Alianza Arkana Blog

En las siguientes semanas conoceremos a algunas de las personas que trabajan con nosotros, comenzando por esta entrevista con Clemens Stierle. Clemens, un voluntario alemán de 20 años de edad, ha trabajado como profesor de Inglés desde agosto de 2012 en la escuela intercultural financiada por Alianza Arkana , Soi Sani, en la comunidad Shipibo de Puerto Firmeza.

Clemens llegó a Alianza Arkana a través de un programa de voluntariado gestionado por la Agencia Alemana para el Desarrollo (GIZ). Él es uno de tres jóvenes voluntarios en el mismo programa que se encuentra en Pucallpa.

AA: Por favor cuéntanos algo del trabajo que desarrollas Clemens.

Clemens: Enseño Inglés en la comunidad nativa Puerto Firmeza, trabajando con alumnos de primaria a secundaria. Es interesante porque la escuela tiene como objetivo preservar la cultura Shipibo mientras que también proporciona una educación occidental moderna.

In the following weeks we will be meeting some of the people who work with us, starting with this interview with Clemens Stierle. Clemens, a 20 year old German volunteer, has been working as an English teacher since August 2012 at the Alianza Arkana funded intercultural school, Soi Sani, in the Shipibo community of Puerto Firmeza.

Clemens came to Alianza Arkana through a volunteer program operated by the German Agency for Development (GIZ). He is one of three young volunteers on the same program who are based in Pucallpa.

AA: Please tell us something about the work you do Clemens?

Clemens: I teach English in the native community of Puerto Firmeza, working with primary to high school aged pupils. It's interesting because the school aims to preserve the Shipibo culture while also providing a modern Western education.

Apology follows rights abuses during 40 years of oil exploitation in Loreto

Translated from an article published in Info Region on 8th May.

"I apologize on behalf of the government," Prime Minister Juan Jimenez Mayor said to the chiefs of indigenous federations whose communities have been damaged by 40 years of oil exploitation and pollution in Loreto.

The meeting was attended by the federations FECONACO, FEDIQUEP, FECONAT and ACODECOSPAT¹, as well as the Minister of Energy and Mines, Jorge Merino, and Congresswoman Marisol Pérez Tello.The delegation of environmental monitors and chiefs of the Achuar, Quechua, Kichwa and KoKama Kokamilla people, who have recently initiated several meetings with the executive and legislative power of the State, expressed their opinions clearly and honestly to the Prime Minister.

Para celebrar el 5 de mayo, día internacional de permacultura, Alianza Arkana organizó un taller para niños de la comunidad Shipibo de San Salvador. A principios de este año, organizamos dos cursos de permacultura de 3 días para los habitantes. Desde entonces, tres familias de la comunidad han estado desarrollando sus parcelas y están empezando a disfrutar de las primeras cosechas.

Este taller fue organizado con la escuela primaria de San Salvador, y dirigido por los especialistas de permacultura de Alianza Arkana Marcos Urquia y Félix Rojas. Félix, quien también es un residente de la zona. Félix explicó primero un poco sobre el concepto y contexto de la permacultura, antes de llevar a los 20 niños a aprender habilidades prácticas en el campo.

To celebrate 5th May as International Permaculture Day, Alianza Arkana organized a workshop for children in the Shipibo community San Salvador. Earlier this year, we organized two 3 day permaculture courses for locals. Since then, three families from the community have been developing their plots and are starting to enjoy the first harvests.

Translated from an article published on PUINAMUDT on 29th April.

The Peruvian Minister of the Environment and the Regional President of Loreto announce the amendment of the resolution on the state of emergency in the Pastaza and promise to supervise environmental investigations.

"Brothers and sisters I think sometimes the state has to stop and apologize," the Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said during his farewell speech at the Quechua assembly in the Pastaza. He added, "no one in Peru deserves to live in poor conditions, and after a forty year delay you deserve an apology. Adequate environmental conditions are essential for your children to be born healthy."

Las comunidades indígenas de la parte alta de la cuenca del río Pastaza rechazan una propuesta que tiene la intención de excluir a las instalaciones petroleras en sus territorios comunales en la titulación de sus tierras, un proceso iniciado recientemente por el Gobierno Regional de Loreto.

Como David Chino Dahua, vice-presidente de la la Federación Indígena del Pueblo Quechua del Pastaza (FEDIQUEP) afirmó, las comunidades han exigido en varias ocasiones que sus territorios sean titulados, pero de una manera integral, es decir, sin excluir las zonas que son ocupados por las instalaciones de Pluspetrol.

A pesar de estas demandas, la agencia que supervisa este proceso ("Direcion de Saneamiento Físico Legal de la Propiedad Agraria", o Disafilpa), decidió que estas instalaciones no se incluirían en las propiedades comunales.

The indigenous communities of the upper part of the Pastaza River basin reject a proposal which intends to exclude the oil installations from their communal territories in the titling of their lands, a recent process initiated by the Regional Government of Loreto.

As David Chino Dahua, Vice-president of the the Indigenous Federation of the Quechua People of the Pastaza (FEDIQUEP) stated, the communities have demanded on various occasions that their territories be titled but in an integral manner, that is, without excluding the areas that are occupied by installations of Pluspetrol.

Despite these demands, the agency overseeing this process (the "Direción of Saneamiento Físico Legal de la Propiedad Agraria," or Disafilpa), decided that these installations would not be included on communal properties.

Estos hermosos inodoros de composta acaban de construirse en la escuela de la comunidad Shipibo de Puerto Firmeza. Alianza Arkana ha estado trabajando con esta escuela durante dos años para ayudar a desarrollar un modelo de educación intercultural genuina en la escuela, que funciona de manera práctica y teórica. Este modelo puede ser replicado posteriormente en otras comunidades indígenas.

Como al director de la escuela, educador visionario shipibo, Luis Márquez le gusta decir, mucho se habla sobre la educación intercultural, pero poco realmente se practica. Juntos, queremos cambiar esta situación.

La semana pasada, Alianza Arkana se asoció junto con la federación indígena FECONADIP, para llevar a cabo un taller sobre los derechos indígenas y actividades petroleras con siete comunidades Asháninca en el río Sheshea en el distrito de Iparía de la región Ucayali. Petrominerales, la compañía petrolera, ya ha entrado en el área y ha comenzado las actividades de exploración. Debido a que Sheshea está tan lejos de la ciudad de Pucallpa (un día y medio de viaje en lancha rápida), este fue el primer taller que han tenido, y aprendieron mucho acerca de sus derechos y los pasos a seguir para hacer frente a Petrominerales.

Como seguimiento de esta reunión, Alianza Arkana patrocinó un delegado del taller, Edgar Castillo Rodríguez, elegido por los participantes de la comunidad, a participar en un curso adicional en megaproyectos y su impacto en las comunidades indígenas que tuvieron lugar en Pucallpa los días 8 y 9 de abril. El curso fue patrocinado por el Earth Rights International y FECONAU. Edgar ha regresado a su comunidad, y va a compartir el material del curso con las otras siete comunidades Asháninca de la Cuenca del Río Sheshea. Antes de irse, Alianza Arkana entrevistó a Edgar acerca de la efectividad del curso.

Last week, Alianza Arkana partnered with the indigenous federation, FECONADIP, to conduct a workshop on indigenous rights and oil activities with seven Ashaninka communities along the Sheshea River in the Iparia district of the Ucayali region. Oil company, Petrominerales, has already entered the area and begun exploration activities. Because Sheshea is so far from the city of Pucallpa (a day and a half journey by speed boat), this was the first workshop they had ever participated in, and they learned quite a lot about their rights and next steps in dealing with Petrominerales.

As a follow-up to this meeting, Alianza Arkana sponsored a delegate from the workshop, Edgar Castillo Rodríguez, elected by community participants, to take part in an additional course on megaprojects and their impacts on Indigenous communities that took place in Pucallpa on the 8th and 9th April. The course was sponsored by Earth Rights International and FECONAU. Edgar has now returned to his community, and will be sharing course material with the seven other Ashaninka communities in the Sheshea River Basin. Before he left, Alianza Arkana interviewed Edgar about the effectiveness of the course.

Alianza Arkana: Edgar, what have you learned from the workshop?

Edgar: I´ve learned about a great deal of interesting things, for example about our rights as indigenous communities, such as our right to territory. An especially interesting thing for me was to come to understand what territory is and its relationship to our culture, flora and fauna. In this way, we need to take care of it. Additionally, I learned that having the legal title to property is very important.

I also deepened my knowledge about oil, mining and timber businesses and how they go about their business. Their activities often cause problems for people due to contamination, and they also cut down trees that for us are sacred, like Copaiba.

Translated from an article on Programa de Defensa Indígena (PDDI), published 10th April.

In a clear sign of disinterest, oil company Pluspetrol representatives did not attend the hearings called by the Special Prosecutor for Environmental Matters in Loreto regarding the environmental pollution in the Pastaza river basin. The prosecution had called for the oil company to respond to environmental damage in the Pastaza River basin as a result of its exploration, development and production of oil in lot 1AB.

Pluspetrol and Occidental Petroleum have been reported as responsible for the environmental damage caused by oil operations taking place in this part of the country for more than 40 years. The Prosecutor therefore opened an investigation to determine what environmental crimes have been committed.

These beautiful compost latrines have just been completed at the school in the Shipibo community of Puerto Firmeza. Alianza Arkana has been working with this school for two years to help develop a model of genuine intercultural education at the school, which works in practice as well as in theory. This model can then provide the template for replication in other indigenous communities.

As the Director of the school, visionary Shipibo educator, Professor Luis Márquez is fond of saying, there is a great deal of discourse spoken about intercultural education but little really put into practice. Together, we aim to change this.

We aim to work with this school using the best environmental, permaculture and cultural practices available to us. The latest example of this is the construction of these three composting latrines to replace the previous ugly and unhygienic school toilets, where human waste just ran off into the ground. The latrines will increase hygienic conditions at the school, as well as providing fertilizer for the school's permaculture program

Translated from an article on PUINAMUDT, published 8th April.

Pluspetrol are facing heavy criticism after a new spill of about 350 barrels of oil, adding to recent complaints about poor environmental practices amid the environmental emergency in the Pastaza. The company claims the spill was caused by vandalism against the pipeline. However, after evidence of Pluspetrol´s environmental irresponsibility in their oil lots, it is possible that the company could try to use this recent spill to claim they are not liable for oil pollution in Loreto.

Environmental monitors belonging to the indigenous federation FECONACO report that when they reached the point of the spill, the pipeline was already semi-repaired, but only by using an inadequate "patch" for the pipe that will not guarantee future spills do not occur.

Translated from an article on Programa de Defensa Derechos Indígena (PDDI), published 5th April.

The Iquitos Water Committee, a group which Alianza Arkana has actively supported since 2012, expressed support for the decision of the native communities of the Tigre river basin, who yesterday announced that they will not allow the development of new oil projects within their territories.

Through a statement released this morning, the platform of social organizations in Iquitos reiterated its opposition to any extractive activity (oil, mining, etc.) or other activity that affects the ecological balance of the basin.

As commonly known, lot 123, currently operated by the Canadian company Gran Tierra Energy, is located between the Tigre and Nanay river basins.

The native communities of the Tigre basin belonging to the indigenous federation FECONAT have said they will not allow more oil activities within their territories in order to avoid a repeat of the environmental disaster recorded in the Pastaza, Tigre, Marañon and Corrientes basins, which occurred due to oil operations performed in lot 192 (previously lot 1AB).

La semana pasada, una delegación gubernamental junto con las mujeres del Congreso, Marisol Pérez Tello y Veronika Mendoza, visitaron la provincia amazónica de Loreto. La primera parada fue en Andoas en el río Pastaza y en la concesión 1AB inmensamente contaminada por Pluspetrol. Esta visita al Pastaza y la contaminación de la zona han recibido atención de los medios durante los últimos días, principalmente un documental de "Panorama", un programa de noticias popular de la televisión peruana.

Los líderes indígenas de las cuencas del río Pastaza, Tigre, Corrientes, y Marañón, siempre han tenido muy claro que las cuatro cuencas de los ríos se han visto sumamente afectadas por la actividad petrolera de Pluspetrol. Ellos están unidos en sus demandas de justicia ambiental y por llevar a cabo una limpieza profunda.

La cobertura internacional de noticias del estado de emergencia declarado en la región de Pastaza de la Amazonía Peruana cita a Sixto Shapiama como el presidente de la federación Quechua de Pastaza. Sixto sin embargo, es el presidente de una ONG peruana, Asociación Putumayo, que trabaja con las federaciones Quechua y Secoya del río Putumayo. Y el río Putumayo está a unos cientos de kilómetros de distancia del Pastaza y no en la región afectada.

Aurelio Chino Dahua es el presidente de la federación Quechua del Pastaza (FEDIQUEP), y ha estado al frente de su pueblo durante años para conseguir atención del Congreso y atención internacional a los problemas de contaminación que han sufrido. Se ha reunido con los representantes gubernamentales, ha participado en alianzas indígenas, y ha organizado movilizaciones y protestas ; ha trabajado sin descanso para conseguir el tan esperado reconocimiento de la gravedad de la situación.

Last week a large Peruvian government delegation visited the Amazonian province of Loreto in an ongoing investigation of oil contamination in block 1AB, the largest and longest-active crude oil field in Peru. The first stop was Andoas, on the Pastaza River, a hub of operations for Pluspetrol Norte, the oil company now at the center of public fury and long the nemesis of local indigenous people affected by its contamination.

As widespread media attention to the delegation made the devastation there undeniable, Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal declared a "state of emergency" on the Pastaza.

Such an action had long been the plea -- and then the demand -- of the indigenous leaders of the Pastaza, Tigre, Corrientes, and Marañon river basins, who have testified for decades about the industry's damage to their people and territories and have decried Pluspetrol's shameful tenancy since it took over operations in Block 1AB in 2001. They call their interconnected riversheds a "circuit of contamination."

Bound by similar cultures and shared struggle against Pluspetrol, they stand united in their demands for environmental justice and for a thorough clean-up of their territories.

El domingo pasado, Panorama, un programa de noticias en horario estelar peruano, transmitió un pequeño documental sobre la contaminación en la cuenca del Pastaza causada por Pluspetrol Norte SA - el mayor productor de petróleo en la Amazonía peruana. Pluspetrol opera la concesión petrolera 192 (ex 1AB) y 8, que afecta a las cuatro cuencas de los ríos Pastaza, Corrientes, Tigre y Marañón, en la región norte amazónica peruana de Loreto.

Aunque las imágenes presentadas en el documental fueron impactantes, no son nuevas. Las federaciones indígenas de las zonas afectadas y sus aliados, han estado difundiendo durante mucho tiempo al mundo las imágenes de los derrames de petróleo, los suelos, ríos y lagunas enteras que Pluspetrol ha ido desapareciendo para encubrir la contaminación. Sin embargo, a nivel nacional e internacional, los testimonios de los Quechuas, Achuar, kukama, Candoshi, entre otros grupos indígenas no han sido escuchados en más de cuarenta años de explotación petrolera en sus territorios.

The international news coverage of the state of emergency declared in the Pastaza region of the Peruvian Amazon cites Sixto Shapiama as the President of the Quichua federation of the Pastaza. Sixto is however the president of a Peruvian NGO, Asociacion Putumayo, who works with Quichua and Secoya federations of the Putumayo River. And the Putumayo River is a few hundred miles away from the Pastaza and not in the region affected by the oil contamination.

Aurelio Chino Dahua is the president of the Quechua federation of the Pastaza (FEDIQUEP), and has been leading his people for years to get Congressional and international attention to the contamination they have suffered. He has met with governmental representatives, participated in indigenous alliances, and organized mobilizations and protests—he has worked tirelessly to get this much-awaited recognition of the gravity of the situation.

He is also a founding member of PUINAMUDT - an indigenous movement established in 2011 through the union of FEDIQUEP from the Pastaza, FECONAT from the Tigre, ACODECOSPAT from the Maranon and FECONACO from the Corrientes. PUINAMUDT have been meeting with the Peruvian government for the last year presenting their demands and proposals which have led to the recent announcement.

Chino Dahua commented, ""We are still drinking contaminated water every day... We think that with the declaration of emergency the government will be forced to worry about us and can solve our problem sooner."

Watch this video Alianza Arkana made with Aurelio Chino prior to the statement by the Peruvian government: