Read about the latest developments with indigenous peoples' struggles in the Amazon to protect their cultures and environments. This Blog is to be educational, to keep Village Earth's supporters informed of developments in the Peruvian Amazon, and to serve as a vehicle for the promotion of the Shipibo peoples' projects.
Above: Participants in the first annual Village Earth Peru study tour visiting the National Intercultural University of the Amazon to meet with indigenous leaders.
This June 2008 Village Earth offered a 9-day "study tour" to the Peruvian Amazon. The tour visited two Shipibo communities in the Ucayali region with whom Village Earth has a close working relationship. Participants received big welcomes from both communities which included traditional music and dance. The study tour visited reforestation projects, met with local indigenous leaders to learn about the reality of the region, and attended artisan exhibitions of traditional local crafts. Participants were also taken on jungle hikes where indigenous guides shared their knowledge of the forest, and even a jungle cruise where they were taught to fish for piranha and shoot a bow and arrow. This tour employed many local guides in each activity so that participants could learn directly from local people themselves. Participants even had the option to partake in special healing ceremonies with Shipibo shamans.
The purpose of this study tour was to explore and test the potential for community-owned and directed tourism that is not only fun for the tourists but also educational. Shipibo guides educated the participants about both their current and historical reality and the ways they are trying to transform their lives for the future and protect their forest livelihoods.
We made every effort, during the 9-day tour, to ensure that as much money as possible from the tour went directly to Shipibo communities, we hired all local guides, and participants stayed with local families or in communal tourist lodgings built by the community. Plus, the participants purchased many crafts directly from indigenous artisans. The participants got access to Shipibo communities and activities that few people have the privilege to experience. In all it was a great success and we look forward to hosting another tour next year.
If you have a group that is interested in organizing a similar tour you can contact Kristina Pearson at +1-970-491-5754 or kristina@villageearth.org
Above: Sunrise over Yarinacocha Lake in the Peruvian Amazon.
Proposal is considered legacy of indigenous peoples to humanity
More than 1,000 representatives from indigenous communities across the Americas gathered in Lima, Peru, have agreed on a new social system, known as “Living Well,” focused on reciprocity between people and the Earth.
The participants — delegates of the Quechua, Kichwa, Aymara, Lafquenche, Guambiano, Toba, Colla, Poccra, Ashaninka and other indigenous groups — agreed in the “Declaration of the Children of the Earth” to reject the “planetary suicide of the commoditization of life,” when the document was reached at the end of a two-day National Summit of Indigenous Communities and Peoples of Peru and the International Forum: Indigenous Agenda, the European Union and the Decolonialization of Power and Knowledge held on May 12-13.
A break from market dogmas “We believe there is a big difference between [living well and] those who believe that living well is to live better than someone else. [The latter] reflects a competition instead of respect and equality. So, ‘living well’ is the exercise of rights, respect, equality, and means a life for everyone,” said Blanca Chancoso, a renowned leader of Ecuador’s Kichwa women, who formerly served as one of the directors of the country’s largest indigenous organization, CONAIE. She is currently part of the Dolores Ulcuango Indigenous School in Ecuador.
“Capitalism is guilty of the depredation of Mother Nature and therefore, of global warming, which is going to have serious consequences for the life of the planet,” said Tomás Huanacu, of Bolivia’s National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qollasuyo. “So, the indigenous peoples are looking to ‘live well’ but within a planned system, not one of super exploitation, but one of rational exploitation.”
The concept of “living well” is based on respect of the environment and equality. (Photo: William Chico)
Huanacu referred to Bolivian President Evo Morales’ 10 commandments to save the planet — presented during the inauguration of the United Nations’ VII Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York in April — which say that in order to save the planet, the capitalist model that encourages consumerism, individualism and the desire for wealth must be scrapped.
“We want everyone to be able to live well and to understand that this is not the same as living better at someone else’s cost,” states the last of Morales’ commandments.
This concept is currently being used by Ecuador's Constituent Assembly. Members of the body have already approved four articles regarding the development system, the first of which makes reference to the “implementation of living well.”
“Living well requires people, communities, groups and nationalities to exercise their rights and liberties, and to exercise their responsibilities in the framework of respect for diversity and harmonious coexistence with nature,” says the article.
Luis Ángel Saavedra, president of Ecuador’s Regional Foundation for Human Rights Assistance, who was a speaker at the Peoples’ Summit in May, an alternative summit which ran alongside a biennial summit of European Union, Latin American and Caribbean leaders, signaled that the concept of living well is three-tiered: individual, community and nature.
The individual level includes a healthy lifestyle, based on satisfying needs, which implies recognition of economic, social and cultural rights, while avoiding consumerist or lavish tendencies. Living well on the community level relates to how human development indexes play out collectively, the sense that all rights should be for everyone. The nature level — based on the concept of Pachamama, the indigenous notion of Mother Earth — is envisioned not only as the environment, but a source of life and humankind’s only hope for survival.
Saavedra stressed that bestowing certain rights to Mother Nature is impossible within the framework of a free market. He added that in Ecuador, the mention of this issue in the constitution is currently being debated, similar to what was already incorporated in Bolivia’s constitution, which faces approval in a national referendum. Living well marks a break from market dogmas that promote consumerism, competition among individuals and accumulation of wealth as synonymous with power over others, stated Saavedra.
Challenges and obstacles Ecuadorian Magdalena León, of the Social Forum Committee of the Americas, referred to living well as a new paradigm that meets obstacles like wealth accumulation and competitiveness that impede progress.
“Even in the proposals that appear innovative or alternative, there is the idea to not change [wealth] accumulation, but the form of distribution: we are going to continue accumulating in the same way and later we’ll see how to redistribute a little,” said León.
The idea of competition is also deeply rooted, León explains, “as if economic progress comes naturally because we compete against one another as individuals, as communities, as countries, as regions.” But she maintains that this couldn’t be any further from the notion of living well, which is based on reciprocity, cooperation and complementarity. However, for those who promote new social relationships based on on living well, the fundamental challenge to make it possible is generating harmonious relationships between human beings.
“It is incompatible, for example, that in social relationships there is a gender division in labor, under-estimation and exploitation, a lack of recognition of women’s work,” says León. “It’s absurd that we talk about defending life but at the same time failing to recognize women’s rights to reproductive self-determination.”
Though living well is an indigenous concept, its advocates do not see it as something that can only belong to indigenous peoples, but instead, as the indigenous peoples’ legacy to humanity. “It can only be built in a context of diversity and plurality,” argues León
Join us for a "Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice in Peru"!
A fundraiser to support Village Earth's projects with indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon.
Latin Dance Party - Learn to dance salsa and other traditional Peruvian dances! There will also be speakers, an art show, craft sale, and silent auction with arts and crafts by Shipibo artisans of the Peruvian Amazon. There will be lots of cool art and crafts for sale including hand-made jewelry!
Food and drinks will be provided by the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant! Their famous margaritas will be available!
Location: Agave Room (Above the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Old Town) 149 W. Mountain Ave. Fort Collins, CO
Ticket Prices: $15 students; $25 non-students (All proceeds go to support indigenous community initiatives in the Peruvian Amazon!) (TICKETS IN ADVANCE ONLY) Available at www.villageearth.org or 970-491-5754
LOCAL NON-PROFIT ALLIES IN THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE THE AMAZON
April 15, 2008. Fort Collins, CO: The Amazon basin in Peru is quickly being sold off to oil companies, industrial-scale agricultural production, and loggers. “We indigenous peoples only want tranquility and happiness this is our development as said by our elders,” said Shipibo leader Limber Gomez who visited Fort Collins last August 2007. One Fort Collins non-profit has allied with indigenous communities in Peru to stop the sale of the Amazon and offer alternatives to the unsustainable path of development pursued by the corporations and the government. Village Earth, founded by long-time CSU professor and Peace Corps developer Dr. Maury Albertson, is making a difference.
Village Earth has been working internationally with indigenous communities to help them determine their own sustainable development initiatives. In Peru, Village Earth is working with native communities on many projects from clean water to opening an indigenous bank where entrepreneurs can take small loans to start businesses. With current concerns about global warming, awareness is increasing that sustainable development initiatives are extremely important in the Amazon since it is an area of global environmental importance for its roles in mitigating climate change.
Village Earth is offering the Northern Colorado community an opportunity to be a part of these important efforts. Wednesday, April 23 7:00-8:30pm Village Earth will have a Latin Dance and art show event “Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice in Peru” to raise funds for their various projects in the Peruvian Amazon. The event will be held in the Agave Room above the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant (149 W. Mountain Ave.). Tickets are $15 students; $25 non-students (Tickets are available in advance only.) For more information, contact Village Earth (491-5754) or www.villageearth.org.
As a supporter of Village Earth YOU have the opportunity to make a difference.Join us for a fun evening of dancing and art in solidarity with Shipibo communities of the Peruvian Amazon.The Peruvian government is increasingly privatizing the land and resources of the Amazon rainforest.Traditionally held communal lands, non-titled indigenous lands, and forest areas of immense biodiversity will be sold to private landowners and foreign corporations under the new Ley de la Selva (Law of the Jungle).Many indigenous peoples and environmentalists are claiming that this law is just a facade to open up the Amazon to logging companies.
Help us stop the sale of the Amazon!
A note from Shipibo leader and Village Earth friend, Limber Gomez (pictured above, a member of the Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, ODDPIAP):
“Facing the threatening law Nº 840, called the “Law of the Jungle”, the indigenous peoples of the Ucayali region of Peru are in the process of uniting to discuss this turn of events, as well as the new alliance between the regional government and Peru Petro (the state-run oil licensing agency), so that we, the indigenous peoples, can form a regional front in the Ucayali.
Today more than ever before, we the indigenous peoples of the Ucayali are defending our lands and territories.We are not going to permit the contamination of our ecosystem and the environment by transnational corporations.The transnational corporations come with the story that they will give work to indigenous peoples when they enter our territories.Already we have been through this experience of lies and genocide many times before.
First comes our health and second our development. An old Shipibo elder has predicted that if we allow the exploitation of our resources, in time, Peru will convert to a desert as told by our concerned elders.
We indigenous peoples only want tranquility and happiness, this, this is our development as said by our elders.”
How does this concern you?
The destruction of the Amazon and the indigenous communities who call it home affects us all.With current concerns about global warming, awareness is increasing that the Amazon is an area of global environmental importance for its roles in cleaning the air and mitigating climate change.As well, the preservation of the wealth of species and cultures is invaluable to humanity.
“Thank you, Village Earth.You are helping us to make history”
-Cecilio Soria, (pictured above with his grandmothers) Shipibo leader and host of the renowned radio program Indigenous Voice
Therefore, we invite you to be a part of helping the indigenous peoples of the Amazon determine their own futures and “make history” by attending this fundraising event:
Journey to the Amazon:Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice
This event will take place Wednesday, April 23 7-8:30 PM (drinks and dancing ‘til 10:30).The funds we raise at this event will be to support the many projects we are working on with indigenous communities in Peru.
For just $10,000, we can accomplish the following project activities this year:
For $1000 - We can facilitate the second annual indigenous tribunal bringing community chiefs and indigenous leaders together to discuss their integrated development plan for the region and the defense of their forests in partnership with the new Shipibo organization ODDPIAP;
For $4000 – We will set up and maintain an indigenous-run service center in Pucallpa, Peru where indigenous community members can get access to resources for their various projects.This service center will also be home to an indigenous bank from which ODDPIAP will begin a micro-loan program to promote small enterprise development;
For $1000 - We can implement a clean water project using a new ceramic sand filter prototype that will be produced locally and will provide clean drinking water to remote indigenous communities in our continued partnership with the Engineers Without Borders Professional Chapter (Fort Collins);
For $2000 – We can set-up and train local leaders in the operation of a community-based radio station in one remote indigenous community in collaboration with local community-based radio station KRFC.They can then broadcast throughout the region news and information in their own language and under their control;
And finally for $2000 - We will bring two Shipibo leaders to attend the PPSD training here in Fort Collins this May 2008.
So please call (491-5754) or go online today (www.villageearth.org) to get your tickets (TICKETS AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE ONLY – Please RSVP by Friday, April 18)!Please invite your friends!
Tickets for students are $15
Tickets for non-students are $25
We hope to see you there!It’s going to be a fun event where you can learn different Latin and traditional Peruvian dances and enjoy food from the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant.If you have any questions, send me an e-mail at kristina@villageearth.org, or call us here at the office 491-5754.Thanks for your continued support of Village Earth!
Former Vice President Al Gore, in his writings on global warming, notes that the Chinese character used to write “Crisis” is comprised of components meaning both “Challenge” and “Opportunity.” There is general consensus in the scientific community that reduction of acreage in the South American rainforest represents a major loss to the planet’s ability to process carbon, a leading greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity.
The Challenge
Although many organizations are committed to preserving remaining tracts of virgin rainforest, little is being done to address the financial incentive for the “slash-and-burn” agriculture that ranks alongside the lumber, agribusiness and petrochemical industries as a main culprit of deforestation.
Ever since the first humans struck into the rainforest thousands of years ago, the indigenous communities throughout the Amazon basin have mastered the skills of hunting, gathering, gardening and horticulture, as well as aquaculture in this richly biodiverse region. However, as the industrialized world has encroached upon the rainforest, spoiling it by both habitat loss/damage and pollution, the indigenous peoples have had their lifestyle permanently disrupted. Deforestation has drastically reduced the amount of game available for hunting, and over-fishing has severely depleted the more densely populated stretches of rivers such as the Amazon and the Ucayali. Industrial centers such as Iquitos and Pucallpa (Peru) and Menaus (Brazil) now teem with industry: mining, petrochemical exploration, logging, construction, manufacturing, retail and wholesale distribution, entertainment, hospitality, etc. Populations of mostly “Mestizo” but also indigenous people inhabit these noisy, polluted cities, and most regional economic life is based upon what goes on in these urban centers.
The Opportunity
Fish-farming (aquaculture) has been shown to be an ideal way for indigenous rainforest communities to determine their own futures. Native species, such as Gamitana and Boquichico, are fast-growing, commonly eaten fish that are largely vegetarian in diet and command good prices in local and, in some cases, international markets.
Fish-farming is an ideal economic activity for the following reasons:
· No deforestation (rainforest land has many ponds and lagoons ideal for fish-farming; therefore eliminating the need to cut down large amounts of trees)
· No environmental threat (any fish that escape due to flooding or pond breaches are native to the area and “belong there” anyway)
· Familiarity with fish species (Indigenous people have fished these species for years)
· Minimal materials needed for daily operation (traditional dugout canoes and nets)
· Low-cost fish food (much of the fish food used can be grown or gathered locally)
The Proposition
Create a successful fish-farm operation in an influential Peruvian indigenous community - San Francisco de Yarinacocha. Allow the technology and economic model to spread throughout the region, thus empowering these communities to participate in the economy without the need to disrupt the forest in which they live just to “make a buck.”
The Fish Farm: Progress to Date
In early 2007, Al Polito (Activist/Musician/Writer of Portland, OR), Paola Pomposini (a translation specialist based in Lima, Peru) and Maria Esther Palacios Burbano (Aquaculture Specialist with University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru) met in Lima and San Francisco Yarinacocha with renowned community leader Mateo Arevalo to begin the groundwork for the project.
More than 40 villagers expressed interest in participating in the project.
For two days following the town meeting, Burbano and Polito accompanied a group of Shipibo men in exploring the forests surrounding the village to find a suitable site to begin the first phase of the project. On the second day, the group settled on a small spring-fed lake within a mile of the village (pictured below).
Soon thereafter, Polito accompanied Mateo Arevalo, former village chief, shaman and university-trained botanist to tour the Aquaculture Research Center of University of San Marcos’ IVITA (Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura), located one hour outside of Pucallpa. IVITA’s Dr. Guadalupe Contreras explained to Arevalo the steps necessary to complete an effective fish farm.
Burbano has succeeded in assembling a coalition involving IVITA (providing support and facilities), San Marcos University (providing leadership and guidance), with researchers from other organizations who have also expressed interest: including Amazonia Aquaculture Service and Piscicultura Panama of Brazil (two private enterprises) UNAM: Mexico, and National Cheju University of Korea. The additional researchers will help ensure the quality of the research.
What they need:
Currently, this group needs around $10,000 in order to undertake this collaborative fish farm venture.
If you would like to support this effort toward sustainable livelihoods in the Amazon, you can donate through Village Earth by
1- Through Pay Pal to the right side of this blog. Please indicate you would like your contribution to go towards the San Francisco Fish Farm Project
2- By calling 970-491-5754 and donate with your credit card
3- Our by sending a check or money order to: Village Earth P.O. Box 797 Fort Collins, CO 80522
All donations for this project are 100% tax-deductible as Village Earth is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization.
Oil exploration in the Amazon jungle. Photo: Andina/Internet.
Lima, Feb. 27 (ANDINA).- Compania Espanola de Petroleos (Cepsa), Spain's second-largest oil company, bought stakes in two oil and gas exploration blocks from Irish Pan Andean Resources in the Ucayali BAsin south of Pucallpa, in the Peruvian jungle.
Cepsa will eventually assume operatorship of the Blocks and acquire a 60 percent working interest in Block 114 and a 70 percent working interest in Block 131, once it has obtained the required regulatory approvals from Perupetro (the Peruvian government agency responsible for promoting private investment in the hydrocarbons sector).
Activity during the exploration period on Blocks 114 and 131, measuring 7,200 km2 and 10,000 km2, respectively, will include, during the initial phases, the performance of 2D seismic acquisition to identify possible structures existing in the subsoil, and subsequently the drilling of exploration wells.
Cepsa embarked on its exploration activity in Peru last year when it signed an agreement with ConocoPhillips to acquire a 35 percent stake in Block 104 in the Maranon Basin.
Afterwards, the company entered into a farm-in deal with the Canadian firm Loon Energy to acquire a 80 percent working interest in Block 127 in the same basin.
As a result of these last two agreements signed with Pan Andean, Cepsa will expand its upstream portfolio and enhance its presence in Peru.
These new Blocks, which will be operated by Cepsa, are located in Peru's central Amazonian region, an area of considerable ecological value.
The Spanish company holds interests in other acreages with similar features and, in an effort to ensure environmentally-sound and responsible operations, has put into effect in each of them a broad program of measures in conjunction with local authorities and indigenous populations , chiefly targeted at avoiding any adverse impacts on the environment and, consequently, its biodiversity.
As part of its environmental strategy in ecologically-sensitive areas, Cepsa consistently identifies and evaluates the possible effects associated with its activities.
(English Translation by Morgan King; original text by Limber Gomez) The radio program "Intercultural Vision" is an informative program and is a political, social, cultural and economic analysis, that Limber Gomez started in 2006, but because of the lack of economic resources and sponsors it cannot continue. In the seventh month running we began with a new sponsorship from the National Intercultural University of the Amazon (UNIA), but the sponsorship was only for one month and now it is gone. It is sad that we had such a short time, the indigenous population identifies with Intercultural Vision because they say that it is the voice of the indigenous people. Intercultural Vision is concerned with political, social, economic and cultural issues, and they have denounced to the regional authorities that they have listened but that the population asks for a real voice and that Intercultural Vision continue.
If any Village Earth supporters are interested in helping keep this Intercultural Vision program alive and running, please contact kristina@villageearth.org
Por Limber Gomez: EL PROGRMA RADIAL "VISION INTERCULTURAL" ES UN PROGRAMA INFORMATIVO Y DE ANALISIS POLITICO, SOCIAL, CULTURAL Y ECONOMICO, QUE INICIO EN EL AÑO 2006, PERO POR CUESTIONES DE FALTA DE RECURSOS ECONOMICOS Y LA FALTA DE AUSIPICIADORES NO PUEDE TENER CONTINUIDAD. DESDEPUS DE SIETE MESES INICIO NUVAMENTE PERO CON EL AUSPICIO DE LA UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL INTERCULTURAL DE LA AMAZONIA - UNIA, PERO EL AUSPICIO HA SIDO DE TAN SOLO UN MES Y AHORA NO ESTA SALIENDO AL AIRE. PERO APESAR SUS CORTOS TIEMPOS DE SALIDA, OCUPA EN EL PRIMER LUGAR DEL REITIN Y LA POBLACION INDIGENA SE IDENTIFICA CON VISION INTERCULTURAL PORQUE DICEN QUE ES LA VOZ DEL PUEBLO INDIGENA.
VISION INTERCULTURAL VIENE CON TEMAS POLITICOS Y SOCIALES, ASI MISMO ECONOMICOS Y CULTURALES, Y SUS DENUNCIAS A LAS AUTORIDADES REGIONALES HAN SIDO ESCUCHADAS, POR ESO LA POBLACION PIDE A VIVA VOZ QUE VISION INTERCULTURAL CONTINUE.
Derrame de petróleo el 31 de diciembre de 2007 Foto: FECONACO
La Federación de Comunidades Nativas del río Corrientes (FECONACO) denunció un nuevo derrame de petróleo ocurrido el 31 de diciembre de 2007 el cual contaminó seis kilómetros de la quebrada de Timu Entsu, utilizada por los pobladores para labores de pesca y caza.
La denuncia fue presentada ante la Unidad de Exploración y Explotación del Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión Privada en Energía y Minería (OSINERMING).
La responsable de dicha acción delictiva es la empresa argentina Pluspetrol, responsable de explotar los lotes petroleros 1AB y 8, en la cuenca del río Corrientes, región Loreto.
La denuncia ha sido acompañada de fotos y videos tomados por los monitores ambientales de la mencionada organización indígena responsables desde el 2005 de monitorear y vigilar la calidad ambiental de su territorio.
FECONACO solicita investigar este nuevo derrame de petróleo que afecta no sólo el medio ambiente de los achuar, sino pone en riesgo la salud de los pobladores de las comunidades indígenas próximas a la zona del derrame.
Durante el año 2007 FECONACO denunció a Pluspetrol por los derrames de petróleo ocurridos en las siguientes fechas:
4 y 24 de abril : pozos Shiviyacu 12 y Shiviyacu 16 – 17.
17 de octubre: derrame en poza de seguridad Lote 1AB.
23 de octubre: fuga de petróleo de tubería de diesel.
24 de octubre: derrame de petróleo en el Lote 1AB.
29 de octubre: derrame de petróleo contaminó la quebrada Tseku Entsa.
Para mayor información comunicarse con FECONACO: +511 065-600454 ó +511 065-600455 Jorge Jordán : +511 254-2490 ó +511 952-36701
Thank you to all who supported this important campaign!
National and international allies staged an important protest outside the Houston Petroleum Club, while the vice president of AIDESEP (the Inter-ethnic Development Association of the Peruvian Amazon), Robert Guimaraes, took the opportunity to speak to potential investors and let them know the risks of investing in oil development in the Amazon.
Unfortunately, two of the three Shipibo delegates were not able to make the trip because their visas were denied by the US government. In many respects, this symbolizes the obstacles that indigenous people face in participating in global dialogue that are crucial in exercising the right to determine their own "development" path.
The good news is that Robert Guimaraes was able to deliver a powerful message to potential investors and to Perupetro, Peru's hydrocarbon licensing agency. Quoting Robert Guimaraes, "We request that you exclude those blocks that overlap communal indigenous territories. More that 80% of the population in Corrientes river, mostly children, have cadmium and lead in their blood. Just as for you there are things that cannot be negotiated, for us some things, like indigenous land, cannot be negotiated." The cadmium and lead that Robert refers to is the result of over 30 years of Oxy Petroleum operations in Northern Perú, where the Achuar people have been severely affected.
The Peruvian government's latest efforts to place the Amazon region in the hands of oil developers puts the entire Amazon at risk, especially indigenous people in voluntary isolation, and clearly violates international rights benchmarks such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent, contained in the recently approved UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (of which Peru is a signatory). It is precisely the Peruvian government's rather shameful attempt to manipulate, distort, and even suppress indigenous opposition to oil development that makes it so important to support indigenous leaders efforts to make their voices heard at international venues such as Perúpetro's Houston road-show. Otherwise, potential investors not only get a distorted view of indigenous opinion, but local indigenous people are excluded the global decision-making process that directly affect their lives.
Given that two of the delegates weren't able to come to Houston, we would like to continue with our efforts to support these types of crucial interventions. Perupetro is planning another event in August, again designed to divvy up the Amazon for even more oil development. With your continued support, we would like to help these delegates make their presence at this event as well. And hopefully the impact will be even greater.
Letter from AIDESEP to Peruvian Government Officials
Lima, 08 de Febrero de 2008.
Señores: Alan García Pérez Presidente Constitucional
Juan Valdivia Romero Ministro de Energía y Minas
Daniel Saba de Andrea Presidente PERUPETRO S.A.
Presente.-
Las comunidades indígenas de la amazonia peruana a través de nuestras organizaciones representativas, en múltiples oportunidades hemos manifestado nuestra firme posición de rechazar el ingreso de las compañías petroleras en nuestros territorios comunales, por que no queremos contaminar nuestros recursos naturales tales como bosques, ríos, quebradas, biodiversidad; en ella se desarrolla nuestras vidas, es nuestro espacio cultural y espiritual y de las futuras generaciones, queremos conservarla frente a los graves consecuencias tales como el calentamiento global y sus efectos los cambios climáticos.
Recientemente, el congreso ha aprobado la Ley Nº 28736, Según el artículo 4° deben respetar la vida y salud de los pueblos en situación de aislamiento voluntario por encontrarse en situación de alta vulnerabilidad, motivo por el cual se prohíben actividades de aprovechamiento de recursos, como son las actividades hidrocarburíferas, nada esto se está respetando en estos procesos de licitaciones, mal informando a los inversionistas, negando nuestras existencias. Los pueblos indígenas consideramos que la actividad petrolera no es la única fuente de ingresos para el país, queremos conservar nuestros recursos, comos lo hemos conservado con sabiduría, hoy vemos como se destruyen fácilmente.
Basta ya Señor Alan García, usted no puede calificar a los ciudadanos que los eligieron de “Perros del Hortelano” Somos pueblos con derechos, dignos de ser respetados y escuchados.
Peruvian Amazonian Leaders to Warn Oil Companies: “Don’t Trespass on Our Lands!”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 7, 2008
Peruvian Government Breaks Promises, International Laws with Plans to Sell Oil Concessions Overlapping Indigenous Reserves
See below for photo op. and media briefing details. Interviews, photos and B-Roll footage from Amazon available on request.
Houston – Indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon will this Friday personally deliver a message to oil companies gathered at a concession road-show organized in Houston by Perupetro, Peru’s hydrocarbon licensing agency: “Don’t trespass on our lands!”
Robert Guimaraes, Vice-President of AIDESEP, Peru’s national federation of native Amazonians, will also be demanding an explanation from Perupetro and the Peruvian government why clear promises to avoid indigenous lands have been broken. The Perupetro road-show is part of the 2008 North American Prospect Expo (NAPE).
The concessions include four highly controversial concessions, 132, 133, 136 and 139, which have each failed to win any bidders in the past as the oil industry became aware that local indigenous communities would oppose any operations there.
The concessions would also violate international indigenous rights laws as well as the international human rights benchmark of Free, Prior and Informed Consent, contained in the recently approved UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In particular some of the last communities living in voluntary isolation anywhere in the Amazon, inside dedicated Territorial Reserves declared to protect them from contact with outsiders, are highly vulnerable due to their lack of imde munity to diseases.
Of the Amazonian blocks now being offered by Perupetro:
Four overlap titled indigenous lands;
Three intrude on Territorial Reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation;
Two overlap proposed Territorial Reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation;
One overlaps a Natural Protected Area.
Mr. Guimaraes said: “Our message to interested companies and their investors could not be clearer; you are not welcome here. We will do everything we can to stop you drilling on our territories and devastating our lands, communities and health. Please, for the good of your own companies, stay away.”
Perupetro’s roadshow comes as international investors grow increasingly concerned about the risks associated with oil extraction in remote areas of the Amazon.Last year, oil major ConocoPhilips voluntarily gave up part of an oil concession in the northern Peruvian Amazon because of unified opposition from the indigenous Achuar people.
Photo op. and media briefing
Featuring Mr. Guimaraes in traditional attire, outside the Petroleum Club, 800 Bell Street, downtown Houston, from 12.30pm to 1.30pm CST, Friday February 8.
Background
The latest sell-off comes despite assurances from Perupetro and the Peruvian government that it would respect indigenous rights and lands. In February 2007, the Peruvian government formally agreed that Perupetro would redraw its proposed oil concessions to avoid official territorial reserves. In April, according to AIDESEP, Perupetro also agreed to inform bidders that the Peruvian state would create the “necessary mechanisms” to ensure that the winning companies would not intrude onto the proposed reserves, until Peru’s indigenous agency INDEPA had completed an evaluation.
Friday’s roadshow is the latest chapter in the Peruvian government’s scramble to concession off the nation’s highly biodiverse Amazonian rainforests, roughly twice the size of California, to the oil industry. In roughly two years, the proportion of the Peruvian Amazon zoned into hydrocarbon blocks has risen from 13 percent to roughly 70 percent, despite the widespread toxic contamination and negative social impacts left by previous oil companies, such as Occidental Petroleum, Hunt Oil and Pluspetrol in Peru’s rainforests. For background on the campaign to protect the human rights and collective territories of the Peruvian Amazon’s indigenous peoples, visit www.amazonwatch.org.
RISK PROFILE: Oil Concessions in the Peruvian Amazon February 6, 2008 Perupetro
Overview This year the Perupetro will attempt to auction the 6 remaining oil and gas concessions in the Amazon region, all of which they were not able auction last January. All of these blocks in the Amazon overlap indigenous reserves, legally titled indigenous lands, naturally protected areas, or lands that have special status. The Peruvian government has consistently failed to consult indigenous communities prior to establishing concessions, as required by Peruvian and International Law. Indigenous communities throughout Peru are calling for a suspension of the current concessioning round and vow to oppose new oil projects. To demonstrate concern, some have shutdown oil operations, such as the recent two-week shutdown of Pluspetrol’s operations in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Oil majors like Occidental Petroleum recently announced withdrawal from Peru after thirty years – citing indigenous opposition as one reason.
Unstable institutional framework for investment Recent controversies between key state institutions regarding the entire process of defining oil and gas blocks suggest that the institutional and constitutional framework of the entire process is unclear. For example, the National Ombudsman Office issued a report questioning the government’s oil and gas development policy and highlighting the controversy surrounding the legal framework that regulates the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in naturally protected areas. The report also spells out how investors might be awarded blocks that are located in legally protected areas, complicating operational procedures for years to come.
Financing Risks Many projects have difficulty breaking ground, given a growing number of private and public sector lenders have adopted strong policies (e.g. Equator Principles adopted by Banks making up over 90 percent of the project finance market) to finance controversial concessions. It may be far more difficult for project sponsors to attract co-sponsors or to secure financing for new projects that are opposed by their host communities or that are located in ecologically sensitive regions. Investors and financiers may delay their involvement, require more lucrative terms as mitigation for the additional risk or may simply decline to participate at all. For example, in 2005 Manhattan Minerals was forced to abandon its plans for a mine in Tambogrande, Peru after intense community opposition prevented the company from bringing a major partner to the venture.
Operational Risks Determined, local communities often have the power to slow down projects and, in some cases, even shut them down. Through blockades, protests, work stoppages and litigation, community opposition can raise production costs and impede the projects ability to bring product to market. Similarly, complying with national and international safeguards for operating in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon involve a series of logistical and engineering challenges that if not met, can result in a variety of collateral risks. For example, the Camisea gas pipeline had five ruptures in the first 18 months of operation, resulting in negative public opinion.
Community Opposition The case for heeding community opposition is compelling. Gaining community consent for a project involves the internationally-accepted principle of free, prior, informed consent (FPIC). Peruvian law and international conventions mandate that communities be consulted, prior to the creation of oil concessions as well as during the Environmental Impact Assessment process. Yet mere engagement or consultation will not always be sufficient to fully address risks. Consultations that do not resolve a community’s reasons for opposition nor achieve consent will provide little assurance against potentially costly and disruptive conflict. Increasingly, major institutional investors, such as the New York City and New York State pension funs and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, are voicing grave concerns about the financial risks and poor returns from projects that move ahead on indigenous lands without their prior consent.
Recent examples of community opposition include: o In June of 2007, indigenous communities categorically rejected the entrance of the Colombian Oil company Hocol to carryout exploration and exploitation activities in block 116, even offering their lives: “ the Wampis People express our opposition to fight with our lives to defend our territories and natural resources which are mediums of life to present and future generations…..”. It is worth noting that while a contract was signed almost two years ago, operations have yet to proceed. • October 2006 Achuar two-week blockade of Pluspetrol’s installations – resulting in a multi-million dollar agreement and costing $2.4 million/day of lost revenue. • January 2005 Machiguenga protest of the Camisea gas project – resulting in a four-month delay and an 18-month delay in the InterAmerican Development Bank’s loan disbursement to the project.
Before investing in the Amazon, consider these downside risks due to community opposition: • Increased costs and delays in project construction and operation; • Difficulty in securing favorable financing or long term contracts; • Increased costs in mitigating environmental and social impacts.
Civil Society Opposition Opposition to oil development in Peru is not limited to indigenous communities as many civil society organizations have also publicly denounced the Garcia administration’s policies. In January of 2007, for example, 40 civil society organizations signed a public statement that expressed concern over government policy regarding the process of awarding of contracts for oil and gas exploration and exploitation specifically on those blocks that overlap territorial reserves for indigenous people in isolation and naturally protected areas. These organizations will continue to support the campaign to prevent oil development in these areas.
Isolated or “Uncontacted” Indigenous Peoples These impacts include: threat of contact between isolated peoples and oil workers - which could include forced contact (as was the case with Peru's Camisea gas project) or even violent confrontations (as has been the case in Ecuador's Yasuni Park); threat to the life and health of isolated peoples because, for example, they lack the immune defenses to confront illnesses introduced by outsiders - leading to possible death; and impacts to the fragile rainforest environment on which they depend.
Prepared by: Amazon Alliance, Amazon Watch and Save America’s Forests For more information, email investors@amazonwatch.org
In front of the Houston Petroleum Club in 2007, from left, Robert Guimaraes, Washington Bolivar, Maria Ramos of Amazon Watch, an advocacy group based in the United States. (Photo: Bryan Parras) Photo Credit: Environment News Service (http://www.ens-newswire.com/)
A note from Robert Guimaraes Vasquez, vice president of AIDESEP (the Inter- Ethnic Development Association for the Peruvian Jungle) see http://www.aidesep.org.pe/ (Translated by George Stetson)
Dear Village Earth supporters,
I am writing to ask for your support to help fund a trip to Houston, Texas on Feb. 8th. As you might know the current President of Peru, Alan Garcia, is intent on selling off the entire Amazon region to multinational oil and gas companies as fast as he can. Currently, more than 70% of the Amazon is in the hands of multinationals. We are trying desperately to stop this, but our opponents are well funded, so it is a difficult struggle.
On February 8th, at the Petroleum Club in downtown Houston, the Peruvian government will try and concession-off the remaining oil blocks, almost all of which are located on indigenous territory, territorial reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, or environmentally protected areas. The indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon clearly reject oil development on our territories. Our plan is to make our voices heard on Feb 8th, where we will have the opportunity to share with investors our position. In a recent indigenous congress,120 traditional leaders selected a delegation of two members to travel to Houston, which was considered critical, unfortunately, because our legitimate indigenous organizations were not invited to the meeting.
I apologize for the urgency of this request, but AIDESEP just learned about meeting and we have had little time and resources to prepare. We would greatly appreciate any contribution that might be possible, as we are trying to secure funding for one more plane ticket. The history of oil development for indigenous peoples in Peru has been devastating: environmental destruction, severe health consequences (i.e. high incidences of cancer), and even unwanted contact between oil workers and indigenous peoples. We feel strongly that we have the right to present our position at this meeting. Thanks for any support you can offer.
NUEVO JERUSALEM, Peru -- Tomás Maynas Carijano strolled through his tiny jungle farm, pinching leaves, shaking his head. The rain forest spread lushly in all directions -- covering what oil maps call Block 1AB.
"Like the trunk of that papaya, the cassava and bananas are also dying," said the spiritual leader of this remote Achuar Indian settlement in Peru's northern Amazon region. "Before Oxy came, the fruits and the plants grew well." Oxy is Occidental Petroleum, the California-based company that pulled a fortune from this rain forest from 1972 to 2000. It is also the company that Maynas and other Achuar leaders now blame for wreaking environmental havoc -- and leaving many of the people here ill. Last spring, U.S. lawyers representing Maynas and 24 other indigenous Peruvians sued Occidental in a Los Angeles court, alleging that, among other offenses, the firm violated industry standards and Peruvian law by dumping toxic wastewater directly into rivers and streams. The company denies liability in the case. For indigenous groups, the Occidental lawsuit is emblematic of a new era. The Amazon region was once even more isolated than it is today, its people largely cut off from environmental defenders in Washington and other world capitals who might have protected their interests. Now, Indians have gained access to tools that level the playing field -- from multinational lawsuits to mapping technologies such as Google Earth. Oil companies that once traded money and development for Indians' blessings are increasingly finding outsiders getting involved. "History has shown that oil companies will cut corners if someone isn't watching," said Gregor MacLennan of Shinai, an internationally funded civic group in Peru. "We try to get to local communities first to help them make informed decisions about oil companies and the changes they bring." Lured by global energy prices, Peru is placing record bets on Amazon energy lodes: Last year the country's concessions agency, PeruPetro, signed a record 24 hydrocarbon contracts with international oil companies. EarthRights International, a nonprofit group that is helping represent the plaintiffs in the Achuar case, says half of Peru's biologically diverse Amazon region has been added to oil maps in the last three years. Occidental pumped 26 percent of Peru's historic oil production from Block 1AB before selling the declining field to Argentina's Pluspetrol in 2000. "We are aware of no credible data of negative community health impacts resulting from Occidental's operations in Peru," Richard Kline, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail statement. Kline said that Occidental has not had operations in Block 1AB in nearly a decade and that Pluspetrol has assumed responsibility for it. Occidental made "extensive efforts" to work with community groups and has a "long-standing commitment and policy to protect the environment and the health and safety of people," he said. The California-based group Amazon Watch has joined the suit as a plaintiff, and the case is now inching through U.S. courts. In a federal hearing scheduled for Feb. 11, company lawyers will ask a judge to send the case to Peru, where Indians say corruption and a case backlog will hurt their chance of winning. Learning Their Rights The primitive trumpet -- a hollowed cow's horn -- brayed over this gritty river community at sundown. Residents of Nuevo Jerusalem, the Achuar settlement on the Macusari River, trudged up a path, toting shotguns and fishing nets. Some stepped down from palm huts, walking to the meeting in twos and threes. Soon, Lily La Torre was on stage. "I've come to give you news of the Oxy suit," said La Torre, a Peruvian lawyer and activist working with Maynas's legal team. Barefoot women in dirty skirts circled the room, serving bowls of homemade cassava beer.
The Peruvian government, recently, has been involved in an intense campaign to exploit oil and gas resources in the Peruvian Amazon: as of 2007, more than 70% of the Amazon region has been marked for oil and gas development. This number has increased drastically, given that in 2004 only 13% of the area was in the hands of oil and gas companies. Given the ugly history of oil development in the region, indigenous people who make their home in the Amazon are extremely worried about the potential environmental, social, economic, and cultural consequences of such a massive influx of oil and gas exploitation. Moreover, the imposition of oil and gas development in the region without indigenous consent represents a violation of indigenous rights (national and international) to determine their own development path (e.g. International Labour Organization 169).
Given the power of the Peruvian state and transnational oil companies to control and manipulate the process of oil development, AIDESEP (the Interethnic Development Association for the Peruvian Jungle) and FECONAU (Federation of Native Communities from the Ucayali Region of the Amazon) have asked for our assistance in making indigenous voices (protest) heard at the highest levels. On February 8th, 2008, in Houston, TX, Perupetro is sponsoring an event that is primarily designed to convince potential investors of the benefits of oil development in Peru. Contrary to Peruvian State's pro-development discourse, leaders of AIDESEP and FECONAU want to manifest their opposition to oil and gas development in Peru and to firmly reject the entrance of petroleum companies on their communal territories. This decision was made on the 22nd of January in a FECONAU conference, with the presence of 120 indigenous leaders, where three (3) delegates were elected unanimously to send a message of protest at the Houston meeting.
What they are asking for:
One plane ticket from Lima to Houston. Logistical support for food and hotel for a contingency of 4 people. Transportation (car rental).
WE NEED YOUR HELP! (You can make a donation with your credit card by clicking PayPal on the upper right corner of this blog or by phone 970-491-5754.)
All donations are 100% tax-deductible and any amount is greatly appreciated!
As you know, Village Earth has been in alliance with Shipibo leaders and indigenous organizations in the Amazon working for their rights to self-determination for over three years now. They are relying on us and our network of supporters to let their voice be heard. This is a seminal moment in protecting both the Amazon rainforest and indigenous livelihoods - WE HAVE TO ACT FAST and WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
A new trade deal with Peru that passed in the US Congress last week boasts non-binding concessions in terms of labor and environmental concessions, and promises more of the same damages to both countries.
President Bush seems to have scored another gain in his trade agenda as Congress approved a free trade agreement with Peru by a comfortable 285 to 132 margin. Still basking in his victory from the recent Costa Rica-CAFTA ratification vote in October, Bush and his supporters hope these recent victories will lead to the approval of pending free trade agreements involving Colombia and Panama.
Concessions That Don’t Concede
This apparent bipartisan free trade approval with Peru became a reality only after Democrats won concessions from the Bush administration regarding labor and environmental issues. These concessions stem from concerns over several NAFTA impact studies that criticized the trade agreement's lack of protection against trade abuses as well as poor procedures and lack of program funding that could threaten the environment.
A statement released by Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee called "for the inclusion of labor standards [such as the right to go on strike] and environmental protections including access to medicines and logging controls that will create a landmark in free trade agreements." However, actual environmental concessions in the deal only "require the US and Peru to enforce their domestic environmental laws and conform to international environmental standards." According to Joshua Holland of Alternet, Tom Donohue, head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that his members were "encouraged" by assurances that the deal's labor provisions "cannot be read to require compliance."
Despite these concessions, according to Amazon Watch, the agreement "grants new rights for oil companies to drill in the Peruvian Amazon, potentially causing massive deforestation and environmental destruction; [which] will therefore lead to more road construction, literally paving the way for colonists, illegal loggers and poachers, fails to explicitly prohibit trade in endangered species, instead merely re-asserting the U.S.’s existing right to reject timber imports from species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES); Includes in Chapter 10, investor rights provisions that would allow foreign companies to skirt Peruvian law and regulatory authorities [, which] . . . goes further than controversial equivalent clauses in NAFTA and CAFTA; [and] Will benefit U.S. corporations such as Hunt Oil, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum and Newmont Mining over Peruvian and U.S. citizens." US copyright and trademark protection in agreement also means Peru's poor could be hit as the price of medicine rises by 30%, according to the BBC.
Losses to Workers in Both Countries
Opponents to the Peru free trade agreement, most notably strong labor unions both in Peru and the United states, caution that this trade agreement does little to either benefit or protect workers in either country.
Jiron Cusco, president of the General Workers Confederation of Peru (CGTP) takes his opposition a step further stating that the Peru FTA will benefit only a small population of Peru's wealthiest citizens and that the treaty would "seriously affect Peru's economy."
While textiles and agro-export industries, which already export to the US, could benefit, the real benefits are for US businesses. In an interview with Alternet, research director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, Todd Tucker, named dozens of multinational businesses and corporations including Citigroup, Occidental Petroleum and Wal-Mart, who have "put their full might into getting the Peru deal passed, including showering millions in congressional campaign donations since January alone . . . [Hoping for] privatized social security systems for Citi, rainforest-destroying oil extraction for Occidental, and a push to Wal-Mart's efforts to buy out Peru's retail sector, just as they did in Central America just days after Bush signed [the Central American Free Trade Agreement]." Holland also names General Mills and the Grocery Manufacturers Association PAC as interested parties because they grow vegetables in Peru and plans to move processing facilities to the country as well. Financial service firms including Citibank also stand to gain from the deal’s provisions to allow the company to "sue the Peruvian government for damages if progressive activists succeed in reversing a disastrous social security privatization scheme" that has had disastrous consequences for millions of Peruvian retirees.
Duties will be immediately eliminated "on 80% of industrial and consumer product exports to Peru, and more than two-thirds of farm exports." Many worry that the disastrous effects of NAFTA in Mexico will be repeated in Peru as subsidized US agricultural produce, including wheat, maize and cotton, will rob Peruvian farmers if business and drive up food prices within the country. In fact, Peru's government reports that it has put aside about $77 million in order to compensate farmers who suffer losses during the first five years of the agreement.
"We will have an absolutely unjust competition between Peruvian agricultural products and North American agricultural products, because the US subsidizes its agricultural products and we don't", says Javier Diez Canseco, head of the Peruvian Socialist Party and a former presidential candidate. "So there is a very strong difference between the conditions of production and the subsidies that the US farmers receive and those that Peru has to deal with." Nearly half of Peru’s population still lives on less than $2 a day.
According to the Third World Network, though Peru’s economy could increase by $417 million increase in the first year of the agreement, "these gains will be directed almost exclusively at the [mainly coastal] urban sector, which could benefit by $575 million." Lima-based public policy research institute, GRADE, predicts that the poorest of the rural sector, Quechua and Aymara subsistence farmers in the rural highlands, and in the Amazon
A new trade deal with Peru that passed in the US Congress last week boasts non-binding concessions in terms of labor and environmental concessions, and promises more of the same damages to both countries. 
