To the Ministry of Energy and Mines
To the Representative of Perupetro
To the Defensor del Pueblo (People’s Advocate)
The signatories below participating in the XVII Congress of the Native Communities of the Urubamba Valley between the 22nd and 24th of October in the Casa Machiguenga of the Urubamba River located in the city of Quillabamba, hereby wish to convey to you and the public the following concerns:
1. We perceive an aggressive conduct by the current government of Peru in the territory where the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon live, more specifically referring to the native communities in the upper and lower Urubamba where the Camisea Project is taking place in blocks 88 and 56, wherein there are also other overlaps like blocks 57, 58 and more recently 110 that, like block 88, occupy part to the territory reserved for our brothers in voluntary isolation or sporadic contact Kugapakori-Nahua, despite the existence of the Supreme Decree 028-2003, which forbids new concessions in the area.
2. Our rights are being continually violated, particularly our right to be consulted, as the Peruvian government finalizes agreements and signs contracts with the companies and then informs us of the ensuing projects, a process they call “Consultation Workshops.”
3. Once established in the region, the companies go about their work as they please, such that they formalize contracts with the communities prior to the approval of their EIAs [Environmental Impact Assessment] and without finalizing agreements, they begin to occupy community territories, stating that we will ‘take care of this later,’ putting aside ethical principles of good faith and only interested in end results and not in the consequences that this type of behavior could manifest in our communities.
Given this situation, we advocate the following:
1. The Peruvian government must refrain from issuing new concessions for the exploitation of hydrocarbons, there must exist a dialogue and consultation with our representative organizations and the affected communities about the possibility of establishing new contracts, the government must abstain from the harmful practice as it has only generated mistrust, worry and insecurity.
2. The Peruvian government must exert more control over company actions, we see too much bias and mediation about company conduct, the fines imposed should be drastic and effective, the government should not forget that this is for the sake of the existence of life, the security of our peoples, whom without knowing, are involved in a degenerating dynamic created by this project.
Quillabamba, October 25th, 2005
Walter Kategari Iratsimeri, COMARU Chief
Maritza Santoty Andres, Secretary of Women’s Issues of the Upper Urubamba
Luz Maria Rivas, Administrative Coordinator
