Ashanika warriors occupy oil boat May 2009

A documentary is in production tracing the struggle by indigenous Amazonians in Peru to defend their land against infrastructure and other industrial megaprojects, told through the lens of indigenous leader Alberto Pizango:

“Against the backdrop of global recession and climate crisis, When Two Worlds Collide traces the heroic journey of a young indigenous leader. Forced into exile for resisting the sale and commercial exploitation of Amazonian lands, Alberto Pizango’s efforts shed new light on the ferocious battle for the world’s most precious natural resources. Falsely accused of insurrection and sedition by the Peruvian Government, he faces 20-years in prison. After almost a year in exile, Pizango returns to Peru to face trial and discovers himself nominated for presidential candidacy. In the April 2011 elections, he will run as the first Amazonian candidate in history. This feature-length documentary follows the Amazonians in their quest against all odds to save the rainforest and campaign to elect their leader as president of Peru. This extraordinary story reveals the human side of an apocalyptic battle of conflicting visions and political wills working to shape the future of the Amazon’s ecosystem and our world.”

To learn more about the documentary, watch the trailer, or donate to help cover production costs, click here. You can also visit the web site of the film company, Yachaywasi Films.

For more background on the indigenous struggle, see below.

Previous Articles on the Peruvian Amazon:

Peru Update: Continuing Infrastructure Threat to Amazonian Indigenous Nations (July 8, 2010)

Temporary Resolution in Peru Conflict Following Government Reversal (June 19, 2009)

Week of Action in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru (June 12, 2009)

Upcoming Peru Solidarity Protests (June 10, 2009)

Peru Update: Take Action! (June 7, 2009)

Action Alert: Stop Peruvian Infrastructure Push! (June 5, 2009)

Peruvian Police Murder Indigenous Protesters: Take Action! (June 5, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Holding Strong in Standoff (June 3, 2009)

Peru Indigenous In Standoff With Government (May 22, 2009)

Perenco to Drill for Oil in Territory of Uncontacted Indigenous (January 7, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Issue Oil Ultimatum (October 22, 2008)

Indigenous Victory in Peru! (August 24, 2008)

Temporary Truce in Indigenous Peru Standoff (August 21, 2008)

Peru Declares Martial Law Over Indigenous Protests (August 18, 2008)

Oil Pipeline Shut Down by Ongoing Peru Protests (August 17, 2008)

Indigenous Peruvians Seize Energy Infrastructure (August 12, 2008)

“We the peoples and our territories are one entity,” the 2009 declaration read. “[We resolve] to reject all forms of land division, privatization, concession, predation and pollution from extractive industries.”

Global climate activists have joined the call, declaring that day a Global Day of Climate Justice.

As we did last year, Root Force is supporting the Minga and encouraging people throughout the Americas and across the world to take actions targeting the infrastructure of global trade. Infrastructure expansion projects such as highways, mines, power plants, pipelines and telecommunications cables form the front lines of the assault on indigenous peoples and the Earth. They are the backbone of the system that is killing our planet and enslaving its people.

For more information about the call to action and why we think infrastructure projects are appropriate targets, see below.

For help planning and publicizing actions, contact Root Force: rootforce [at] riseup [dot] net. You can find direct action, strategy and messaging resources here.

Send action reports to rootforce [at] riseup [dot] net. If you can’t pull together a direct action, consider holding events that promote anti-infrastructure organizing and action.

About the Minga

From the declaration:

WE CONVENE the Third Minga/ Global Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples, against the commercialization of life (food, water, biodiversity, natural resources), pollution and depredation (by mining, fossil fuels, hydroelectricity, timber, ranching, biofuels, GMOs), consumerism and the criminalization of social movements; and for the recognition of ecological debt and the formation of an International Tribunal of Climate Justice.

On October 12, in every corner of the planet, those of us who want to save life will lift our voices against the capitalist aggression expressed in the plunder and commercialization of life. Because we know that other worlds are not only urgently needed, they are, above all, possible. And we are building them.

Objectives:

• The continuation of life, peace, ecodefense, natural resources, and spirituality linked to life and Mother Nature; water for future generations; and collective rights.
• To sensitize society to the necessity of coexistence with nature, in harmony and equilibrium. No to the privatization of nature with carbon trading.
• To sound the alarm over the imminent danger of the environmental catastrophe that threatens the planet and to call out those responsible: global capitalism, multinational businesses and complicity states.
• To demonstrate that it is possible to implement this change from the proposal and practices of the people, in harmony and reciprocity with Mother Nature, with Good Living, Plurinational States, and a model of integration based on equality, reciprocity and complementarity.
• To denounce neoliberal capitalism and the complicit governments that criminalize social protest to impose the plunder and depredation of Mother Nature.
• To urge amnesty for all leaders of indigenous, social, and environmental activists prosecuted for defending the rights of the people and of Mother Nature.
• To open the debate over the crisis of capitalist civilization, with the proposal of the indigenous peoples for averting climate catastrophe.
• No to the persecution of migrants: no one is a migrant on their continent of Abya Yala [America]; if some went in another direction, they went following the natural resources that had been stolen.

Activities worldwide:

• Manifest the greatest diversity of indigenous organizations and social movements, presenting alternatives to stop global climate and environmental catastrophe.
• Memorial with concrete proposals to the Convention on Climate Change, Convention on Biological Diversity, UN, Interamerican Human Rights Commission and similar organizations on other continents.
• Mobilizations around the world (in urban and rural communities) for specific local and national demands and for common goals of the Global Minga.
• Demonstrations in front of local offices of the UN, transnational extractive industries (fossil fuels, mining, timber, water), biofuels and GMOs.
• Discussion forums and cultural and political seminars on the defense of Mother Earth and the people against the commercialization of life and against pollution and social criminalization.
• The implementation of Climate Justice Courts to ethically judge environmental crimes.
• Assemblies to articulate strategies for the World Climate Change Conference, COP 16 (Cancun, Mexico, November-December 2010).

Read the full declaration (in Spanish) here. Read about last year’s Minga here:

Take Action Oct 12-16: Global Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples (Aug 19th, 2009)

UPDATED: Week of Action Continues (Oct 12th, 2009)

More from the Week of Action (Oct 15th, 2009)

A Few More Actions (Oct 19th, 2009)

Why Infrastructure?

There are three primary reasons to target infrastructure as a way to defend the Earth and support indigenous sovereignty.

1. Infrastructure projects devastate ecologies and communities, whether it’s the massive fish kills caused by dams and oil spills, the stripped land and poisoned air left by highways and mines, or the dislocation of poor, rural and indigenous peoples caused every time a new dam, road, mine or power plant moves in.

2. Infrastructure projects facilitate further exploitation above and beyond their immediate effects: a road brings loggers and missionaries; a power plant brings industry and sprawl.

3. Infrastructure forms the physical basis of the global economic system — a system that is killing our planet and cannot function without the continued dispossession of indigenous land and destruction of Earth-based cultures.

This civilization will not change its genocidal and ecocidal trajectory willingly, and the Earth cannot be saved by half-measures. The system must come down, and its reliance on infrastructure — especially the infrastructure of trade — is one of its greatest weaknesses.

Learn More

The Root Force Strategy (taking down the system by fighting infrastructure expansion)

Infrastructure and indigenous sovereignty

Infrastructure and the environment

Infrastructure and global warming

More infrastructure fact sheets

Take Action!

Join people around the world on October 12-16 to say NO to the commercialization of life and the criminalization of indigenous and social movements, and YES to a world based on respect for all life. Join Root Force in the struggle against the infrastructure of global trade, and help us demolish colonialism at its foundations.

For help planning and publicizing actions, contact Root Force: rootforce [at] riseup [dot] net. You can find direct action, strategy and messaging resources here.

Send action reports to rootforce [at] riseup [dot] net. If you can’t pull together a direct action, consider holding events that promote anti-infrastructure organizing and action.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is tear-gassed by police, Sep. 30 2010

Police and some members of the military attempted to stage a coup in Ecuador on Thursday, September 30. Resistance by social movements and the majority of the military appears to have foiled the attempt for now, but the situation remains tense and the threat of a right-wing power grab remains.

For a good overview of a volatile couple of days, we recommend this article from Upside Down World.

We have often criticized Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa for his authoritarian tendencies, his support of extractive industry and his contempt for indigenous sovereignty.  Nevertheless, a right-wing power grab could undo many if not all of the gains that indigenous and anti-infrastructure movements have made in recent years. For this reason, indigenous groups in the country immediately condemned the coup attempt and are mobilizing against it. Their communiques are below (first unofficial English translations, then the original Spanish).

Call the US State Department at (202) 647-4000 or email them and insist that the US refuse to recognize any coup government in Ecuador. US waffling during the Honduras coup is a major reason for the ongoing state violence there.

From ECUARUNARI (Confederation of Peoples of Kichwa Nationality):

No more dictatorships in Latin America

Quito, September 30, 2010

In Latin America we have gone from bloody military dictatorship to the dictatorship of transnational capital to neoliberalism. The sectors that benefit from this have always been the same (bankers, commercial entrepreneurs, landowners). And we the impoverished, Indigenous, workers, men and women, have always been the victims, but we have always been fighters who stand for democracy of the oppressed. With this strength and legitimacy we reject any dictatorship from where ever it comes.

The political crisis in Ecuador at this moment caused by the insubordination of the police has been turned by police officers and some military sectors into a coup attempt, behind which is undoubtedly Ecuador’s right wing and the forces of imperialism.

We have no doubt that this political crisis is a right-wing reaction against the 2008 Constitution, adopted by the affirmative vote of 64% of Ecuadorians, and is therefore a clear threat to democracy, Plurinationalism, and the Sumak Kawsay (living well).

In the geopolitical dimension it is also a threat to the Venezuelan and Bolivian processes. It is not coincidental that reactionary sectors of the country celebrated the attempts of destabilization in the Venezuelan elections. They had this same attitude toward attempts to overthrow the Bolivian government. Now the conservative sectors of the country have been adding to these dictatorial attempts.

What is the position of the organized social sectors? The vast majority of popular organizations that resist against dictatorship and neo-liberalism of the pro-imperialist oligarchy in Ecuador, and despite our deep disagreements with the national government that has tried some of our leaders as terrorists, this is no reason to stand with our historic enemies. Behind the protest of the police and their wage claims is the claim of ignorance of the Constitution where we recognize many of our proposals and historical struggles.

Rafael Correa’s Citizen Revolution formed broad alliances with right-wing groups in mining, oil, agribusiness, etc., and attacked and persecuted popular left-wing organizations (especially the Indigenous movement) which leaves those reactionary sectors free to act in this way.

Leaving no room for confusion, our position is:

1. Reject the coup attempt and defend the Plurinational State.

2. We declare ourselves in permanent assemblies and alert to mobilize in defense of plurinationalism.

3. As part of a plurinational democracy, the only revolutionary alternative is to fight against supporters of the dictatorship, and to deepen urgent changes in the process of agrarian revolution.

4. We gather ourselves in a large plurinational dialogue of all Ecuadorians, in an atmosphere of peace and democracy to build a large plurinational consensus as the best way to resolve the crisis peacefully.

We have already suffered too much with dictatorships, Honduras still hurts. No more dictatorship in Latin America.

For the Governing Council

Delfín Tenesaca
President of ECUARUNARI

From A Coalition of Groups:

A process of change, as weak as it may be, runs the risk of being overturned or overtaken by the right, old or new, if it does not establish alliances with organized social and popular sectors, and deepen progressively.

The insubordination of the police, beyond their immediate demands, lays bare at least four substantial things:

1. While the government has dedicated itself exclusively to attacking and delegitimizing organized sectors like the Indigenous movement, workers’ unions, etc., it hasn’t weakened in the least the structures of power of the right, or those within the state apparatus, which has become evident through the rapidity of the response from the public forces.

2. The social crisis that was let loose today was also provoked by the authoritarian character and the non-opening to dialogue in the lawmaking process. We have seen how laws that were consensed around were vetoed by the President of the Republic, closing any possibility of agreement.

3. Faced with the criticism and mobilization of communities against transnational mining, oil, and agro-industrial companies, the government, instead of creating a dialogue, responds with violence and repression, as occurred in Zamora Chinchipe.

4. This scenario nurtures the conservative sectors. Already various sectors and people from the old right are asking for the overthrow of the government and the installation of a civil or military dictatorship; but the new right, from inside and outside the government, will use this context to justify their total alliance with the most reactionary sectors and with emerging business interests.

The Ecuadorian Indigenous movement, CONAIE, with its regional Confederations and its grassroots organizations states before Ecuadorian society and the international community their rejection to the economic and social policies of the government, and with the same energy we reject the actions of the right that in an undercover way form part of the attempted coup d’etat, and to the contrary we will continue to struggle for the construction of a Plurinational State with a true democracy.

Consistent with the mandate of the communities, peoples and nationalities and faithful to our history of struggle and resistance against colonialism, discrimination and exploitation of those who are below, of the poor, we will defend democracy and the rights of the people: no concessions for the right.

In these critical moments, our position is:

1. We convene our bases to maintain themselves alert and ready to mobilize in defense of true Plurinational democracy and against the actions of the right.

2. We deepen our mobilization against the extractive model and the imposition of large scale mining, the privatization and concentration of water, and the expansion of the oil frontier.

3. We convene and join together with diverse organized sectors to defend the rights of workers, affected by the arbitrariness which has driven the legislative process, recognizing that they are making legitimate demands.

4. We demand that the national government firmly depose every possible concession to the right. We demand that the government abandons its authoritarian attitude against the popular sectors, that they not criminalize social protest and the persecution of leaders: the only thing this type of politics provokes is to open spaces to the Right and create spaces of destabilization.

The best way to defend democracy is to begin a true revolution that resolves the most urgent and structural questions to the benefit of the majority. On this path is the effective construction of the Plurinational state and the immediate initiation of an agrarian revolution and a de-privatization of water.

This is our position in this context and in this historical period.

Marlon Santi PRESIDENT, CONAIE

Delfín Tenesaca PRESIDENT, ECUARUNARI

Tito Puanchir PRESIDENT, CONFENIAE

Olindo Nastacuaz PRESIDENT, CONAICE

Original Communiques

No más Dictaduras en América Latina

Quito, 30 de septiembre de 2010

En Latinoamérica hemos ido de las dictaduras militares sangrientas a la dictadura del capital transnacional con el neoliberalismo. Los sectores beneficiados siempre has sido los mismos (banqueros, empresarios comerciales, terratenientes). Y hemos sido nosotros, los pueblos empobrecidos, los indígenas, trabajadores, hombres y mujeres, los que hemos puesto siempre las víctimas; pero también hemos sido los luchadores permanentes por la democracia de los oprimidos. Con esa fuerza y legitimidad rechazamos toda dictadura venga de donde venga.

La crisis política que vive el Ecuador en estos momentos ocasionado por la insubordinación de la policía ha sido convertida por la oficialidad policial y algunos sectores militares en un intento de golpe de Estado, detrás del cual indudablemente está la derecha ecuatoriana y las fuerzas del imperialismo.

Nosotros no tenemos duda que esta crisis política sea una reacción de la derecha contra la Constitución del 2008, aprobada por el voto favorable del 64% de los ecuatorianos y ecuatorianas; por lo tanto, una franca amenaza a la democracia, a la Plurinacionalidad y al Sumak Kawsay.

En la dimensión geopolítica también es una amenaza a los procesos venezolano y boliviano; no es gratuito que los sectores reaccionarios de este país celebraban los intentos de desestabilización en las elecciones venezolanas. Esta misma actitud tuvieron frente intento de derrocamiento del gobierno boliviano. Ahora los distintos sectores conservadores del país se han ido sumando a esta tentativa dictatorial.

¿Cuál es la posición de los sectores sociales organizados? La gran mayoría de las organizaciones populares, que resistimos contra las dictaduras y el neoliberalismo de las oligarquías pro-imperialistas ecuatorianas, a pesar de tener profundos desacuerdos con el gobierno nacional, de tener a varios de nuestros dirigentes enjuiciados como terroristas, esto no es razón para ponernos del lado de nuestros enemigos históricos. Detrás de la protesta de los policías y de sus reivindicaciones salariales está la pretensión de desconocer la Constitución donde hemos logrado que sean reconocidas muchas de nuestras propuestas y luchas históricas.

La Revolución Ciudadana de Rafael Correa al formar alianzas amplias con grupos de derecha en la minería, en el petróleo, agronegocios, etc. y atacar y perseguir a las organizaciones populares y de izquierda (en especial al movimiento indígena) deja las manos libres a esos sectores reaccionarios.

*Sin espacio para la confusión, nuestra posición es*:

1. Rechazar la intentona golpista y defender el Estado Pluricional.

2. Nos declaramos en Asambleas permanentes y alerta de movilización en defensa de la plurinacionalidad.

3. En el marco de una democracia plurinacional la única alternativa revolucionaria es combatir a los partidarios de la dictadura, profundizar los cambios con la urgente iniciación de un proceso de revolución agraria.

4. Auto-convocamos para un gran dialogo plurinacional de todos los ecuatorianos; un ambiente de paz y democracia plurinacional construir grandes consensos como la mejor vía pacifica de solucionar la crisis

Ya hemos sufrido demasiado con las dictaduras, Honduras todavía nos duele. Ninguna dictadura más en América Latina.

Por el Consejo de Gobierno

Delfín Tenesaca
Presidente de ECUARUNARI

Un proceso de cambio, por más débil que sea, corre el riesgo de ser derrotado o juntarse a la derecha, nueva o vieja, sino establece alianzas con los sectores sociales populares organizados y se profundiza progresivamente.

La insubordinación de la Policía, más allá de sus demandas inmediatas, desnuda por lo menos cuatro cosas sustanciales:

1. Mientras el gobierno se ha dedicado exclusivamente a atacar y deslegitimar a los sectores organizados como el movimiento indígena, los sindicatos de trabajadores, etc., no ha debilitado en lo más mínimo las estructuras de poder de la derecha, ni siquiera dentro de los aparatos del Estado, lo que se ha hecho evidente por la rapidez con que reaccionó la fuerza pública.

2. La crisis social desatada hoy día también es provocada por el carácter autoritario y la no apertura al dialogo en la elaboración de las leyes. Hemos visto como las leyes consensuadas fueron vetadas por el Presidente de la República, cerrando cualquier posibilidad de acuerdos.

3. Frente a la crítica y movilización de las comunidades en contra de las transnacionales mineras, petroleras y agro-comerciales, el gobierno, en lugar de propiciar el dialogo responde con violenta represión, como lo ocurrido en Zamora Chinchipe.
4. Este escenario alimenta a los sectores conservadores. Ya varios sectores y personajes de la vieja derecha pedirán el derrocamiento del gobierno y la instauración de una dictadura civil o militar; pero la nueva derecha, dentro y fuera del gobierno, utilizará esta coyuntura para justificar su total alianza con los sectores más reaccionarios y a los empresariales emergentes.

El movimiento indígena ecuatoriano, la CONAIE, con sus Confederaciones regionales y sus organizaciones de base manifiesta ante la sociedad ecuatoriana y la comunidad internacional su rechazo a la política económica y social del gobierno, y con la misma energía rechazamos también las acciones de la derecha que encubierta forma parte de un intento de golpe de estado, y por el contrario seguiremos luchando por la construcción del Estado Plurinacional con una verdadera democracia.

Consecuentes con el Mandato de las comunas, pueblos y nacionalidades y fiel a nuestra historia de lucha y resistencia contra el colonialismo, la discriminación y la explotación de los de abajo, de los empobrecidos, defenderemos la democracia y los derechos de los pueblos: ninguna concesión a la derecha.

En estos momentos críticos nuestra posición es:

1. Convocamos a nuestras bases a mantenerse en alerta de movilización en defensa de la verdadera democracia Plurinacional frente a las acciones de la derecha.

2. Profundizamos nuestra movilización contra el modelo extractivista y la implantación de la minería a gran escala; la privatización y concentración del agua, la expiación de la frontera petrolera.

3. Convocamos y nos sumamos a los diversos sectores organizados a defender de los derechos de los trabajadores, afectados por la arbitrariedad con que se ha conducido el proceso legislativo, conociendo que son reclamos legítimos.

4. Demandamos del gobierno nacional a deponer toda actitud de concesiones a la derecha. Exigimos que abandone su actitud autoritaria contra los sectores populares, a no criminalizar la protesta social y la persecución a los dirigentes; ese tipo de políticas lo único que provoca es abrir espacios a la Derecha y crea escenarios de desestabilización.

La mejor forma de defender la democracia es impulsar una verdadera revolución que resuelva las cuestiones más urgentes y estructurales en beneficio de las mayorías. En este camino la construcción efectiva de la Plurinacionalidad y el inmediato inicio de un proceso de revolución agraria y desprivatización del agua.

Esta es nuestra posición en esta coyuntura y en este periodo histórico.

Marlon Santi
PRESIDENTE CONAIE

Delfín Tenesaca
PRESIDENTE ECUARUNARI

Tito Puanchir
PRESIDENTE CONFENIAE

Olindo Nastacuaz
PRESIDENTE CONAICE

I-19 blockade July 29 2010

On July 29, the day that controversial Arizona anti-migrant law SB 1070 (which would require police to check the papers of anyone they “reasonably” suspect to be undocumented) was due to take effect, protesters blockaded the I-19 highway in Tucson, Arizona (more photos available here):

“A blockade of tires covered in tar and broken glass were placed across both southbound lanes along with a banner reading ‘Stop All Militarization! The Border is Illegal!’ This blockade is a temporary shutdown of the very road that is used to deport people deemed ‘illegal’ as well as a direct disruption of the flow of capital. By blocking I-19 we have halted the transportation of migrants and the profits Whack-n-hut [sic] and Corrections Corporation of Amerikkka [sic] make by these inhumane acts of separating families, communities and loved ones.”

The press release also draws attention to other law enforcement violence against people of color in Arizona, including “”the militarization of indigenous land, I.C.E. raids, deportations, the attacks on ethnic studies, violence against women and queer people, the expansion of prisons and immigration detention centers, empire, the border wall” and the deaths of migrants in the desert (153 in the past 8 months). Even the temporary injunction against implementation of SB 1070 will leave these policies unchanged, it notes.

“Neither SB 1070 nor the deployment of National Guard troops to the border do anything to address the root causes as to why people migrate. U.S. economic policies and wars have displaced and impoverished millions of people all over the world. Capital-driven policies, such as NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement], create poverty. These policies and laws not only consume and exploit land and people, but they also displace us from our homes, forcing us to migrate in order to survive. If policymakers were serious about stopping ‘illegal immigration,’ they would end these capitalist exploitations and stop their military invasions abroad.”

I-19 is part of the CANAMEX Corridor, intended to ease the flow of NAFTA-related trade between Mexico, the United States and Canada.

At other protests, including in Tucson and in Oakland, CA, banners drew the connection between migration and international trade:

NAFTA banner Tucson, Jul 29 2010

Oakland trade banner, Jul 29 2010

For more about the connection between migration and infrastructure, read the Root Force factsheet, “Infrastructure Expansion, Migration and Radical Border Solutions.”

Bagua, Peru police, June 2009

On June 5, protesters across Peru commemorated the anniversary of the government’s massacre last year of peaceful indigenous protesters who had blockaded a road in opposition to laws opening the Amazon up for large-scale resource exploitation. The official death toll was 33 (10 indigenous people plus 23 police officers later killed in retaliation), but local reports have contested this figure, alleging as many as 84 killed. One protester, Major Felipe Bazán Caballero, remains missing to this day. Following widespread social unrest in response to the massacre, the government eventually repealed four of the contested laws.

Early this summer, it appeared that the Peruvian government might be getting ready to soften its position on Amazon resource exploitation. A parliamentary commission on the Bagua conflict concluded that the indigenous people had been in the right, and on May 19, the Peruvian parliament approved the Consultation Law, requiring that locals be consulted as part of the approval process for any resource-exploiting projects. The law was hailed as a victory by indigenous social movements.

Ashanika warriors occupy oil boat May 2009

In the same week, however, the government announced a rash of new oil concessions across the Amazon. Representatives of the oil and gas ministry have begun touring European capitals, announcing 10.6 million ha (26 million acres) in new concessions.

“The Garcia administration does not seem to have learned the harsh lessons of Bagua,” said Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch. “The government [has] intensified its assault on indigenous rights by offering yet more indigenous territory to foreign oil corporations so that half of all indigenous lands in the Peruvian Amazon now fall within oil concessions.”

Only days later, indigenous leader Alberto Pizango, who fled to Nicaragua during the Bagua uprising, returned to Peru in defiance of an outstanding warrant on sedition charges. He was immediately arrested, but was released on bail later that day. Pizango promptly issued a public statement condemning the government’s new oil push, especially condemning oil company Perenco for denying the existence of “uncontacted” indigenous nations in areas it has slated for a new oil pipeline.

Amazonian indigenous archers threatening a helicopter flyover, May 2008

According to an article published on GroundReport:

“Perenco recently revealed it has transported, by helicopter, ‘more than 50,000 tons of material and consumables, the equivalent of seven Eiffel Towers’ into the region. The company denies the tribes’ existence, although, in a ‘contingency plan’ presented to Peru’s Energy Ministry earlier this year, it recommended that its workers, in certain instances, ‘scare and repel’ the Indians if contact is made.”

On June 1, while Peruvian President Alan García was meeting with U.S. president Barack Obama, two women chained themselves to the White House fence, while protesters rallied across the street in support of their call for an end to resource extraction without indigenous consent.

Then on June 19, Argentinian company Pluspetrol spilled hundreds of barrels of oil into the Maranon river in the Peruvian Amazon, marking the company’s 78th spill in the region in the last four years.

Two days later, García announced his refusal to sign the Consultation Law, returning it to Congress with his objections. García is demanding that the law be modified to allow the government to override indigenous peoples’ objections to development projects. He also wishes to exclude Andean indigenous peoples from the consultation requirement.

“President García has missed a huge opportunity to show Peruvians and the world that his government is willing to respect indigenous peoples rights and willing to bring Peru closer in line with international norms,” Soltani said. “García has taken another step backwards in repairing relations with indigenous peoples and demonstrated yet again his administration’s deeply troubling policies towards the country’s original inhabitants.”

Congress can override García’s de facto veto by a majority vote. Indigenous, environmental, and civil society groups are encouraging it to do so.

The assault on the Amazon continues. On June 22, Garcia and Brazilian President “Lula” da Silva signed an agreement for the construction of six hydroelectric dams in the Peruvian Amazon to supply more than 6000 MW of electricity to Brazil.

According to International Rivers:

“One of the first projects to be built under the accord would be the Paquitzapango Dam on the Ene River, which would impact close to 17,000 Ashaninka indigenous people and threaten the Ashaninka Communal Reserve, as well as the Otishi National Park, both of which are legally protected areas. …

“The Inambari Dam on the Madre de Dios River is also likely to constructed under the bilateral accord signed yesterday… . Inambari would flood more than 46,000 hectares of land, which would leave more than 15,000 people without agricultural lands.”

The dams are likely to face legal as well as on-the-ground challenges in Peru.

Previous Articles on the Peruvian Amazon:

Temporary Resolution in Peru Conflict Following Government Reversal (June 19, 2009)

Week of Action in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru (June 12, 2009)

Upcoming Peru Solidarity Protests (June 10, 2009)

Peru Update: Take Action! (June 7, 2009)

Action Alert: Stop Peruvian Infrastructure Push! (June 5, 2009)

Peruvian Police Murder Indigenous Protesters: Take Action! (June 5, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Holding Strong in Standoff (June 3, 2009)

Peru Indigenous In Standoff With Government (May 22, 2009)

Perenco to Drill for Oil in Territory of Uncontacted Indigenous (January 7, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Issue Oil Ultimatum (October 22, 2008)

Indigenous Victory in Peru! (August 24, 2008)

Temporary Truce in Indigenous Peru Standoff (August 21, 2008)

Peru Declares Martial Law Over Indigenous Protests (August 18, 2008)

Oil Pipeline Shut Down by Ongoing Peru Protests (August 17, 2008)

Indigenous Peruvians Seize Energy Infrastructure (August 12, 2008)

Another anti-mines banner, this one reading  “No New Mines on Apache Land! Ya Basta!” was hung in Tucson, AZ on October 16 (this time from the  “Snake Bridge” over Broadway Boulevard). It was in opposition to the proposed mine in Superior, Arizona on sacred Apache land.

Also in Tucson, activists held a Fair Trade fair. In Tucson and New York City, activists distributed information on the connection between the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and swine flu.

Prior Action Roundups:

More from the Week of Action (Oct 15)

Week of Action Continues (Oct 12)

Labrador, Canada: Inuu elder and activist Elizabeth Penashue launched a week-long walk along the Mitsa-Shipu (Churchill River) from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Gull Island, in opposition to the proposed Lower Churchill Hydro Project. If built, the two dams would  cause vast environmental devastation and irreparable loss of Innu land, history and culture.

USA: The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) is holding a weeklong mobilization against the North American and Central American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA/CAFTA) and against gold mining in El Salvador. Events are planned for Seattle, Olympia, Portland (OR), San Francisco, Washington (DC), Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Find out more information here.

On October 16, the Durango, Colorado chapters of Earth First! and Root Force are presenting the Beehive Design Collective on their True Cost of Coal graphic tour.

London, England: Protests were held at the Colombian, Peruvian and Spanish embassies, the UK Foreign Office and the Department for Energy and Climate change, demanding and end to EU-Latin America free trade agreements and an end to UK agrofuel subsidies.

Melbourne, Australia:  A Latin American Solidarity Network space was launched at Trades Hall. A documentary film night will be held October 15.

Guatemala: Social movements marked the Minga with a nonviolent demonstration. An assassin dressed in  black fired on the crowd, killing a 19-year-old and seriously injuring a 16- and a 65-year-old.

Colombia: More than 25,000 indigenous People have begun to March to the city of Cali to protest for respect for their territory and against the harmful social policies maintained by the Uribe government. The protesters are expecting to arrive on October 16. 115 indigenous councils have ceased ongoing dialogues with the government for the occasion. (For updates, keep an eye on: www.cric-colombia.org, www.onic.org.co). Approximately 2000 Uwa have also begun an “armed strike” in opposition to Ecopetrol, who has been exploiting natural resources from their ancestral sanctuary for the past 13 years.

Paris, France: Social groups have organized a week of solidarity actions for the Minga, including public debates, forums, a one-day festival, and protest rallies in support of Indigenous Peoples.

Argentina: A Global Week of Action against Debt and International Finance Institutions (IFI’s) is running in conjunction with the Minga. Opposing the new agreement between the Government and the International Monetary Fund, participants will be rallying for climate justice (October 13), rural women and the repudiation of debt (15 October), food sovereignty (16 October) and the eradication of poverty (October 17). A memorial was also held on October 11, honoring the martyrs of resistance.

Cuba: A one day event commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Cry of the Excluded was held in Havana.

Bolivia: The First hearing of the International Court of Climate Justice will be running at the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba, from October 13 to 17. The event will be transmitted LIVE on the internet. An Assembly of Social Movements will also be held in Cochabamba on the 15th, immediately followed by a Regional Meeting Against Climate Change.

Peru: Delegations from around the country marched to the headquarters of the UN in Lima on October 12, to present a series of demands and proposals by indigenous peoples to stop global warming. This will be followed by 3 days of workshops led by indigenous communities.

Other events, including festivals, workshops, protests, Ceremonies and other actions are taking place in Spain, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil, and elsewhere.

Via Campesina has also called for an International Day of Action Against Multinational Corporations for the final day of the Minga: October 16, 2009.

Defenders of the Land, a cross-Canada network of First Nations in land struggle, is also putting together a week of educational events on Indigenous Rights and struggles, from October 25-31, 2009.

More information and reports are available (in Spanish) here.

Got any more action reports or upcoming events? Let us know!

And remember, the mobilization goes through Friday, so there’s still time to plan an action.

Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon maintained blockades throughout the region for 70 days in protest of 10 free trade laws that would open up their territory to more oil and gas drilling, logging, agriculture and hydroelectric dams. After violent police assaults leading to the deaths of more than 84 people and an outpouring of international outrage, the government agreed to repeal two of the laws.

peru embassy protest london june 19 2009

In the morning of June 17th 2009, a few people dressed in black blocked the Hanlon Highway at Paisley Road [in Guelph, Ontario] during rush hour.

Fallen trees and branches were pulled across the southbound lanes and two smoke bombs were set off to draw attention to the banner, which was dropped from the railway overpass. The banner read: “PARK YOUR CARS! Solidarity with the Mohawk Nation.”

This action was done to disrupt the transport of goods and people, especially those belonging to the Linamar Corporation. Linamar is a member of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, which works to improve the efficiency of orth American trade. Amongst its plans is the militarization and fortification of the borders and their guards. Like in Awkesasne, Tyendinaga and Peru, we too stand against the SPP and its projects.

Solidarity with the Mohawk Nation means ATTACK!

The border crossing between Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, N.Y. has been closed for three weeks, with members of the Mohawk community of Akwesasne trapped in the middle. Community members are protesting in opposition to a plan to arm Canadian border guards on Mohawk territory.

traffic

The protests started after President Alan Garcia passed 10 laws by presidential decree that would open up vast tracts of indigenous land in the Amazon to exploitation by mineral (including oil and gas) exploration, logging, agriculture and hydroelectric dams. The government claimed that the laws were necessary to bring the country into compliance with the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.

Ashanika warriors occupy oil boat May 2009

Following the June 5 massacre of nonviolent protesters in Bagua, events in Peru and worldwide continued to escalate. On June 8, Minister of Woman’s Affairs and Social Development Carmen Vildoso resigned from the cabinet, stopping short of citing the violence as her reason for leaving. On June 10th, the legislature voted to suspend, for 90 days, two of the 10 decrees. Indigenous protesters widely decried this as a move solely intended to distract them, and refused to abandon their blockades.

Communities around the world responded with acts of solidarity. The World Council of Churches and other human rights organizations including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the International Labor Organization  called on the Peruvian government to end the violence, while a coalition of 15 environmental and human rights groups sent a letter demanding that the US take a role in resolving the conflict. The US government responded with only vague statements that it supported any measures that would lead to an end to the violence.

Activists staged protests at Peruvian embassies and consulates worldwide, some as far away as Amsterdam. A group of protesters, including people from Amazon Watch, Rainforest Action Network, the Earth First! roadshow and Rising Tide North America, carried out a street theater protest in front of the consulate general’s office in San Francisco on June 16, then went inside to deliver their demands in person. This demo, which was organized with less than 24 hours notice and took place on a weekday morning, drew 40 people.

Others turned to sabotage for their solidarity actions. On June 15, the Peruvian consulate in Denver, CO was spray-painted with messages calling for the liberation of the Amazon and the end to the destruction of the rainforests and the murder of indigenous peoples fighting for their land. An Earth Liberation Front action in Mexico was also dedicated to ” the fierce defense that is being carried out in the Amazon in Peru.”

Amazon Watch reports that “tens of thousands” of people wrote the Peruvian government in outrage during the crisis.

Bolivian President Evo Morales blasted the Peruvian government for its actions, agreeing with indigenous leader Alberto Pizango that the government’s attacks on indigneous peoples constitute “genocide.” Railing against an “international conspiracy,” Peru recalled its ambasador from Bolivia.

Finally, Prime Minister Yehude Simon announced that he was asking Congress to repeal two of the laws, and said he would resign once the conflict was resolved. This would lead to the replacement of Garcia’s entire cabinet. The 120-member Congress voted 82-12 to repeal the two laws on June 18, and the indigenous coalition the Interethnic Development Association of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) called for an end to the protests. The Peruvian ambassador to the U.S.  acknowledged that the government had failed to consult properly with indigenous communities before passing the laws, and President Garcia went on national television to say the same thing.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia

Even though the active protests may be winding down for now, AIDESEP is still demanding the repeal of the rest of the contested laws, an end to the “state of emergency” (martial law) that the government declared in the Amazon region after the protests began, and the decriminalization of indigenous activists.

AIDESEP President Alberto Pizango remains wanted by the government on charges of sedition. He fled on June 8 to the Nicaraguan embassy in Lima and has since been granted asylum in that country.

Amazon Watch attributes the partial victory in this struggle to the efforts not just of  of tens of thousands of Peruvians who put their bodies on the line over the last 70 days, but also to the tens of thousands of international supporters who helped focus the spotlight on the Peruvian government’s actions. So thank you to everyone who took part in the various calls to action! We’re introducing a new “partial success” category for our blog posts to help highlight these important milestones in our larger struggle.

As the indigenous people of the Amazon have noted, this is not the end of the struggle, just as it was not the beginning. You can still email the President of Peru or US Secretary of State and demand that all the contested Free Trade Laws be repealed.

And of course don’t forget to stick with the wider struggle to halt the expansion of globalized infrastructure and take down the system that brings genocide and devastation to every corner of the globe.

Previous Articles on the Peruvian Amazon:

Week of Action in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru (June 12, 2009)

Upcoming Peru Solidarity Protests (June 10, 2009)

Peru Update: Take Action! (June 7, 2009)

Action Alert: Stop Peruvian Infrastructure Push! (June 5, 2009)

Peruvian Police Murder Indigenous Protesters: Take Action! (June 5, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Holding Strong in Standoff (June 3, 2009)

Peru Indigenous In Standoff With Government (May 22, 2009)

Perenco to Drill for Oil in Territory of Uncontacted Indigenous (January 7, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Issue Oil Ultimatum (October 22, 2008)

Indigenous Victory in Peru! (August 24, 2008)

Temporary Truce in Indigenous Peru Standoff (August 21, 2008)

Peru Declares Martial Law Over Indigenous Protests (August 18, 2008)

Oil Pipeline Shut Down by Ongoing Peru Protests (August 17, 2008)

Indigenous Peruvians Seize Energy Infrastructure (August 12, 2008)