This month a cross-border movement of indigenous groups in Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, and Brazil joined forces to declare their support for the nation-wide indigenous protest in Peru against laws that favor extractive exploitation at the expense of Peruvian indigenous rights. On May 8, 2009 members of the Cross-Border Network for the Protection of Ancestral Territories led by the Achuar Nation of Ecuador (NAE) and Ecuador’s Indigenous umbrella organization (CONAIE) met with the Peruvian Ambassador in Quito to deliver their message in a letter addressed to Peruvian President, Alan Garcia. The letter, signed by more than thirty indigenous organizations and allied NGOs in 6 countries, declares solidarity with the plight of the indigenous peoples of Peru, and asks that the Peruvian State listen to their plea for dialogue and reform. Fundación Pachamama has played a valuable role in supporting this movement of solidarity by providing important financial, logistical, communications, and legal support to the member organizations of CONAIE and the international Network to make their declaration of solidarity heard on an international level.
“The indigenous people of Peru are not only fighting for their own interest,” explained Domingo Tanchim, Vice President of the Achuar Nationality of Ecuador (NAE) in a press conference before the event. “They are defending humanity and the Amazonian rainforest, which is the principle lung of the world.” The Achuar of Ecuador traveled from the Amazon to meet with the Peruvian Ambassador in Quito to express solidarity with their Peruvian counterparts who took over an installation of the Canadian petroleum company Talisman encroaching on their territory. Talisman invaded Achuar territory without permission and is now planning an expansion of its operations. On the 6th of May, the Achuar met with the company to present their clear position in defense of their territory, and to demand the withdrawal of the company. When the company refused, Jorge Fachin, the Coordinator of the Bi-national Achuar Organization COBNAEP called for immediate support on an international level. “We would like to ask the pueblos to take action in defense of our territory, in defense of human rights, that they come together to support us in this difficult struggle that we face as Achuar, so that the entire world will be informed of our situation.”
The protest against Talisman is part of simultaneous actions undertaken in the name of the Amazonian Strike now entering its second month in Peru. The Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon are protesting against a packet of legislative decrees that violate their territorial and human rights. Last year the Peruvian Congress publicly promised to dismantle the laws after a nation-wide indigenous protest. However, Congress recently went back on its word, passing a new law that incorporates modified versions of the same laws it promised to revoke. The new Peruvian law favors free access for multinational companies over indigenous rights. In the current protest, the indigenous peoples of Peru led by the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Rainforest (AIDESEP) are demanding the following actions and reforms:
1. The withdrawal of the new law and all Legislative Decrees that violate their rights
2. Constitutional reform
3. Recognition of the collective property of their territories
4. Suspension of concessions to extractive industries
5. The establishment of a National Dialogue between the State and Indigenous Organizations that addresses these problems.
In Ecuador, the Peruvian Ambassador responded favorably to the letter’s request for dialogue. However just two days after the Ambassador’s statement, the Peruvian Government declared a State of Emergency and responded with force to the indigenous protests, arresting ten indigenous leaders and seriously injuring many protesters. Nevertheless, the indigenous resistance is not backing down, and Fundación Pachamama continues to provide legal support to ensure the human and civil rights of indigenous populations of the Amazon are respected.
