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Amazon Under Siege analyzes the impacts of the expansion of illicit economies on Indigenous Peoples’ territories, rights, and futures across the Amazon Basin. Activities such as drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, logging, and wildlife trafficking have evolved into interconnected, transnational systems that control strategic corridors, natural resources, and local populations. In many regions, these dynamics have produced forms of criminal governance that coexist with or displace state authority, reshaping territorial control and everyday life.
The consequences for Indigenous Peoples are profound and multidimensional. Territorial dispossession, violence against leaders, forced displacement, and environmental destruction are undermining systems of self-governance and cultural survival. At the same time, Indigenous communities are actively defending their territories through autonomous governance, territorial monitoring, and collective resistance, often at significant personal risk.
Drawing on regional analysis and collaboration with Indigenous partners, the report calls for comprehensive, cross-border strategies that address the structural drivers of organized crime. It emphasizes strengthening territorial governance, securing land rights, protecting defenders, and supporting sustainable livelihoods – placing Indigenous rights, autonomy, and territorial control at the center. Without coordinated regional action and meaningful community participation, violence will intensify and the Amazon will face irreversible harm.
