A Peruvian delegation of Indigenous leaders and fishing communities is in the United States right now, confronting investors on their rights to live free from the devastation caused by the oil company the investors are bankrolling, Petroperú. Nayap Santiago (Wampís Nation), Nelton Yankur (Achuar people), and Carlos Chapilliquen (Cabo Blanco Fishing Association) – accompanied by Amazon Watch campaigners across New York, Pennsylvania, and D.C. – provided first-hand testimony on the ways Peruvian livelihoods are threatened by Amazon oil.
Yesterday, the delegation arrived at Vanguard headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania. They were met with silence from one of Petroperú’s main financiers, Vanguard. The asset manager’s executives were unwilling to spare time to learn about the destruction caused by Vanguard’s active financing of Petroperú’s bonds.
However, the leaders were instead met with the solidarity of local activists sharing their own experiences of abuse at the hands of Vanguard’s investments, highlighting the interconnected struggles of Indigenous communities across the world. Our allies at Vanguard S.O.S. and Stop the Money Pipeline have clogged Vanguard’s fax machine and posted one-star Yelp reviews with messages from leaders. Despite its best attempts, Vanguard cannot possibly ignore the movement the delegation has built throughout the week.
Vanguard is the second-largest asset manager in the world, so it plays a crucial role in providing investment dollars to fossil fuel and other extractive companies that devastate Amazonian communities, local communities around the world, and the global climate. In 2021 alone, the company was responsible for investing $300 billion in fossil fuels and $104 billion in the world’s “most devastating new fossil fuel projects.”
Beginning in early September, Amazon Watch, on behalf of the delegation, requested a meeting with top representatives of Vanguard, enclosing a letter from Achuar and Wampis leaders outlining the adverse impacts of Petroperú investments. Vanguard did not respond. The destructive asset manager cannot escape reality. It will continue to hear from us, the press, and Indigenous leaders about the impacts of its financing.
This week we also accompanied the leaders as they confronted banks, including JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Citigroup, about their continued financing and investments in extractive oil and gas companies that undermine biodiversity, the environment, and Peruvian communities’ health, food, and water security. The leaders expressed their concerns regarding Petroperú’s irresponsible practices and affirmed that these banks’ policies do not currently safeguard against Indigenous rights violations as they allege.
We will follow up with banks on their next steps to minimize their clients’ risk and impact on the rainforest. Together we can maintain the pressure for real accountability.
Over 15,000 of you understand what’s at stake for the Peruvian Amazon if Vanguard pours one more cent into its toxic bonds or if yet another bank decides to bankroll Petroperú’s operation. Your voice has become invaluable in this movement. The delegation is possible through your continued support.
Indigenous leaders will continue to call on Vanguard to listen to their demands by adopting a robust Indigenous rights policy and severing ties with Petroperú, as well as other oil and gas projects around the world that fuel climate change.
We are now that much closer to victory. In fact, the Achuar and Wampis are no strangers to it. They have defended Block 64 and defeated oil companies before.
Now is the time to go all in to End Amazon Crude! Can you sign the open letter to Vanguard and help us get to over 20,000 signatures before midnight on December 31?
