Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin
AIDESEP–APA-CIDOB-COIAB- CONFENAIE-FOAG- OIS– OPIAC-ORPIA
9 Agosto 2013: Territoriality, Self-Determination and Full LifeIn echo of August 9, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples as established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 23 1994 by way of resolution A/RES/49/214, the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) hereby sends out a fraternal greeting to the 390 Amazon peoples making up approximately three million individuals in a territory of 10.268,471 km2 as well as to the indigenous peoples of the world who each and every day gather their forces in defense of their collective rights for a life full and in dignity in their own territories. On this date, greetings and best wishes abound for the indigenous peoples, many of them from the heart and in full commitment – and we appreciate them. Others are only rhetorically, passing the lips for the outside world and “for the photo”. In particular from those in power, such as governments, banks, enterprises, communication media, etc. Those who embrace us while tolerating, concealing, silencing or supporting those who commit ethnocide, negate our rights, conquer our territories, resources or sentence us, jail us or shoot us with their bullets just for claiming our legal rights to a life in harmony with mother earth. A tremendous contradiction in “celebrating” the indigenous past forgetting our present and annulling our future. That is why, we the Amazon people, prefer to watch the hands and not the mouth, see the facts and not the promises. We prefer to celebrate this date thinking of what they owe us, what has not been fulfilled: Of the 09 Amazon Governments which are historically indebted to our peoples for the lack of assignment of rights to more than 100 million hectares of forest lands to hundreds of peoples and thousands of indigenous communities. Of enterprises and governments (of whatever shade) that haunt us with their development model of mega-dams, mines, oil industry, giant road infrastructure programs, drug, logging and agroindustry. Of legal powers which keep thousands of leaders imprisoned, persecuted or sentenced only for denying to be slowly eradicated as peoples. Of UNASUR and BNDES promoting IIRSA and its 520 mega-projects for more than USD 70,000 million destroying the Amazon, Andes, Pantanal and the Orinoquía natural region. Of the UN making only few efforts to comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples leaving the very same declaration as a mere adornment slumbering in the libraries while human rights and territories of our peoples are being violated. We commemorate this date remembering with emotions, pain, happiness, hope our silent, invisible heroes of thousands of our brothers and sisters who take the risk to be leaders of their peoples and communities, who accept a dangerous fate to defend in a peaceful manner the future of their grandchildren and the planet despite of all those who have fallen in those never ending battles for our survival. We thank them that because of them we Amazon people hold title to 170 million of hectares of forest lands and an organizational network to continue with all that they owe us and which we shall never stop reclaiming. We call on the indigenous Amazon movement and our sincere and committed allies to double unity and work to head in direction of the concrete targets for the Amazon region: Map out alternatives for the assignment of territories to indigenous peoples and communities for more than 100 million hectares; the holistic management by way of “Full Life Plans” for the 170 million hectares under our control and have indigenous self-government and self-determination respected. Formulate global alliances that these strategic demands are supported by politics, programs and budgets prior to, during and after the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples (New York) and COP 20 – UNFCCC (Lima), taking place both in September 2014. Promote the Amazon alternatives in the 09 countries with simultaneous action on unforgettable dates for our peoples: June 5 (Bagua, Peru), September 25 (Chaparina, Bolivia). Speak out in defense of the freedom, integrity and lives of Adolfo Chávez, President of CIDOB, Pedro Nuni and Fernando Vargas, today prosecuted and criminalized by the Bolivian Government only for defending the TIPNIS territory. At the same time speak out in defense of the freedom, integrity and lives of Alberto Pizango, President of AIDESEP and the indigenous leaders of the Amazon of AIDESEP who are prosecuted and held in prison for the peaceful defense of the Peruvian Amazon region and for all our brothers and sisters fighting submitted to the same fate both in the Amazon region and all over the world. In any case, COICA, within the frame of the very replenishment of the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People from 2005 to 2015 under the title “A decade for action and dignity”, calls for coordinated and united action of the International Community to re-establish, defend and strengthen indigenous dignity on the basis of their fundamental rights. And knowing well that in the present year 2013 the International Day has the central theme “Indigenous peoples building alliances: honoring treaties, agreements and other constructive conventions” we seize the opportunity to underline the importance of treaties between the States and the Indigenous Peoples whose subject is the recognition and defense of their rights and territories to establish a framework which guaranties a peaceful co-existence and economic relations under the condition of equality before the law. We support the fights for Life: No to destruction caused by mega-dams (Belomonte, Tapajós), giant road projects (TIPNIS, Interoceánica centro), IIRSA, oil companies (Sarayaku, Amarakaire), mining (Columbia, Suriname, Venezuela, Guyanas)Quito,EcuadorAugust09,2013PRONUNCIAMIENTO:DIA DE LOS PUEBLOS INDIGENAS-1
COICA Board of Directors
