Rivelino Vera Gabriel
Mbya Guarani indigenous chief.
He lives in the Atlantic Forest Biome of the southern Brazilian coastal region, in the Kuaray Haxa Indigenous Land in the Paraná state. He is a coordinator of the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission. This organisation works for the territorial defence of the Guarani people and is part of the National Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB). Rivelino Vera as a young boy, received a message from a Guarani elder instructing him to begin his spiritual journey to find his people's ancestral territory. He stayed at least a decade carrying out the search, experiencing realities and noticing the advances of agribusiness and deforestation approaching the Indigenous Lands. In 2015 his long walk finally led him to the sacred place and exuberant forest he sought, where he currently lives with his community. His main struggle has been the demarcation of his territory and the defence of the Atlantic Forest.