A judge of guarantees in Asunción granted urgent protective measures to safeguard the Ayoreo Totobiegosode indigenous people in voluntary isolation in the Paraguayan Chaco. The decision, issued by Judge Marcelo Saldívar, responds to a request from the Paraguayan Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INDI) against American content creator Nathan Pratt Seastrand, known as "Yankiguayo", and his company Deep Jungle Studios.
The court order mandates the removal of unauthorized trap cameras installed in protected areas and prohibits any activity that could facilitate unwanted contact with isolated indigenous people, including searches, location, overflights, or installation of devices. The publication, dissemination, transmission, or commercialization of audiovisual material that could identify, locate, or expose these communities was also banned.
The judge ordered Paraguay's tax and customs authority DNIT to provide within 48 hours the tax and location data of Seastrand and his company, due to the impossibility of finding his actual residence. Simultaneously, he ordered the notification of the accused by public notice and the preservation of all digital material related to the facts.
Leaders of the Ayoreo Totobiegosode people denounced that Seastrand allegedly offered money to residents to locate isolated indigenous people and installed trap cameras for this purpose. Lithuanian biologist and YouTuber Romualdas Šapoka, known as "Don Šapoka", stated that the American also allegedly offered alcohol to indigenous leaders to obtain permission to access protected territories.
The protection measures involve multiple institutions, including the MADES environment ministry, the National Police, the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (Mitic), which must collaborate in dismantling equipment and blocking unauthorized transmissions.
Seastrand denied the accusations through his social media, stating that allegations that his team sought to establish contact with Ayoreo people in voluntary isolation are false. He acknowledged installing trap cameras but denied they were in protected territory or that his actions were illegal.