34 before the INDI on April 22 and 28, 1998, said firms also stated that they were not interested in negotiating sale of the property affected by the territorial claim of the Yakye Axa Community and they asked that the request for expropriation made by the Community be dismissed and that the file be sent to the IBR.70 50.36. On May 21, 1998 the legal department of the INDI recommended that the file be forwarded to the IBR to exhaust the proceedings pending before that institution, during which “the members of the indigenous community interested in claiming land must decide (if they have the right to do so) whether to resort to another instance to attain their purpose.”71 The INDI followed this recommendation and on May 26, 1998 it forwarded administrative file No. 7261/93 to the IBR.72 50.37. On July 3, 1998 the legal department of the IBR decided that “analysis of the records and especially of the anthropological report […] indicate that the LOMA VERDE estate constitutes the TRADITIONAL HABITAT of the petitioners; with regard to the other areas affected by the claim there is no indication, and pursuant to Art[icle] 62 of the N[ational] C[onstitution], the existence of the indigenous peoples as cultural groups prior to the establishment and organization of the Paraguayan State has been acknowledged; this indicates that the right of the indigenous people to possession of the land is prior and therefore superior to the Institution of Private Property; therefore, in case of conflict of the right over an area of land held by the indigenous people and the right of the owner, constitutionally the right of the Indigenous Community must prevail. [… D]espite the aforementioned circumstances, the owners affected by the claim have refused a negotiated settlement and since the property is under rational use, in view of the provisions of the Agrarian Statute, the Instituto de Bienestar Rural cannot request expropriation of said property, for which reason a decision should be issued to this effect [...]”73 (highlighted in the original text). 50.38. On September 8, 1998 the IBR issued ruling No. 755, in which it decided: 1. To declare that the real estate belonging to Estancia Maroma S.R.L and Compañía Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones (Farm No.2985-Chaco) and Loma Verde (Farms Nos. 15,179, 15,180 and 759-Chaco), Presidente Hayes Department, is under rational use, in light of the provisions of Articles 3d and 158 of Law 854/63 “Which establishes the Agrarian Stature,” and based on the report submitted by the Inter-institutional committee set up by Presidential order No. 694/96, the conclusion of which, in this regard, is transcribed in the preamble to the instant ruling. 70 See brief submitted by the legal representative of Florida Agricultural Corporation, Livestock Capital Group Inc. and Agricultural Development Inc., before the Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena on April 22, 1998 (file with appendixes to the application, appendix 4, volumes 785 to 786) and brief submitted by the legal representative of Florida Agricultural Corporation, Livestock Capital Group Inc. and Agricultural Development Inc., before the President of the Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena on April 28, 1998 (file with appendixes to the application, appendix 4, volumes 791 to 793). 71 See report No. 52/98 issued by the legal department of the Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena on May 21, 1998 (file with appendixes to the application, appendix 4, volumes 799 and 800). 72 See note S.G. No. 5/98 addressed by the General Secretariat of the Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena to the President of the Instituto de Bienestar Rural on May 26, 1998 (file with appendixes to the application, appendix 4, volume 802). 73 See report No. 1031 issued by the legal department of the Instituto de Bienestar Rural on July 3, 1998 (file with appendixes to the application, appendix 4, volume 822).