic groups returned to arguing in the Água Bonita Urban Village, in the Capital, this time due to the re-election of chief Aliscinda Tibério, who will continue as leader of the indigenous community for another four years.

The current discussion is with Sheila Rodrigues Nelson, 32 years old. Born in Amambai, she has lived in the village with her family for 23 years and questions the electoral process won by Aliscinda on October 1st this year. The opponent wants the leader to be “impeached”.

“Residents were angry because one of the things that made a lot of people upset was the fact that many did not have their name on the voter list, other families only the man voted, this is what we are discussing”, he told the Campo Grande News.

According to the indigenous woman, more than 70 signatures against the electoral process that elected Aliscinda were sent to the regional headquarters of Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples) in Mato Grosso do Sul. According to the guarani-kaiowá, the signatures were sent to the Funai, City Hall and Human Rights body.

“We took it to Funai, human rights and City Hall, they told us that we would have to resolve this internally, where the community would have to nominate someone else, in this case me, or restart another election, which many do not want due to this insecurity in the time to vote.” According to the resident of the urban village, the community’s residents want to remove her (Aliscinda) and put someone else in the place, because according to Sheila, most people don’t know who to believe. “We thought it was well organized, but in the end we saw that everything ended up in a ‘clique'”, concluded Sheila Nelson.

With an inauguration ceremony scheduled for November 11th, chief Aliscinda Tibério, 49 years old, said that at the time of the election, no one questioned the voting process, despite a lot of turmoil. “At the time of the election, no one said anything, it was time for them to speak and complain, for them to speak up and not let the election pass. Nobody from outside came to vote no. There was a Municipal Guard, Police and each candidate had all day to vote, the counting of votes ended around 7pm”, said the chief.

Chief re-elected in the Água Bonita Indigenous Village, Aliscinda Tibério, aged 49 (Photo: Paulo Francis)

According to her, re-election was won with 101 votes, against 91 and 93 from the competing candidates. The community leader highlighted that the close vote may have increased the feud between residents. “They wanted me to take part in a march, there was no way I could do any of that, especially because there was a lot of turmoil in the village”, she highlighted.

According to Aliscinda Tibério, no indigenous person eligible to vote and living in the village was involved in counting the votes, while according to the leader, all the ticket inspectors were present on voting day.

“I knew everything about the petition, it is an internal issue that they want to discuss, including the minutes of the election were filed and delivered to Funai”, he stressed. At the head of the community for another four years, she continues as chief and has a vice-chief, secretary, president and vice-president of the council and another advisor.

Minutes of the general assembly and inauguration of Aliscinda after the election (Photo: Personal Archive)

The indigenous woman said that the ceremony for taking office will feature a headdress. “In the Terena ethnic group, women do not wear headdresses, only with a superior indigenous person or with authorization. I need permission because of my culture, what are we going to do. For me, this is all a question of machismo. In general, people don’t know how to put differences aside and fight for the people here. I just want proof that there was a mistake,” she concluded.

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