Indigenous Women Speak Out Against Violence in Peru

Yesterday, we blogged about the violence that broke out early Friday, as the Peruvian government confronted groups of Indigenous Peoples organizing to defend their right to land.  While this violence exploded over the past few days, it did not come out of the blue.  The marginalization of Indigenous Peoples in Peru has long meant that their voices are suppressed in public debates and the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples are ignored.  But current developments--including economic policies pushed by the US--can drastically worsen these conditions.

The passage and implementation of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement this year has triggered a series of developments setting the stage for further violations of collective Indigenous rights.  In keeping with the terms of the agreement, the Peruvian government passed new laws that opened up Indigenous lands in the Amazon region for oil drilling, mining, industrial agriculture and logging by multinational corporations.  Indigenous Peoples in Peru, recognizing this threat, mobilized to demand an end to these laws.

Indigenous Peoples' activism rejects this marginalization and demands that their collective rights be respected.  Nearly a month ago, we received a statement from Tarcila Rivera, a member of the MADRE Network of Experts and the Executive Director of CHIRAPAQ, a Peruvian Indigenous rights organization.  The statement was an open letter from the Continental Network of Indigenous Women, calling on the Peruvian government to respect Indigenous Peoples' rights, and below is an excerpt.

The agricultural, mineral, petroleum, wood and medicinal resources of Indigenous Peoples, along with their traditional knowledge of these resources, contribute to the development of the country and the well-being of its citizens and have been used for centuries without objection of our people. Under this premise, we believe that the Peruvian State has the obligation to protect and defend these resources along with its possessors.

We do not consent to being excluded from decisions regarding the resources situated in our territories, which have been preserved by our ancestors for centuries. It is our right to safeguard the continuity of this natural heritage in order to ensure a future with dignity and full rights for future generations.

The full statement is available here.