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After receiving my PhD in this Department, by conducting the multi-sited ethnographic research entitled "Everyday practices of transnational living : making sense of Brasiguaio identities", I produced two ethnographic films on the Brasiguaios. This is a group of people living predominantly within the Brazil and Paraguay shared border region. The lives of Brasiguaios are marked by the pursuit of piece of land for subsistence in both countries. These are their stories.

Although many families have lost their hope and returned to Paraguay, while others re-emigrated within Brazil, some families are still living in the “Brasiguaios landless camp” waiting for a piece of land. The landlessness condition is a meaningful part of the identities of this group of Brasiguaios. The life stories of this group of Brasiguaios are deeply marked by their emigration experience and live in Paraguay, subsequent return to Brazil, and hybrid shared socio-cultural ties originated from their pursuit of land for agricultural production in Brazil or Paraguay.

The history of Brazilian immigration to Paraguay began in the 1950s, and intensified in the 1960s and 1970s. The relations between Brazilians and the Paraguayan population produced new forms of ethnic-national identifications within the border region, especially on the Paraguayan side. Over the years, Brazilian immigrants to Paraguay, and their descendants, became known as Brasiguaios.

Brasiguaios 1985: The Return to the origins (2021)

On July 14, 1985, with the support of Pastoral da Terra, a group of approximately 1000 families of rural workers returned to Brazil in an organized manner in search of land for their subsistence. This group formed a camp in the border city of Novo Mundo-MS, where they stayed 6 months, until they were settled by the National Institute of Rural Settlement and Agrarian Reform – INCRA of the Brazilian federal government. This group of Brasiguaios was settled on the Santa Idalina farm, a property that has no documentation and unproductive in the municipality of Ivinhema, where today it is the city of Novo Horizonte do Sul – MS.

The history of Brazilian immigration to Paraguay began in the 1950s, and intensified in the 1960s and 1970s. The relations between Brazilians and the Paraguayan population produced new forms of ethnic-national identifications within the border region, especially on the Paraguayan side. Over the years, Brazilian immigrants to Paraguay, and their descendants, became known as Brasiguaios. On July 14, 1985, with the support of Pastoral da Terra, a group of approximately 1000 families of rural workers returned to Brazil in an organized manner in search of land for their subsistence. This group formed a camp in the border city of Novo Mundo-MS, where they stayed 6 months, until they were settled by the National Institute of Rural Settlement and Agrarian Reform - INCRA of the Brazilian federal government. This group of Brasiguaios was settled on the Santa Idalina farm, a property that has no documentation and unproductive in the municipality of Ivinhema, where today it is the city of Novo Horizonte do Sul - MS. This documentary presents the stories of these people, who were often stigmatized for self-defining themselves as Brasiguaios, poverty condition and the pursuit for a piece of land in their country of origin.

Brasiguaios: Transnational Lives and Identities (2017)

In 2009, another large number of Brasiguaios returned from Paraguay to Brazil with the Support of the Brazilian Landless Rural Worker's Landless Movement (MST). They joined the landless camp Antônio Irmão in Itaquiraí-MS. Soon, the landless camps became known in the region as the Acampamento dos Brasiguaios ("Brasiguaios Landless camp'). As 2022, this group of people was still not settled by INCRA. Although some families remain in the landless camp, many families re-emigrated within Brazil and other returned to Paraguay.

I am going to be eternally grateful to the Brasiguaios and non-Brasiguaios who voluntarily shared their life stories. These works would not have been possible without their valuable participation. After each interview, the participants received a DVD copy of their interview as a token of appreciation for their participation. Both documentaries were produced with the objective of recording the history of this group for educational purposes.