'Magical realism': how a fake Hindu nation tried to take over Indigenous land in Bolivia
Contracts show fictional country created by fugitive Indian guru would control vast swathes ‘with full sovereignty’
Tiago Rogero South America correspondent
Tue 8 Apr 2025 00.00 EDT
Followers of a fugitive Indian Hindu guru on a mission to establish his own state are popping up across Latin America, offering hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy land in Ecuador, Paraguay and now Bolivia.
At the end of last year, a representative of the Baure Indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon signed a “perpetual” contract leasing 60,000 hectares (148,260 acres) of their vast rainforest for $108,000 (£81,910) a year.
A representative of the Cayubaba Indigenous people signed a similar contract, leasing 31,000 hectares for $55,800 annually.
On the other end of the contracts, the profiteer was the United States of Kailasa, which, despite presenting itself to the Indigenous peoples as a nation, is not recognised by any country or the UN.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/08/fake-hindu-nation-kailasa-indigenous-land-bolivia-contracts
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