In a series of regional consultations, Peru’s indigenous leaders found that proposed regulations implementing a new law on indigenous territorial rights do not meet standards established by Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization.
Survival International has released new photos of an “uncontacted” indigenous band in Peru. With illegal logging interests and proposed highway projects rapidly encroaching on their territory, Peru’s government has denied the “uncontacted” peoples exist.
Loggers have invaded the Brazilian Amazon home of an “uncontacted” Awa-Gwajá band, a sub-group of the Awá indigenous people, after a young girl was reportedly burned alive as a warning to terrorize the band.
Monica Chuji, Ecuador’s former communications minister under President Rafael Correa and a leading indigenous activist, was sentenced to a year in prison for “defamation”—stemming from her resignation over repression of protests.
One man was killed by an arrow shot by an “isolated” or “uncontacted” indigenous band in Peru’s Madre de Dios region, according to the indigenous alliance FENAMAD—which has long refuted claims that the isolated bands don’t exist.
Raquel Yrigoyen Fajardo, fired as head of Peru’s indigenous affair agency, is publicly accusing the government of removing her because she annulled the agency’s approval of an environmental impact study for expansion of the Camisea gas-fields.
After the cross-country Eighth Indigenous March arrived in La Paz to a tumultuous welcome, President Evo Morales announced that he would alter plans for the road linking Bolivia with Brazil so that it will not pass through the TIPNIS indigenous reserve.
A ranger in Peru’s remote Manu national park was lightly wounded in a confrontation with an “uncontacted” indigenous band, which fired arrows on a patrol boat. Authorities expressed concern for the health of the isolated bands if they are contacted.
Despite a new law that supposedly halts the controversial highway through the Bolivian rainforest, construction in fact continues. Supporters of President Evo Morales rallied in La Paz in favor of the road, as the cross-country march in protest of it continues.
A Colombian photographer who works with the threatened Nukak indigenous group received a death threat accusing him of being a guerilla—while the FARC guerillas hijacked a shipment of medical supplies bound for the Nukak.
Bolivian lawmakers voted to approve President Evo Morales’ decision to halt a controversial road project through the country’s eastern Amazon rainforest in order to consult with the local population. But protest marchers continue to advance towards La Paz.
Peru leased its first five oil contracts since passing a law designed to protect the country’s indigenous peoples, while Bolivia has unveiled an investment fund through which the Guaraní people will access proceeds from local oil development.
