Servindi, September 20, 2017. Under the motto "Amazon Alive, Humanity Survives", on September 22, nine Amazonian countries will deploy simultaneous actions to defend the Amazon, which is permanently harmed along with the populations that occupy it.
The common request they share is to demand that their states and the international community stop the aggressions and threats that the Amazon is suffering now and has for decades.
Thus, based on a demand platform, common threats have been identified, for example, the increase of activities such as deforestation, depletion and contamination of ecosystems by mining.
Also, oil palm plantations and other monocultures, as well as the increase of agribusiness and the construction of large roads (TIPNIS case), waterways, dams and other mega-structures are also serious concerns.
Likewise, the States themselves are promoting policies that leave the territories and their populations unprotected; all to benefit large economic investments.
Among the most serious consequences of encouraging extractivism is the ethnocide suffered by indigenous communities, especially those living in isolation.
In contrast to this current model, it is proposed to emphasize the development of an Economy for a Full Life, as well as the creation of state funds that promote alternative initiatives such as aquaculture, bio-industries and agroforestry.
This demand is based on the application of Article 7 of Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), in order to implement and control indigenous peoples’ development strategies.
Furthermore, urgent health care is demanded to direct effective national and bi-national actions to stop diseases such as malaria, HIV / AIDS, chagas, leprosy, leishmaniasis; as well as those derived from toxic contamination as a consequence of mining (oil spills) or agribusiness chemicals.
At National Level
Among the Peruvian demands, the repeal of bill 1718 (APIP) is requested, which stresses LD 1333, delving into law 30230 ("Ley del despojo" (Law of Dispossession)), known as "paquetazo ambiental" (environmental package).
On the other hand, it is necessary to stop land trafficking, an activity that generates violence and death. In order to do so, a preventive map of indigenous territorial rights was proposed, based on the preliminary sketches of the 1376 communities pending titling and expansion.
Another demand is the creation of the Amazonian Indigenous Fund with 1% of the public budget, as well as the indigenous concentration of climate funds for developing aquaculture, forest management, agroforestry, bioindustries and ecological tourism economies for a full life.
Actions in Peru
The mobilization will take place on September 22 but the protest begins on Thursday 21. The activities are as follows:
Thursday 21 of September. Sit-in at Petroperu at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
Friday, September 22. Sit-in at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF, in Spanish) at 2 pm. Then the mobilization will move to the Chinese Embassy for another sit-in.
Also, that same day, several members of Congress will express their support to the Amazon demands and will give a press conference during the morning.
For those interested in adding actions for the "March for the Amazon", on Tuesday 19 at 5 pm there will be a coordination meeting, prior to the activities of September 21 and 22.
The attendance is free and voluntary and will be held at the premises of the Interethnic Association of Development of the Peruvian Jungle (AIDESEP), located at Av. San Eugenio 981, Santa Catalina, La Victoria.