Declaration on the pandemic and genocide

In Abya Yala, the novel coronavirus is reaching communities already suffering from colonial domination, neglect, racist abandonment by states, and invisibility imposed by national societies that continue to fail to recognize Indigenous and Black peoples as part of their nations. We warn that, without the necessary measures, we face a new and imminent genocide, adding to the already long history of death suffered by Indigenous and Black peoples of the Americas.

En BrazilIn Brazil, where the authoritarian Bolsonaro government has established a policy of death, there are already cases of coronavirus infection in Indigenous communities, quilombos, and favelas, especially in the states of Amazonas and Pará. The case of the Kokama is symptomatic of the state's negligence: the very health workers infected an entire community where, to date, there are more than 12 deaths (out of the 77 deaths and 308 infections among Indigenous people in Brazil, according to data from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, APIB, as of May 12). (1).

Many deaths continue to be denied by the federal government. São Gabriel da Cachoeira, a region in the northeast of the Amazon, with a 90% indigenous population and more than 20 different ethnic groups, is already suffering the rampant spread of the new coronavirus and faces precarious state care, with more than 137 cases, 10 deaths, and only seven ventilators.

In response to this situation, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil denounced in the final manifesto of its general assembly on May 09th a policy of extermination by the state, the genocidal elite and institutional racism (2). The quilombos in Pará and Amapá present several deaths reported by the Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas (Conaq), which has launched the manifesto Quilombolas Lives Matter (3).

En Peru Indigenous communities are demanding protection protocols for their communities, given that many were infected during food distribution by regional government personnel. The government responded with increased repression, extending the curfew. The already deficient public health system has collapsed. However, extractive industries continue to operate, as they are considered essential activities, putting nearby communities at risk, as is the case with the infected workers at the Antamina and Toromocho mines. Extractive industries continue to generate impacts; for example, a truck operating for the Shougang mining company overturned and spilled toxic waste. In the Amazonian region of Loreto, there are infections among Quechua, Matsés, and Shipibo Indigenous people, the latter with fatalities. In the tri-border area between Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, seven Ticuna Indigenous people have died. The emergency plan for Indigenous peoples does not specify concrete measures nor does it include Indigenous organizations in crisis management. At the same time, the Armed Forces are exercising greater territorial control.

En Ecuador Cases are beginning to appear in Indigenous communities amid a complete lack of response from the government of Lenín Moreno, which isn't even conducting tests to detect the infection. The Siekopai nation, whose population now numbers only 700 after the ethnocide caused by oil extraction, has recorded two deaths of elderly people with symptoms associated with COVID-19 who were not tested to confirm it, and 15 people infected with the coronavirus. (4)Two Chachi indigenous people have been confirmed dead and 18 infected with coronavirus, who were detected through the efforts of the indigenous organization itself, which obtained a donation of tests. (5).

Furthermore, Amazonian communities have been affected by an oil spill of approximately 15.000 barrels, impacting roughly 105 communities, primarily those of the Kichwa and Shuar nationalities, who depend on the rivers for food and water. This spill reached the rivers on the Peruvian side of the border, yet the Ecuadorian government has taken no action to contain it. Oil, large-scale mining, and logging activities have continued unabated, and there are reports of workers infected with the coronavirus circulating near Indigenous communities, placing them at serious risk of infection. Logging has also not ceased in the territory of the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples, who live in isolation. (6)

En ColombiaThe government of Iván Duque has taken measures that benefit local elites and national and international financial powers, while severely impacting peasant, Indigenous, and Afro-Colombian communities. The duty-free import of 2 million tons of grain and the decree approving the entry of genetically modified corn into the country (Decree 523 of April 7, 2020) affect local production, short supply chains, and the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. The lack of social protection measures during the quarantine has exacerbated the food security problems already faced by at least half of Colombians.

Especially worrying is the situation in the Amazon (where, according to El Espectador, infections increased by 213% in one week and there is not a single intensive care unit in the area's only hospital), the Pacific region, and the department of Chocó, three territories inhabited primarily by Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, where approximately 70% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty. During the quarantine period, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) has condemned the resurgence of violence, the assassinations of social leaders, and the harassment of Indigenous communities by armed groups. (7)Likewise, the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) has denounced not only the government's negligence but also the physical attacks by special forces against those who have come forward to denounce their food and humanitarian emergency, and that in at least 80% of indigenous territories, the aid announced by the government has not arrived. (8).

En VenezuelaOn May 10, the first cases of the novel coronavirus were officially confirmed in Amazonas state, where nearly half the population is Indigenous. The crisis and internal political conflict have left the population in a dire humanitarian situation, with Indigenous communities being the most vulnerable sector in the entire country. This vulnerability stems from both the historical lack of recognition of their land rights and the push to recolonize the Venezuelan Amazon and the entire Guayana Region through the expansion of gold, diamond, and coltan mining concentrated in the Orinoco Mining Arc mega-project. The latest push came now, in the midst of the quarantine, when the national government designated rivers such as the Caura, Cuchivero, Aro, Yuruari, Cuyuní, and Caroní—vital watersheds for the Amazon—as strategic zones for mineral exploitation (Resolution No. 0010 of April 8, 2020, Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 6.526), ​​posing a significant threat to Indigenous communities. The interventionist role of the United States government further exacerbates this already precarious situation.

As a Working Group, we recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic originates in a system of production and consumption that destroys ecosystems and human life, and we denounce the genocidal effect of the death policies of most Latin American states. We also denounce the fact that, since the beginning of the global lockdown, at least 10 social leaders and activists have been murdered in Latin America, six of them in Colombia alone. (9).

We call upon the peoples of all Abya Yala to denounce this crime and unite for our common survival. We demand that states cease granting new concessions for oil, large-scale mining, and logging for the duration of the emergency; that they implement social distancing and confinement protocols for workers in these industries, respecting their labor rights; that they activate prevention and care protocols for Indigenous and Black communities in close dialogue with the organizations that represent them, and with an intercultural approach; that measures be taken to guarantee the right to health for all, without distinction of social class, race, ethnicity, or national origin; and that attacks against Indigenous and Black leaders cease.

May 14th 2020
CLACSO Working Group
Political ecology(ies) from the South/Abya Yala

[1] See: http://quarentenaindigena.info/apib/
[2] See: http://apib.info/2020/05/10/carta-final-da-assembleia-de-resiste%cc%82ncia-indigena/
[3] See: http://conaq.org.br/noticias/manifesto-vidas-quilombolas-importam/
[4] See: https://www.planv.com.ec/historias/sociedad/esta-la-historia-abuelos-secoyas-que-fallecieron-probablemente-covid-19
[5] See: https://ddhhecuador.org/sites/default/files/documentos/2020-05/Alerta%2030.pdf
[6] See: https://ddhhecuador.org/2020/05/01/documento/alerta-28-se-incrementan-las-amenazas-y-vulnerabilidades-en-torno-la-zona
[7] See: https://www.cric-colombia.org/portal/pandemia-lo-que-hay-detras-de-las-cifras-y-los-decretos-del-gobierno/
[8] See:  https://www.onic.org.co/comunicados-onic/3836-gobierno-de-ivan-duque-incumple-una-vez-mas-a-los-pueblos-indigenas-y-pone-en-riesgo-nuestra-pervivencia-fisica-y-cultural
[9] See: https://www.dw.com/es/sin-tregua-durante-la-pandemia-asesinatos-de-defensores-en-latinoam%C3%A9rica-no-cesan-en-cuarentena/a-53077770