Incomindios Side Event at the 15th Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP)
Photos sourced by Incomindios Switzerland, Aldemar Bolaños, and Elida Villalba Vargas, 2022
Rosa Marina Florez Cruz’s Presentation:
Photo sourced by Elida Villalba Vargas, 2022
Rosa is an Indigenous Afro-Apoteca from Istmo de Tehuantepec in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. Rosa is an activist, and researcher working on topics like rural feminism, environment, energy, and autonomy and rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Rosa details that there are five different Indigenous communities living in Oaxaca. Given their unique and advantageous location, Rosa’s community is impacted by renewable energy projects, namely private wind and energy companies. Private companies were able to develop the first farms in 1994 with the encouragement of the Mexican government. The farms were upgraded in 2006 under project Self-Supply, where the land was auctioned off to private companies so they could develop the land, sell electricity, and wind supplies to other private companies. Today, there are twenty-nine wind farms representing only part of the industrialisation of the land with grave consequences for the locals. The land is a site of political action, a result of the community’s anger towards the colonial and capitalist endeavours of the state and the private organisations.
In 2009, the Isthmus collective group was founded to protect the land, the people, and the culture. The renewable energy contracts have a collective aim to destroy the land, and work on the same model as fossil fuel companies. They manipulate, buy out, and rush or even force locals to sell their land. The contracts presented to the Indigenous Peoples were written in Spanish instead of their native language which resulted in misinformation as many are also illiterate. Companies target individual contracts, ignoring the collective nature of their land, and exclusively involve men. Women are silenced and blocked from debates concerning their future, safety, and homes. Companies claim they follow FPIC, but this is not the case. Violent threats, harassment, and murders have been experienced by Indigenous Peoples who speak out in protest of industrialisation. The contracts are signed under dubious conditions and signifies government corruption as money exchanges hands to abandon rural areas in favour of a more industrial system. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer as a result of this. This also has links to drug trafficking in Oaxaca.
The officials also pose a serious threat to women. Prostitution and abuse of women rise with the introduction of renewable projects. These threats and issues are not limited to wind farm projects—it is about who decides over the land of Indigenous Peoples, who is managing and organising their land, who is the one fuelling the development—this is the central problem. It is key to remember in these times of crisis, Indigenous Peoples have resisted and fight to maintain the biodiversity of their land the world— fighting for land is to fight for life.
The map demonstrates the industrialised land in Oaxaca. Rosa’s community is almost entirely surrounded by industrialised areas and is at significant risk of being targeted for forced development. Private companies spend a great deal of money on fossil fuels so the transition to renewable energy sources is a lucrative business as wind farms collect taxes from municipalities. In turn, food security and sovereignty are threatened.
Photo sourced by Rosa Marina Florez Cruz, 2022
Aldemar Bolaños' Presentation:
Photo sourced by Aldemar Bolaños, 2022
Aldemar is a young Indigenous Kokonuko lawyer from the Puracé reserved in Colombia and who was an Incomindios 2020 fellow. He is determined to promote the ‘Defence of Life and Human Rights’ in the Cauca Council and represents victims of armed conflict who are persecuted for fighting.
Aldemar stated that there is a long history of colonisation that continues to impact Colombia and all of Latin America. The resistance and movement of his people is therefore not new, it has been around for centuries. The fight is to preserve the traditional knowledge. The movement of his peoples was significant for their identity, allowing them to raise awareness around social and political issues in Colombia which were impacting Indigenous Peoples. There was a process of transformation in Latin America that was influenced by Europe but did not consider Indigenous Peoples. Additionally, Colombian law has not historically considered Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous leaders have often been criminalised for thinking differently. The state and organisation have worked to systematically put an end to the unity and culture of Indigenous Peoples. This has led to countless persecutions, but equally, countless results. Indigenous Peoples’ resistance has secured a sizeable portion of their land back and restored their right to practice and preserve their culture. When Indigenous Peoples mobilise, it paralyses Colombia.
However, the impacts of state discrimination still remain. Indigenous leaders are threatened and harassed due to the necessary endeavour of resistance for personal and collective interest. Resistance is materialised in the streets through protests.
Q&A with Rosa & Aldemar
Q: We cannot detach climate change and feminist movements with the fight for Indigenous rights. Everything is related to the same topic. There is a tendency to lose momentum and speak about climate change without talking about Indigenous Peoples who are the most affected. Rosa, how does this relate to feminism too?
A, Rosa: it is quite complex to deal with this problem, it is far reaching. It comes from colonial and patriarchal practices which seek to perpetuate a certain lifestyle over others. The lifestyle focuses on consumption and individuality over collective and community values. Indigenous Peoples offer diversity, and unique ways of life. This diversity guarantees progress and the continuation of breathing and existing. The role of women especially is fundamental in climate change. The practices of private development reproduce patriarchal dynamics. They try to control the life and existence of women as an expression of domination. It is necessary to address these topics in association with climate change.
Q: Are there any expected results in terms of corporate behaviour following the Human Rights Council Resolution?
A, Rosa: If they do not follow the resolution then more conflict arises. The resolutions do little to impede corporate behaviour. They are not trying to educate and benefit the community by increasing employment, they are merely trying to generate wealth due to a capitalist rationale. The resolutions are small roadblocks, or band-aids on the central problem. The resolutions may be followed but it does not do anything to tackle the issue of corporations placing capital gain above life.
Q: What do you think of the situation of Indigenous languages and their longevity? Are they included in the local education system?
A, Rosa: In recent years, in Mexico specifically, there has been a push for the increased conservation and revitalisation of Indigenous languages. Unfortunately, in the public education system in Mexico, it is a challenging task to place Indigenous languages above the importance of teaching foreign languages such as English and French. Different strategies have been brought in to help with the consequences of the great debt the national system has with the Indigenous languages. It is important to teach children Indigenous languages and their importance in Mexican society. I hope that this situation will be different in the future and that the practices that are being developed to educate people in Indigenous languages will be taken seriously, because right now, they are not.
Q: What social and Indigenous recommendations do you have from your organisation to the new government?
A, Aldemar: About 15 minutes ago, there was an agreement with the Colombian government that there should not be confrontation with the armed groups, but there will instead be a round-table discussion instead. There will also be the full implementation of the peace accords that have not been implemented following the peace deal in 2016. There is also a proposal about the security of the lands of Indigenous Peoples. The new president of Colombia has made a commitment to Indigenous People, and I am hopeful that this will become a reality.
Q: Do you have any hope for the Mayan people? What does this mean for the struggle that this has up until now? Can you please also provide some concluding thoughts?
A, Rosa: The Mayan train (Route 5) seeks to increase tourism and this route will go through a lot of Mayan and Indigenous communities, threatening biological diversity and has caught the attention of environmental and Indigenous activists. Route 5 will affect so many communities if it goes ahead. It has been suspended for a while, but we do not have faith in the suspension because they normally find a way to overrule local wishes. It is really a colonial discourse which places Indigenous Peoples as an object of tourism and consumption, and this is what the Mayan train is. It is synonymous with persecution and violence, and this is the case for other projects proposed by the Mexican government.
Events like this confirm that we have support. We are grateful for the support of Incomindios both economically, but also to be here at events and encourage participation so we all can have a broader vision of what is happening in Mexico. We are facing serious violent dynamics which stems from an individualistic attitude of those leading the country. But we will continue to occupy these spaces and continue our fight for justice.
Q: How can we benefit from the spaces such as EMRIP and other delegates who have come that could help connect with others in order to establish and use the spaces to speak about the problems the community is facing?
A, Rosa & Aldemar: These are difficult spaces to get into so without Incomindios we would not be able to get in them. It is comforting to have them there because they help make sense of the events. I hope that my participation helps shed awareness on what is happening in Mexico and the serious violent dynamics that come from an individualistic attitude from those leading the country. We will continue to occupy these spaces and speak and as long as we have support groups to help us.
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