Peru – Land of Diversity Under Threat

According to the United Nations (UN) data, Peru’s population in 2020 was over 30 million people, out of which 25% are members of indigenous communities (CIA, n.d.)[1] Despite this impressive number and Peru’s apparent will to protect their rights, the native population is still seeing its rights[2] obstructed and its territories illegally reduced. The 51 indigenous people groups living on the Peruvian territory face daily challenges to their ways of living. Firstly, from modern society, due to extractive activities, lack of consideration by local governments and direct attack from traffickers. Secondly, from climate change, causing harsher living conditions, food production reduction and other related problems. Nevertheless, and despite an ongoing under-representation in the public debate, encouraging steps are being taken both at the national and international level to preserve and enforce the rights of these communities. With this in mind, this article aims to provide more visibility to the diversity of indigenous communities of Peru. It will focus on three distinct groups of the Peruvian Amazonian rainforest: the Matsigenka, the Ashaninka and the Awajún community. Through this focus, the article intends to  provide an insight on their way of living, their history and the problems they are currently facing. In doing so, this article highlights issues shared by all communities as well as struggles specific to each.

The Matsigenka Community                                                                                    The Matsigenka people (also known as Machiguenga or Matsigenga) have lived in the Peruvian Amazon for thousands of years in “reasonable ecological balance” (Johnson, 2003, p.5). As indigenous people, their connection to their land is a fundamental aspect of their way of living. An example of this is the overwhelming richness and detail that the Matsigenka possess about their plant and animal world (Johnson, 2003, pp.193-199).This indigenous group lives in the Manu Region of the Amazonian Peru, in the departments of Madre de Dios and Cusco (Revilla-Minaya, n.d.), i.e. in the lowland tropical forests. It is estimated that there are approximately one thousand people, both contacted and uncontacted, living around the Manu River basin.[3]

It is disclosed that, during the time of the Spanish Conquest[4], the community occupied practically the same territory as today (Johnson, 2003, p.28). Furthermore, it is unknown what effect the collapse of the Inka[5] had in this community,reflecting that it did not have a great impact on their way of life (Johnson, 2003, p.33). Nevertheless, during the late nineteenth century, the community was subject to the  slave trade due to the rubber boom[6] (Johnson, 2003, p.35). Following the development of influenza and other epidemics during the twentieth century, the community remained isolated. Finally, since the 70s, the government has allowed them to be registered as “native communities” and own land titles (Johnson, 2003, p.37). 

The Matsigenka community is characterized by their strict rejection of violence and their capacity to resist any external influence by locating themselves away from the river, i.e. isolating themselves (Johnson, 2003, p.36). They are described as “atomistic and amorphous, not divided into clans or arranged in hierarchies of any sort” (Johnson, 2003, p.36).   Their diet, during the year, comprises the collection of insect larvae (of butterflies, moths, beetles), palm hearts and fruits seeds which provide the sources of fat and protein that are necessary for their subsistence (Johnson, 2003, p.20). However, their favorite nourishment, but difficult to obtain, includes tapir and peccary among others (Johnson, 2003, p.60). Additionally, the Amazon rivers allow the community to fish, becoming another central place as well of their culture (Johnson, 2003, p.63). 

However, the implementation of domestic policies, climate change, terrorism and the COVID pandemic jeopardizes their environment and heritage. In the forests of Megantoni District (Cusco), the proliferation of oil extraction without considering the consequences on the environment and the human rights of the communities living in the area endures. The Amazonian Center for Anthropology and Practical Application (CAAAP) reported that indigenous people lack  protection, support, medicine and cleaning articles to protect themselves ahead of petroleum production (CAAAP, Asháninkas y Matsigenkas de Megantoni denuncian no tener mascarillas ni medicamentos, 2020). 

Tui Anandi – Matsigenka women

Following the COVID pandemic and the high vulnerability of these communities in the Megantoni District, a request for humanitarian aid was instigated in May 2020 by the native community of Tangoshiari.[7] In this request, the indigenous peoples raised their voices and reported lack of provisions and supplies for their subsistence. In addition to this, the quarantine  period during the COVID-19 pandemic isolated the communities and restricted their access to education without offering any alternative to the lack of access to the  internet or any other equipment.Furthermore, the Camisea gas project[8] endangers the health and survival of the communities. It is already reported that the activity of oil companies such as Pluspetrol Argentina and Hunt Oil Texas “could spread deadly disease and create social disruption” (Survival, s.f.).  These activities reflect a violation of recognized international human rights such as the right to life, humane treatment, mental and physical integrity, liberty and security[9].  

The Ashaninka community                                                                                    Slightly to the north of the Matsigenka’s territory dwell the Ashaninka community. They represent the largest indigenous group with over 50 000 members. This large ethnic group is spread over 200 communities across a territory that stretches from the eastern Andes to the state of Acre in Brazil, covering most of the Peruvian Amazon (MRGI, n.d.). As with most of the indigenous groups, their history is marked with violence and intrusion, from the Spanish Conquest to modern territorial expropriation granted by the government or enforced by illegal traffickers (IWGIA, n.d.). During the 1980s’ the Ashaninka were also caught in a crossfire of the fight between the Peruvian armed forces and the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso[10]. This conflict, despite resulting in the defeat of the Sendero Luminoso, weighed heavily on the communities who exited this conflict with thousands of losses and displaced (MRGI, n.d.)[11]. As of today, the lack of official land titles, the neoliberal policies of the Peruvian government and the violent activities of illegal loggers and traffickers are threatening the ancestral territories of the Ashaninka. Not only are these actions pushing them away from their lands, effectively making them refugees on their own soil, but they also create irreversible ecological damages with dire consequences for them but also for the rest of humanity (MRGI, n.d.). The pollution engendered by the extractions are endangering the biodiversity of the Amazonian basin and increasing the deforestation of what is well known as the “Earth lungs”. In doing so, is it both influencing climate change and threatening the way of life that those populations have developed and cherished for centuries. The remote aspect of these communities also leads to issues such as access to education and to modern healthcare as the COVID pandemic has painfully showed us (SSRC, n.d.)[12].Despite this hard path, the Ashaninka people have proven to be a strong and resilient people, with a rich semi-nomadic culture (WorldCultureEncyclopedia, n.d.) which today brings many important teachings notably in the field of sustainable land management and holistic approach to life (RFUK, 2019)[13]. Far from being discouraged, numerous associations,organisations and grassroots movements[14] have seen the light of day and won important battles, some under the hospice of international NGOs[15] and some led by local figures. One such figure is Ruth Buendía, recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize[16] in 2014. Under her leadership at CARE[17], she led the opposition against several mega-dams, planned over the Ene river and which would have flooded the Ene Valley. This valley hosts an ancestral territory, and its flooding would have directly affected the Ashaninka communities living on these lands (RFUK, 2019)[18]. The projects had been approved by the Brazilian and Peruvian governments without prior consultation of the indigenous peoples concerned, effectively disregarding a Peruvian law of 2011 known as the ‘Prio -Consulation law”[19] (Friedman, 2014).

Ruth Buendia in Ene River Valley – Facebook

Thanks to hard works such as these the cause of the indigenous are slowly getting out there and some notable advances can be observed. This is the case of the two protected areas that are the Otishi National Park, an area designated between the Ene and the Tambo river, essentially where the dams should have been, and the Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park, recognised by UNESCO[20] in 2010 as a biosphere reserve, along with two indigenous communal reserves, in which indigenous peoples such as the Ashaninka are encouraged to develop sustainable  coffee and cocoa production (RFUK, 2019).  These areas pursue a simple, yet crucial, goal: protect the outstanding beauty of this precious natural biosphere as well as the cultural diversity and ancestral knowledge of communities such as the Ashaninka, an objective that we, at GHRD, thrive to support.

The Awajún community                                                                                        Numerously close behind the Ashaninka, the Awajún community, (also known as Aguaruna), represents the second demographically largest indigenous or native Amazonian community in Peru (Ministry of Culture, 2015).As with the two communities previously presented, the Awajún people are characterized by their commitment to the defense of their ancestral territory. They are also sweet cassava growers, hunters and fishermen living in relatively dispersed communities. The villages of the Awajún people are located in the areas of Loreto, Amazonas, San Martín, Cajamarca and Ucayali (Brown, 1984).

It is suspected that the Awajún had contact with the Inca empire. However, the Inca conquest was not successful in the Awajún territory (Ministry of Culture, 2015). During the rubber boom, the Awajún, like the Matsigenka, were victim of the many abuses that were carried out and that violated the freedom and lives of many indigenous peoples.

In the 1960s, the Peruvian government established the living borders policy. This policy consisted of new settlements in the border areas in order to maintain and guard the political territory of Peru. However, not only did the policy dismiss the fact that these territories belonged to indigenous peoples, it also presupposed that indigenous settlements were not guarantee enough to protect the national borders (Regan, 2007). Starting in the 1990s, economic policies to attract national and foreign capital, especially for the exploitation of natural resources with the exception of protected natural areas were created. In this context, the government tried to dispose of a series of laws[21] perceived by indigenous people as a threat to their territory. The laws passed were laws favouring timber and oil entrepreneurs who would benefit from the exploitation of indigenous peoples’ lands, without being consulted and without ensuring that environmental damage to indigenous lands would be mitigated. This led Amazonian indigenous organizations to carry out national mobilizations: in 2008 the First National Amazon Strike[22] was held and in April 2009 a Second Amazon National Strike began. In particular, the Awajún, Wampis and Achuar people[23], as well as settlers from Alto Marañón organized to demonstrate at strategic points such as the Fernando Belaúnde Terry highway and Station 6 in PETROPERÚ, among others (Ombudsman, 2010). 

Liseth Atamain – Awajun Community

This social conflict, in which the Awajún and Wampis peoples played a primary role, has marked a turning point in the recognition of the collective rights of indigenous or native peoples[24]. In order to avoid further human losses, a dialogue process was carried out in which it was possible to repeal four legislative decrees[25] that started the protests. In the same way, these processes allowed the elaboration, with the participation of indigenous and native national organizations, the promulgation of the Prior Consultation Law[26] in 2011 (Cavero, 2011). Currently the Awajún, like the Ashaninka and the Matsigenka, are besieged by deforestation and their life and culture are seriously threatened by the deployment of mining, petroleum and coca cultivation. Along with these threats, the environmental risks that arise from them, such as the pollution of rivers with mercury and other heavy metals, often go unnoticed. All these factors endangers the main livelihoods of these populations, which are dedicated to fishing, gathering and hunting, but who, increasingly, are forced to confine themselves to agricultural and subsistence production due to the growing deterioration that occurs and the jungle suffers (Entreculturas, 2017).

The claims of the Awajún for these threats have resulted in their being murdered by illegal miners, land traffickers and drug traffickers. On February 10 and 11, 2020, members of the Peruvian Awajún and Wampis communities demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the regional government of Amazonas to denounce an alleged government action that would facilitate the license for mining projects in their territories. Hundreds of people participated in these demonstrations called by six organizations of indigenous peoples. They claimed that the regional government granted official recognition to two mining communities in Awajún territory. These organizations affirmed that it was a maneuver whose objective was to favor a mining company. This company seeked to obtain a permit for the development of a mining project in an area destined for the creation of a national park.After the demonstrations, on February 12, 2020, the regional government annulled the controversial official recognition (CIVICUS, 2020) . However, the next day, when the protests had stopped, the body of the Awajún community member Americo Entsakua was found in the district of Santa María de Nieva Condorcanqui, with signs of torture on his body (Meneses, 2020) .

Conclusion                                                                                                                       The Pervuvian state cannot be said to have ever shown an appropriate degree of care and respect for the Amazonian indigenous communities, such as the Ashaninka, Awajún, Matsigenka, the first two being the largest Amazonian communities in Peru, as for the others that they occupy the Peruvian territory. To the threats of deforestation, illegal mining, land trafficking, illegal cultivation of coca and oil exploitation, the scourge of COVID-19 has now been added. The restriction to the access to basic health services has devastated indigenous communities.

Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) aims to raise awareness about these issues and discourages these activities in order to safeguard the recognized indigenous human rights (intending, therefore, the prevention of other episodes of violations of indigenous human rights). GHRD urges the Peruvian government to find a solution in order to fulfil their basic human rights.  

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