This month, Amazon Watch and the Chapra Nation fulfilled a dream years in the making: we brought solar energy, freezers, and internet connectivity to 12 communities across Chapra territory.
Indigenous Rights
They Delivered Justice, Not a Favor
The Remanso Massacre was not an isolated act. It is part of a wider pattern of violence sweeping across the Colombian Amazon and the tri-border zone where Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador converge.
Triple Trouble: Geopolitics, Illicit Economies, and the Risks of the “War Against Narco-Terrorism” in the Colombia-Ecuador-Peru Tri-Border
A new report by Amazon Watch and Amazon Underworld documents how U.S.-backed militarization, expanding criminal economies, and incoming right-wing governments are converging in one of the most volatile regions of the Amazon.
A Living Forest, Not an Oil Field: Sarayaku’s Vision for the Amazon
More than two decades ago, helicopters, soldiers, and oil workers descended on the territory of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Playing For Change Brings Together Manu Chao and Alexandre Carlo in a Song for the Amazon
Today, Playing For Change, a global project known for bringing together musicians from different countries in collaborative videos, released the song “Acontecer,” an international call to protect the Amazon, Indigenous peoples, and the planet.
Amazon Watch is building on more than three decades of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
El Niño Returns to an Amazon Already on the Brink
Global El Niño and Coastal El Niño could combine to create wildfire conditions resembling the catastrophic Amazon fire seasons of 2019 and 2024
A future where forests thrive and Indigenous rights are respected is possible. But it requires acting with far greater urgency than the world has managed so far.
Canadian Mining Company Changes President in Brazil Amid Xingu Dispute
O Globo | Canadian mining company Belo Sun has changed the leadership of its operations in Brazil. The move comes as the company works to convince investors that the project is moving forward.
Bay Area Communities Mark 13th Annual Anti-Chevron Day
Investor votes on Indigenous rights and human rights due diligence resolutions underscore escalating scrutiny of Chevron’s global operations
Shareholders, Indigenous leaders, human rights defenders, and environmental justice advocates converged on Chevron's Annual General Meeting today.
Brazil’s Supreme Court Approves Reduction of Amazonian Park, Paving the Way for Megarailroad
Despite the ruling, the Ferrogrão “grain railway,” backed by U.S.-based Cargill, remains stalled without an environmental license and continues to face major legal and regulatory challenges
Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a law reducing the size of the Jamanxim National Park, allowing the Ferrogrão railway project to move closer to environmental licensing.
Brazilian Court Mounts Pressure on Canadian Mining Companies Operating in the Amazon
Court of Appeals rulings reinforce Indigenous claims concerning lack of consultations while prohibiting government agencies from representing Canadian interests in legal proceedings
“Waking up to this news brought us extreme happiness. Every victory, small or large, strengthens our work even more."
Peru’s Amazon at a Crossroads as Drug Trafficking Expands Across Indigenous Territories
A new report on the impact of drug trafficking on Indigenous Peoples in Peru warns that the country faces a defining decision: confront the rapid expansion of organized crime in the Amazon, or risk allowing new systems of criminal power to take root across vast regions of the country.
Indigenous Peoples Brought the Amazon Crime Crisis to the U.N. What Happens Next?
“It is fundamental that states understand Indigenous peoples are crucial actors when it comes to security and containing organized crime."
Brazilian Court To Rule on Whether Belo Sun’s Amazon Gold Mine Stays Suspended
Associated Press | Scientists said that any dam failure could send toxic waste rapidly into the river, threatening Indigenous and riverine communities as well as the ecosystem.
Bay Area Communities Mark 13th Annual Anti-Chevron Day
Community organizations, environmental justice advocates, and international frontline leaders will gather across the Bay Area next week for the 13th annual Anti-Chevron Day, May 13-17, 2026, culminating in a major public festival and march in Richmond.
Hope and Action To Phase Out Fossil Fuels
Traveling back to Bogotá from the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, I struggled to name a feeling I had never experienced after a climate conference: hope!
Indigenous Amazon Groups Urge the U.N. To Curb Organized Crime, Not Militarize Territories
Associated Press | “In light of this situation, it is essential that responses to organized crime and illicit economies do not translate into new processes of militarization, criminalization, or the subordination of Indigenous governance systems.”
Indigenous Peoples Call on U.N. Action as Organized Crime Expands Across the Amazon
Indigenous leaders who gathered at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues are demanding a decisive shift away from failed militarized responses toward rights-based approaches that center Indigenous territorial governance, autonomy, and community-led security systems in efforts to confront organized crime. They warn that current state responses are not only insufficient but, in many cases, actively deepen violence and insecurity in their territories.
Indigenous leaders who gathered at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues are demanding a decisive shift away from failed militarized responses toward rights-based approaches that center Indigenous territorial governance, autonomy, and community-led security systems in efforts to confront organized crime.
A New Gold Rush Threatens the Amazon
Whenever gold returns to the center of global geopolitics, the Amazon comes back into the crosshairs. The war between the United States and Iran has put the metal back on the radar of markets, investors, and the extractive industry.
Amazon Indigenous Delegation Arrives to Historic Conference on Transition Away From Fossil Fuels
The First Conference on Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels marks a turning point in climate diplomacy. It is the first time countries will explicitly address the root cause of the climate crisis: the unmitigated proliferation of fossil fuels.
Amazon Watch and Allied Organizations Release Landmark Report on Amazon Crime
In the context of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Amazon Watch, together with allied organizations, presents the first report to analyze how illicit economies and repressive government responses threaten the rights, territories, and physical and cultural survival of Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous Leaders Bring Amazon Crime Crisis to the UN
As militarized responses fail, Indigenous territorial governance proves vital
An urgent message is traveling from the Amazon to the United Nations. This week, Amazon Watch will accompany a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Peru and Ecuador to New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).
Tireless Resistance for Mother Nature
Testimonial from Women Defenders Delegation to the Amazon
A picture is worth a thousand tears. That was what I felt traveling to Ecuadorian Amazon with Amazon Watch on a woman donors delegation last month where we traveled from the Andes to the Amazon and deep into the remote Kichwa community of Sarayaku.
Brasília Becomes Indigenous Territory
Last week, Brazil’s capital Brasília was transformed into a center of Indigenous resistance. With more than 7,000 Indigenous people occupying the capital, the 2026 Free Land Camp (ATL) pressured Brazil’s government to uphold native land rights
In a Major March, Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Demand Land Demarcation and the Cancellation of Ferrogrão
More than 7,000 Indigenous people marched through the streets of Brasília yesterday under the banner “Demarcate, Lula! A sovereign Brazil is one with demarcated and protected Indigenous lands.”
Major Indigenous Protest in Brazil Targets Belo Sun Gold Mine Project
Thousands of Indigenous people marched in Brazil’s capital yesterday, during the second day of the 2026 Free Land Camp (ATL), the country’s largest Indigenous mobilization, to denounce land rights violations driven by large-scale mining, agribusiness, and logging projects.
This Month Governments Meet to Plan a Fossil Fuel Phaseout. The Amazon Must Be Heard.
Indigenous peoples have demanded for decades that governments come together and commit to getting off fossil fuels. The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, taking place later this month in Santa Marta, Colombia, is a manifestation of that demand.
The Trump Doctrine in Latin America: Carry a Big Stick and Speak of “Total Extermination”
The Administration designated a dozen Latin American criminal cartels as terrorist organizations and launched Operation Southern Spear in September.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Peru Must Protect Kakataibo People in Isolation
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has issued a clear mandate, ordering the Peruvian State to protect the Kakataibo people living in voluntary isolation in the Kakataibo Indigenous Reserve.
“The rainforest speaks with the voice of a woman.”
Ecuador’s Indigenous Women March Against Oil
On International Women's Day, Indigenous women from across the Ecuadorian Amazon traveled by foot, car, and canoe to Puyo with a single, unified demand: No more oil in the Amazon.



















