Two months after the assassination [en] of Yukpa indigenous leader Sabino Romero in Venezuela, activists and community members question why no one has been charged for the murder.

On Sunday 3 March, 2013, indigenous leader Sabino Romero was shot [en] and killed in the western Venezuela state of Zulia. Two men on a motorcycle approached Romero’s vehicle and fired, killing the leader and injuring his wife.

He died only days before the death of former Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. Many feared the president’s death would overshadow the investigation process. Foro por la Vida, a group of Venezuela’s most prominent human rights organizations, called for an “exhaustive, transparent and quick investigation” to determine who was responsible.

Sources immediately suspected that the incident was a hired killing. Romero was an emblematic leader in a long-standing conflict between landowners, ranchers and indigenous peoples in Zulia. He championed the demarcation of Yukpa ancestral lands and protested against coal mining projects planned in the Perija mountain range bordering Colombia.

Yukpa leader Sabino Romero at a 2012 protest. Image by Flickr user lubrio (CC BY 2.0)

Almost two months after his death, no suspects have been charged in the killing. Activists and community groups organized an event on 24 April, 2013 in the Centro Cultural of the Central Park in Caracas to revive the search for justice.

The event, titled “El legado indocampesino: Homenaje al Cacique Sabino en Caracas” (The legacy of the indian-peasant: homage to the leader Sabindo in Caracas) brought together artists, musicians, academics and activists to commemorate Sabino Romero’s life. The alternative Venezuelan news site Apporea has photos from the event on their blog. As they point out, It is still unknown who ordered Sabino to be murdered.

The Latin American Bureau reported one possible reason for the delay in justice on their blog [en]. Quoting long-time Yukpa ally and coordinator of the NGO Society Homo et Natura Lusbi Portillo, they state:

CICPC [Body of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations] is investigating Sabino’s death but the police and cattle ranchers are disrupting the process. Every time they bring someone in for questioning, the police and cattle ranchers start to protest, closing the roads and burning tyres. So every time someone is questioned there is a rumpus.

However the blog VenezuelaAnalysis.com, an independent Venezuelan politics blog, is reporting [en] that a committee of seventeen Yukpa met with the minister for foreign affairs, Elias Jaua, on 25 March, 2013. Jaua promised to make payments to the Yukpa people within sixty days so their lands could be inhabited by them.

A graphic arts collective named Trinchera Creativa (@TrincheCreativa) first tweeted an image of Sabino Romero with the caption: How many dead leaders does Venezuela justice need to wake up and condemn murderers?

The Associated Press is reporting [en] at least eight murders involving the Yukpa tribe in recent years, usually arising from conflicts over land rights. In 2008 Sabino’s father José Manuel, a Yukpa elder over one hundred years old, was beaten to death. Some sources now report that the daughter of Romero is also facing danger [en] due to her public efforts supporting the Yukpa people, noting that in 2012, her “brother was murdered after having his eyes gouged out with wire. To this day, no one has taken the blame for this crime.“

The Yukpa have fought for years to reclaim ancestral land now occupied by ranchers and farmers. Lusbi Portillo has a long-running blog at Soberania.org chronicling the Yukpa struggles as far back as 2004.

Despite official government propaganda in support of the indigenous peoples, little progress has been made in the demarcation of indigenous territory. On their blog, Foro por la vida notes that only 3% of the Yukpa territory has been demarcated to date.

In 2008 during an episode of his unscripted talk show “Aló President,” ex-president Hugo Chavez made the following statement in support of the Yukpa:

“…Que nadie tenga duda: entre los hacendados y los indios, este gobierno está con los indios, no hay duda de ningún tipo, no hay duda de ningún tipo… Los indígenas Yukpa deben ser protegidos por el gobierno, por la Fuerza Armada y por el Estado. … esas tierras estuvieron ocupadas por los indios Yukpa durante mucho tiempo, produciendo ganado, carne y leche, y fueron echados de ahí. Yo no estoy hablando de la conquista de los españoles, estoy hablando de hace treinta años… ahora aquí hay una Revolución: La Fuerza Armada, los cuerpos de inteligencia, el gobierno, todo, apoyando a los indios. Hay una Comisión de Demarcación, Yubirí, que tiene una deuda pendiente, tiene una deuda, debe estar allá, hay que demarcar porque eso está en la Constitución y en la Ley.

“Let there be no doubt: between the landowners and the Indians, this government is with the Indians… there is no doubt. The Yukpa people should be protected by the government, by the armed forces and by the state…these lands have been occupied by the Yukpa for a long time, gainfully producing meat and milk. They were thrown out of their land. And I’m not talking about the Spanish conquest. I’m talking about the last thirty years… Now we have a revolution. The armed forces, intelligence agencies and the government are now all supporting the indigenous peoples… There is a demarcation commission with a pending obligation. They should go demarcate [the territory] because it’s in the constitution and the law.”

You can watch the whole statement below:

However, Marino Alvarado, executive director of the Venezuelan human rights organization PROVEA, points out that the Yukpa struggle went beyond official rhetoric against large landholders and confronted mining in the region:

La lucha de Sabino Romero era contra el modelo de desarrollo extractivista energético. La demarcación estaba paralizada no solo por la “presión de la oligarquía ganadera” –como afirma cierta propaganda oficial-, sino porque en tierras indígenas de todo el país hay recursos ya negociados a futuro.

Sabino Romero's fight was against the extractive energy development model. The demarcation [of the Yukpa territory] was paralized not only because of the “pressure of the landowning oligarchy” – as certain official propaganda affirms – but also because in indigenous territory in the whole country there are resources already sold.

According to the International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Venezuela [en] has around 27 million indigenous peoples comprising over 40 different groups. The 1999 constitution explicitly recognized the multi-ethnic nature of the country and included clauses to encourage the participation of indigenous peoples in all levels of politics. Venezuela has also ratified several international measures supporting indigenous rights including ILO Convention 169 [en] and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [en].

National legislation includes the Organic Law on Demarcation and Guarantees for the Habitat and Lands of the Indigenous Peoples and the Organic Law on Indigenous Peoples and Communities (LOPCI).

However, the relationship between the government and indigenous peoples remains paternalistic, ignoring local needs and decision-making structures. The lack of progress in indigenous rights – particularly the demarcation of indigenous territory – has caused groups to mobilize against the government. The Yukpa await to see if they will receive justice for the killing of their people and taking of their ancestral lands. 

Written by Rachael Petersen · comments (0)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

The court's decision on 25 April, 2013 came after the Inuit Tapirii Kanatami and 20 other Inuit and sealing rights groups petitioned to overturn the seal ban, pointing out the importance of the seal hunt to Arctic dwellers for meat and income, critical in light of the increasingly high cost of living in the north.

The ban, enacted in 2009, prohibits the sale of seal meat, pelt, and oils. Though it includes an exemption for indigenous sealers, critics argue that the exemption has failed because the price of seal pelts has plummeted since the introduction of market restrictions.

Leona Aglukkaq (@leonaaglukkaq), a Conservative Party member of Canada's Parliament, regional minister for the North in Canada, and Inuk herself, slammed the court's decision:

@leonaaglukkaq: “Ban on seal products adopted in the EU was a political decision that has no basis in fact or science #sustainablehunt-http://t.co/ejMOAYIU9E”

Canadian lawmakers are next slated to challenge the seal ban within the World Trade Organization (WTO), proposing that it “amounts to an illegal restriction of trade.” Norway also stated it would confront the WTO on the seal ban.

The seal hunt is one of the most stigmatized hunts in the world, with opponents evoking brutal images of clubbed baby seals. Organizations from the US Humane Society, PETA, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare have launched campaigns against the Canadian industry.

The EU cited concerns that seal hunted methods caused pain and distress to the animals. European leaders who brought the ban into force in 2009 called the seal hunt “cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable.”

Seal ban impact on indigenous communities

Inuit of Nunavut prepare a seal skin for clothing. Photo by Rachael Petersen

However, the seal hunt ban is dealing a terrible blow to Inuit communities, which utilize all parts of the animal for food and clothing.

Canadian Marine biologist Dr. Alan Emery commented on anti-sealing initiatives on his blog over a year ago:

While the intentions of the anti-seal activists are laudable, in at least the case of the Inuit people, the indiscriminate strategy of undermining the market for sealskin has had a profoundly negative impact on the Inuit people who do not really have an option to move to a second income source. This has resulted in an increased loss of income and added to food insecurity for the Inuit people. …The Inuit people have been dealt some very damaging blows: most Inuit families have been forced by government fiat to give up their semi-nomadic lifestyles and instead live in settlements provided by the government. The provided housing is of poor standards and there are relatively few opportunities to make a living in their “modern” settlements so most Inuit families are living a substandard Canadian lifestyle.

The government of the northernmost Canadian territory of Nunavut conducted an analysis of the effects of the EU ban on Inuit. The full study can be downloaded in full here [iu, en]. The report pointed out:

Seal hunting has been a cornerstone of Inuit culture, nutrition and survival in the Arctic for millennia. Since the introduction of the cash economy in the Canadian Arctic, seal hunting has also been an important factor in the socio-economic well-being of Inuit. Seal hunting in Nunavut occurs year-round and is an important part of daily life in every coastal community.

Hunting seal near Igloolik, Nunavut. Photo by Rachael Petersen

The European Bureau for Conservation and Development conducted a study investigating the impact of the EU seal ban on the Inuit of Greenland, concluding similarly that:

the EU seal ban is destroying the sealskin market and undermining the traditional way of life of thousands of indigenous people who depend on marine resources for their livelihood.

Madeline Redfern (@madinuk), the former mayor of Nunavut's capital of Iqaluit and president Ajungi Arctic Consulting, a group of Arctic public policy experts, echoed these sentiments in a series of tweets on 25 April, 2013 following the EU's ruling:

@madinuk: Animal rights target vulnerable minorities, usually indigenous ppls animal byproducts/economies – easier than mainstream products.

@madinuk: Dangerous precedent. EU legislators accepted animal rights agenda based on cultural prejudices~who/what minority product is next?!

@madinuk: EU seal ban isn't just bad for Inuit its bad for any/all animal producer/user b/c based on ‘morality’ not science/sustainability

Social media and sealing rights

Social media has been a powerful tool in bringing to light the reality of traditional hunting practices in the North. Maatalii Okalik (@maatalii), president of Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre, tweeted a photo of Inuit youth from Nunavut promoting the seal hunt on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on 24 April, 2013:

Inuit of Nunavut support sealing on Parliament Hill. Image from Twitter user Maatalii Okalik.

A Facebook group “Nunavut Hunting Stories of the Day,” started by a 36-year-old Inuk in Nunavut, now boasts almost 37,000 members across the Canadian North as well as Alaska and Greenland. Indigenous members post photos and videos – both current and historical – and share stories of trips out on the land in the North. The hope is to create awareness of native hunting rights and to teach young people who may not have the chance to go hunting anymore how their elders and ancestors lived.

A grassroots group called “No Seal No Deal” recently formed to defend native sealing rights. According to their site, the group was founded “by a group of Inuit taking part in a grassroots movement to educate the international community about Inuit seal hunting, the seal skin market, and how Inuit are affected by international trade bans on seal products.”

The group is petitioning Canada to refuse granting the EU observer status to the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum that addresses Arctic issues. The Arctic Council includes member states Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the US. Members of the movement point out the Arctic Council’s 2011 Nuuk Declaration requires observer applicants “demonstrate respect for the aboriginal peoples of the Arctic.” They hold that the EU should be denied entry because of the negative effects of the seal ban on indigenous communities of the North.

No Seal No Deal will submit their petition to Canadian Parliament by 1 May, 2013. You can read more about the  movement on their Facebook page.

Written by Rachael Petersen · comments (2)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

The largely indigenous opposition to wind farms in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec of Oaxaca, Mexico won a tremendous victory on 7 December 2012 when a District Seven Federal Court judge granted an injunction (amparo) temporarily halting the construction of a controversial wind park in San Dioniosio del Mar in the southern state of Oaxaca. The judge, located in Salina Cruz, ruled that ”based on article 233 of the Injunction Law, this unequivocally orders the suspension of the challenged actions as being in violation of the land rights of the community.”

While the indigenous Ikojts (Huave) peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec celebrated and called for government and industry to comply with the decision, their grassroots struggle continues.

The day following the court decision, Marena Renovables – the international consortium constructing the park – announced they would not “yield to blackmail” and would continue dialoguing with the communities. Their government relations representative Edith Ávila indicated that the project represents an investment of a billion dollars and maintains that it would bring immense benefits to the community. They aim to continue construction as planned.

The governor of Oaxaca, Gabino Cué Monteagudo, announced that the amparo was “a bad sign for private investment in the state.” He is on record saying that he hopes this judgment does not set a precedent for development in the rest of the region.

A wind farm in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. Photo by Rachael Petersen, January 2011.

International actors have entered the conflict. Noticias Net reported that on the inauguration of the new president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, the Australian ambassador Katrina Cooper delivered a request to the Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade to “resolve the conflict in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which has prevented the start of construction of the largest wind farm in Latin America.” Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure Fund is one of the companies that makes up the consortium of Mareña Renovables, along with Mitsubishi Corporation, a Japanese conglomerate, and PGGM, a Dutch pension fund service provider.

The planned 396 megawatt (MW) San Dionisio Del Mar project, located in areas referred to as Barra Santa Teresa and Santa Maria del Mar in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, will be the largest wind farm in Mexico and one of the largest in Latin America. The 132-turbine project, valued at around 985 million US dollars, will provide electricity to the largest beverage companies in Latin America: Femsa and Cuahtémoc Moctezuam, allowing them to save ten percent of their energy costs, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The San Dionisio del Mar project is supported by investments from over fifteen banks, including the IDB, which has lent 72 million US dollars [en] for its construction.

Oaxaca, wind hotspot of the world

The government of Mexico continues to build wind farms at a lightning pace, with a current 521 installed MW [en] and goal of 3,000 total MW [en] by 2014. Throughout 2012, Mexico has laid the groundwork for around 900 MW of wind capacity -­ all but 70 MW in Oaxaca, one of the world’s best regions for wind resources. There are 14 wind energy projects in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec of Oaxaca alone with over 400 wind turbines, as well as five other projects under way.

However, much of the land in Oaxaca is inhabited by indigenous peoples or owned collectively by peasants as ejidos. Local resistance to wind development is as old as the parks themselves. Multinational wind companies operating in the area have been saddled with accusations of unfair contracts, bribing local leaders, inadequate consultations and unfulfilled promises. Local opposition to wind farms continues to grow amid an increasingly violent and complex backdrop saturated with political alliances between local and national and municipal government, transnational wind companies, and land owners.

Winds of resistance in the Isthmus

Anti-wind protestors are met by state police in Union Hidalgo, Oaxaca 30 October 2012. Photo from the Asamblea de Pueblos del Istmo, used with permission.

Many indigenous peoples of the principle impacted communities maintain a traditional fishing culture that relies upon the ocean for both sustenance and commerce. They fear the park, constructed partly over a narrow stretch of land, will impact vital marine resources and delicate mangroves. They also emphasize that the construction provides little benefit to communities and violates their land rights, citing contracts that often pay only 100 pesos per hectare per year, a sum too small to compensate the loss of natural resources and land. The Secretariat of Indigenous Affairs in Oaxaca has also recognized the human rights violations that have occurred in the creation of wind farm contracts throughout the region.

Several groups have mobilized to protest – and blog about – ongoing resistance in the wind-rich regions of Oaxaca. The communities resisting the San Dionisio project together update a blog, titled “Communities resisting the mega- wind project San Dionisio del Mar,” with images, videos, and statements about their activities. The principle anti-wind group, la Asamblea de Pueblos Indígendas del Istmo en Defensa de la Tierra y el Territorio, maintains a Facebook page and blog with reports on wind development news. UCIZONI, or Unión de Comunidades Indígenas de la Zona Norte del Istmo, a group that has defended indigenous rights in Mexico for over 25 years, created a YouTube video, which has since been removed, to provide background information on San Dionisio del Mar and first-hand accounts from community members impacted by wind development. Many other interviews and testimonies from communities opposing wind development remain available on the group's YouTube channel.

The December 7 federal court decision follows a series of violent confrontations in the region between local protestors, industry, and state police. In a press conference on 11 December 2012, inhabitants of San Dioniosio del Mar and San Mateo del Mar called for government and industry to honor the amparo and to indefinitely suspend the Mareñas project. They stated that

A partir del 2007, año en que se anunció la entrada de empresas trasnacionales de energía eólica en nuestro territorio, se inició un hostigamiento, una represión policiaca contra el pueblo, tanto de las empresas como por parte de los gobiernos estatal y federal, coludidos con los presidentes municipales de toda la región del Istmo.

In 2007, the year in which transnational wind energy companies entered our territory, began the harassment, a police repression against the community – as much on the part of the companies as well as the state and federal governments with collusion from mayors across the entire region of the Isthmus.

The newspaper La Jornada reports that the defense of their territory has cost the Ikojts people  “at least 14 violent events, intimidation and harassment in the last four months.” The blog of the Chiapas-based organization Servicio Internacional Para La Paz has a comprehensive overview of conflicts surrounding the wind park since September 2012.

An information gap, an uncertain future

Zapoteca blogger, journalist and ethnohistorian Gubidxa Guerrero writes that although Marena Renovables denies the the federal court amparo will affect construction, this issue could quickly become one of national significance. He notes that a lack of public information is the main culprit in the politicization of wind farms in Oaxaca:

La información es vital para tomar una decisión que afectará por treinta años el destino de sus terrenos (que es la duración promedio de los contratos). Por desgracia existe un vacío de información que provoca que unos cuantos vivales la aprovechen para dos fines: sembrar el pánico contra los proyectos, o presentar selectivamente sus “bondades”.

Information is vital in order to make a decision that will affect lands for thirty years (which is the average duration of the contracts). Unfortunately, there is an information gap that provokes some “punks” to take advantage of the situation for two ends: to sow panic against the projects, or selectively present their “goodness.”

The Federal Court decision is a vital first step in stopping – or at least delaying – wind energy development in Oaxaca in order to allow a more honest evaluation of the impacts and benefits of wind energy in the Isthmus. However, it remains to be seen if the government and wind industry will respect the requests of Huave peoples of the Isthmus to end the San Dionisio project altogether.

Fore more detailed background on the situation in Oaxaca, please see:

Upside-down World: Indigenous Communities in Mexico Fight Corporate Wind Farms [en]

AIDA: The challenge of deploying wind energy in Mexico. The case of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec [en].

Written by Rachael Petersen · comments (3)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

While it has received little mainstream media attention, Idle No More has capitalized on social media networks to spread information about the widespread rallies, protests, and roadblocks, causing the hashtag #idlenomore to trend on Twitter in Canada this week.

The rallies -which continue to take place in major cities like Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary- are the broadest expressions of discontent from First Nations that Canada has seen in years. The movement has been deemed by some as “Native Winter,” in the style of the “Arab Spring” revolutionary wave that overtook the Middle East beginning in December 2010.

Idle No More protestors gather on the Blood Reserve in Standoff Alberta. Photo by Blaire Russell, used with permission.

In one of the more high-profile actions of the Idle No More movement, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence began a hunger strike on Tuesday which she plans to continue until Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Queen Elizabeth II agree to a treaty meeting with First Nations Leaders.

She stated that she is willing to die for her people unless the Conservative Harper government shows more respect for its indigenous citizens. Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan has offered to meet with Chief Spence. Supporters have vowed to fast in solidarity with Chief Spence and are organizing via Facebook events in Toronto and other Canadian cities.

The Attawapiskat Nation received international attention in October of last year during a winter housing crisis that brought to light dismal living situation of the small Northern Ontario First Nations community. Protestors point out that the Attawapiskat incident is just one example of the Conservative government’s negligence of First Nations’ needs.

 A colonial relationship

The Idle No More movement was sparked by events on 4 December, when First Nations representatives were blocked from entering the House of Commons in Ottawa to discuss their concerns about a proposed Bill.

The Harper administration’s omnibus law, Bill C-45, has served as the rallying cry for the Idle No More movement. Also known as “Jobs and Growth Act 2012,” Bill C-45 makes changes to the Indian Act without the consultation of First Nations. It includes extensive amendments to more than sixty laws, including not only the Indian Act, but also the Navigable Waters Protection Act, the Fisheries Act and others. Opponents argue these changes violate existing treaties and weaken environmental protection of land and water.

In her powerful and widely-discussed piece, “The natives are restless. Wonder why?” Métis blogger Chelsea Vowel points out that this movement goes beyond protesting Bill C-45 to resisting a more systemic state-citizen relationship:

 What it all boils down to is this. Canada has not committed itself to addressing the colonial relationship it still has with indigenous peoples. Canada is in denial about that relationship.

She goes on to explain the movement:

Today, in cities and communities all across the country, indigenous peoples are rallying together to speak out against a rash of hastily shoved-through pieces of legislation created without First Nations consultation. Legislation that promises to have serious implications for aboriginal rights.  However, that is not the sum total of the issues being addressed. The ongoing and unhealthy colonial relationship Canada has with indigenous peoples is at the root of this, and finds expression in so many problems from environment to health to incarceration to suicide to education to violence and so on.

Rallying under the cry of “Idle No More“, this truly grassroots movement is swelling as people take to social media in a way I can honestly say is unprecedented. If you’re looking for one unified message, you’re not going to find it…unless it’s “hey Canada, you need to start taking our concerns seriously.

But it is not only First Nations who share this view. In fact, in an interview with PostMedia News published on November 30, former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin discussed low levels of health and education among Canada’s indigenous groups. He charged that in Canada:

We have never admitted to ourselves that we were, and still are, a colonial power… And we continue that focus on assimilation. There is no other reason, no other excuse for the discrimination in funding.

The Bill C-45 comes on the heels of other government actions that could weaken indigenous organizations. In September 2012, the federal government announced budget cuts of at least 10% to all national and regional aboriginal representative organizations. Emphasizing the legacy of these budget cuts, McGill University student and Metis-Cree writer Tanya L (@TanyaLalondie) tweeted on December 12:

@TanyaLalondie: I have watched cut after cut to programming aimed at helping our people heal, grow, develop and gain footing in an unequal world #idlenomore

But fellow Métis blogger Aaron Paquette argues that current neoliberal legislation affects all Canadians, not just the indigenous:

This government is attempting to systematically sell off our resources and make even more resources available for exploitation…. This is much greater than angry protesting natives, this is about becoming aware of the world in which you live.

Blogger Nora Loreto has compiled a post suggesting ways in which non-indigenous peoples can support and participate in the protests.

IKEA Monkey versus Idle No More

Idle No More Logo by Dwayne Bird. Posted on Idle No More Facebook page.

Protest participants have criticized mainstream media for failing to cover the widespread protests. Several bloggers noted that the recent story of a coat-wearing monkey in a Toronto IKEA received more attention than the countless First Nations rallies across Canada.

However, Twitter has exploded with activity from the movement under the hashtag #idlenomore. Users have disseminated information about planned rallies, roadblocks and gatherings via social media. As activist and writer Derrick O’Keefe notes, they hope that a continued social media presence will force the story of Idle No More into the mainstream.

For up-to-date information about the nation-wide movement, check out www.idlenomore.ca or join the movement’s Facebook page. For images and updates on the campaign, please follow the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society.

The next major Idle No More gathering is set for December 21.

Written by Rachael Petersen · comments (14)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Hundreds of indigenous protesters gathered outside the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Quito last week during the VII Annual Meeting of Oil and Energy, which marked the beginning of the licensing process.

Organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the Confederation of Amazonian Indigenous Nationalities (CONFENIAE), the protest included representatives from seven indigenous nationalities who expressed concern about the lack of consultation in the concessions process and the potential environmental and social impacts of drilling. AmazonWatch reports that indigenous protesters were met by military, police, private security, and pepper spray. AmazonWatch also posted several photos of the confrontation on their website.

According to Earth Island, CONFENIAE alleges that the undersecretary of hydrocarbons entered Achuar, Kichwa, and Sapara indigenous communities without permission in October and held consultations with the local people. However, CONFENIAE holds that these consultations were illegitimate because they involved a select group of individuals, not the larger decision-making structures of the communities.

Map of indigenous territories and XI Oil Round concessions. Source: Fundacion Pachamama Facebook page.

Blogger Ecuachaski [es] reported as early as October of this year that leaders of Schuar, Achuar, Shiwiar, Sapara and Kichwa communities met in a press conference to announce they will not permit the entry to petroleum industries into their lands. The audio [es] of the meeting is also available.

Although indigenous organizations have made several negative pronouncements around the XI Oil Round, the Correa government has not responded to their concerns.

In a formal statement [es] published online on November 28th, CONAIE and CONFENIAE wrote:

Las nacionalidades indígenas situadas en el centro sur de la Amazonia:  Kichwas Amazónicos, Shuar, Achuar, Shiwiar y Sáparas, rechazaron la decisión unilateral del régimen de licitar bloques  petroleros mediante la llamada XI Ronda e instaron a que esta sea suspendida de inmediato.

Indigenous nationalities located in the south-central part of the Amazon: the Kichwa, Shuar, Achuar, Shiwiar and Sáparas, rejected the unilateral decision of the regime to auction petroleum blocks during the so-called 11th Round and insist that it be immediately suspended.

Furthermore, the organizations emphasize that the government’s consultations did not respect local decision-making norms and lack proper procedure in the native language.

The communication also includes the following quote by CONFENIAE president Franco Viter:

“…Estamos unidos y nos oponemos totalmente a la XI  Ronda Petrolera. El avance de la frontera petrolera en nuestro territorio  representa el fin de nuestra forma de vida y puede significar el fin de nuestras vidas.

“…We are united and we totally oppose the 11th Oil Round. The encroachment of oil into our territories represents the end of our way of life and could mean the end of our very lives themselves.”

For Ecuador, the smallest member of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), the oil industry represents a critical source of revenue for the state. The government expects at least $1 billion in investments from the 13 blocks, reports Reuters. While the country’s oil output has lingered around 500,000 barrels per day the last few years, non-renewable natural resources minister Wilson Pastor expects oil output to rise up to 530,000 barrels per day, sustaining the country for another ten years.

Companies have six months to present bids for the new Amazonian concessions. The government hopes contracts will be signed before September 2013.

“We are living a contradiction”

Yet the 11th Oil Round takes place within a country that is soliciting funding to leave oil in the ground under the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) area of Yasuní national park. The government initiative [es] has attracted $64 million dollars from governments, foundations and individuals, with another $187 million pledged. The head of the negotiating committee for the project, Ivonee Baki, recently said:

Ecuador does not want to be depend on oil and this is a way to reduce dependency. Oil countries are cursed. Developing countries depend on it so much that they do not develop anything else. It breeds corruption and the poor pay the price. The only benefit traditionally go to the elites.

In a November interview with Rebelión [es], Franco Viteri  president of CONFENIAE pointed out the contradiction of the current Correa administration:

Cierto, vivimos efectivamente en una contradicción. Mientras se esboza un discurso ecologista en los ámbitos internacionales, el gobierno del presidente Rafael Correa ha lanzado la XI Ronda Petrolera.

We’re effectively living a contradiction. While he outlines an environmentalist discourse in international circles, president Rafael Correa has launched the 11th Oil Round.

This contradiction received international attention on October 26th of this year, when the Indian Law Resource Center in the United States delivered a letter to several UN Climate Change officials noting the contradictions between the government’s high-profile commitment to forest preservation and the plan to open three million hectares of indigenous ancestral territory to oil development. They report that the concessions process involves indigenous lands currently preserved under SocioBosque, an Ecuadorian program that pays indigenous peoples not to deforest their lands. The letter calls into question the legality of the concessions process, which has moved forward without indigenous peoples’ free, prior, and informed consent.

COP18

The current oil concession take place amid a background of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP18) in Doha, Qatar, in which the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment [es] is taking part. The conference began the 26th of November and concludes the 7th of December.

Indigenous leaders of the Ecuadorian Amazon protest the XI Oil Round at the UN COP18 in Doha. Photo courtesy of Francisco Shiki, President of FICSH.

Several indigenous leaders of the Ecuadorian Amazon, including the President of the Interprovincial Federation of Schuar Centers, Francisco Shiki, brought discussions of Ecuador’s XI Oil Round to the COP18. According to Fundación Pachamama [es], these leaders called for international allies in denouncing the government’s “lack of political will to uphold commitments to environmental and social safeguards in Ecuador.”

Three leaders from Sarayaku – an Ecuadorian indigenous community made famous by its legal struggles with multinational oil companies –  have also joined the protest. They recently compiled a video petition featured on AmazonWatch’s website.

Although the XI Oil Round does not currently include their lands, the government may decide to put up five more blocks for auction, including those within Sarayaku (Kichwa) territories. The Sarayaku people’s blog [es] contains several joint letters to the Correa administration admonishing the government’s previous oil “consultations,” which did not comply with ILO (International Labor Organization) Convention 169 or the Ecuadorian Constitution in regard to free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous peoples.

Indigenous organizations plan to continue protesting through the month of December to call attention to the contradictions between Ecuador’s environmental programs, its constitutional commitment to protect the rights of indigenous peoples, and its ongoing concessions of pristine indigenous lands within the XI Oil Round.

Written by Rachael Petersen · comments (3)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper