Peru raided an illegal logging site in ManĂş National Park, just days after the UK-based Survival International released the first detailed photos of the “uncontacted” Mashco-Piro tribe that inhabits the Amazon rainforest reserve.
Indigenous leaders in Bolivia have filed a complaint with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission over a new “consultation law” they say is designed to lubricate approval of the controversial Amazon highway that has already led to violence.
Hundreds of independent small-scale gold miners marched on the Venezuelan city of BolĂvar to protest the militarization of Manaima district, where security forces have been sent in to crack down on unlicensed operations following a violent clash in the area.
The Kichwa Confederation of Ecuador (ECUARUNARI) announced a national mobilization that will converge on Quito from points around the country next month to oppose what leaders call President Rafael Correa’s policies in favor of the resource industries.
Bolivia’s government says it will coordinate with the leaders of a cross-country march in favor of a new road into the Amazon rainforest on repeal of a law that suspended the project after a bigger cross-country march in opposition last year.
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.
The US appeals court in Manhattan lifted an injunction won by Chevon Corporation to block enforcement of what the US oil company claims is a fraudulent, multibillion-dollar judgment in Ecuador for polluting the Amazon rainforest.
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.
The Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios in Ecuador upheld a multi-billion dollar fine against Chevron for polluting large areas of the Amazon rainforest in the 1980s. Chevron protested the ruling as illegitimate and unenforceable.
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.
