Law of the jungle in peru: Indigenous amazonian uprising against neoliberalism

Socialism and Democracy

Volumn 23, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 117-135

  Rénique, Gerardo ^a  

^a CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 71449111736     PISSN: 08854300     EISSN: 17452635     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/08854300903290835     Document Type: Article

References (23)

1. Roger Rumrill, "Nuevo mapa político en la Amazonía," La Primera, June 30, 2009.
2. also, Yasser Gómez, "Entrevista con Roger Rumrill. June 29, 2009," Blog: Sangre en las ideas, http://sangreenlasideas.blogspot.com/2009/06/los-indigenas-han-forjado-la-alianza.html.
3. Members of rondas - community-appointed self-defense and vigilance units - ronderos are also charged with the administration of customary law.
4. AIDESEP was created in the late 1970s. Its background is discussed in a later section of this article.
5. Peoples in voluntary isolation are those who explicitly affirm their wish to live without contact with the larger society. Many such communities were initially contacted by AIDESEP and subsequently negotiated with the government the creation of territorial reserves exclusively for themselves. See AIDESEP's Programa Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas en Aislamiento Voluntario y Contacto Inicial, http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?codnota=7.
6. AIDESEP-Equipo Legal, Decretos Legislativos que afectan a los Pueblos Indígenas emitidos por el Poder Ejecutivo en virtud a la Ley n. 29157. Análisis de los principales Decretos Legislativos (Documento d Trabajo), Ms., n/d.
7. Patricia Urteaga, Informe Socio Jurídico sobre Decretos Legislativos Vinculados a Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas (Lima: Derechos, Educación y Desarrollo, 2008).
8. See also, Monika Ludescher, "Hidrocarburos, medio ambiente y derechos indígenas en la Amazonia Peruana," Derecho y Ambiente, vol. 2 (1997), 281-318.
9. Alan García, "A la fe de la inmensa mayoria," Expreso, June 28, 2009.
10. See also, Carlos I. Degregori, "Presidente Garci ́a: perdido en la era de Bush," Ideele, no. 193, July 2009, http://www.revistaideele.com/node/493.
11. See Marc Becker, "Moving Forward: The Fourth Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples," NACLA OnLine, June 12, 2009, http://nacla.org.
12. By late June approval rates for Garci ́a dropped by eight points as compared to the previous month to reach an historic low of 21%. His disapproval levels reached 74%. In the Amazonian regions, experts estimated his approval rate at an ignominious 5%. "Desciende aprobación de Alan García," El Comercio, June 27, 2009.
13. Alan García, "El síndrome del perro del hortelano" [The Dog in the Manger Syndrome], El Comercio, October 28, 2007. The poverty of the region is real enough; according to a 1994 World Bank report (Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America: An Empirical Analysis), 75% of Amazonian children, both indigenous and non-indigenous, between the ages of two and nine, suffer chronic malnutrition.
14. Susana Grados, "Grupo Romero arraza comunidades," La Primera, April 13, 2008.
15. "Proyectos petroleros son peligro para diversidad indígena del Amazonas," La República, August 13, 2008.
16. Earth Right International, Racimos de Ungurahui and Amazon Watch, A Legacy of Harm. Occidental Petroleum in Indigenous Territory in the Peruvian Amazon, April, 2007, http://www.amazonwatch.org/amazon/PE/block1ab/a_legacy_of_harm.pdf.
17. Matt Finer, et al., Oil and Gas Projects in Western Amazon Threatens Biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples, http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002932.
18. AIDESEP, "Carta abierta al Presidente Alan García," November 13, 2007.
19. See also Gil Inoach Shawit, "La diferencia entre el 'perro del hortelano' y el 'perro del monte,'" AIDESEP, December 2007, http://www.aidesep.org.pe/editor/documentos/60.pdf.
20. 1990 World Bank estimates gave Peru's indigenous population at nine million, representing approximately 41% of the total population. Spread in 5,500 communities, Andean peoples are divided among 7.1 million Quechuas and 603,000 Aymaras. The approximately 350,000 Amazonian indigenous peoples are divided into 65 different ethnic groups. With 65,000, the Ashaninka are considered the largest. Although not as accurate as the World Bank's figures, more current calculations estimate Peruvian indigenous peoples at 50-60% of an estimated total population of 29 million (the latter figure from 2007 United Nations. World Population Prospects). See Javier Lajo and Carlos Arana, "Diagnostico de la situación y problemática de los pueblos indígenas del Perú," ALAI, May 4, 2005, http://alainet.org/active/5931&lang=es.
21. "Nuestros Territories", http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?id=6.
22. García, "El síndrome del perro del hortelano," (note 9).
23. The Confederación de Nacionalidades Amazónicas del Perú, led by César Sara, claims a membership of 200,000. Given its support to oil and gas companies, and its weak and bureaucratic organizational structure, its real political presence among Amazonian peoples is rather marginal.