Representatives of over a million indigenous peoples´ organizations from Latin America gathered at the Club ANCASH`s convention center in central Lima to give life to the Indigenous Summit. The event opening brought national and international speakers together to discuss the future of indigenous peoples movements in the Americas.

Indigenous delegations arrived from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina. They shouted demands for better integration into political and social processes and for an intensification of the defense of natural resources. In the event’s opening ceremony, Ecuadorian indigenous people thanked Mother Nature for all of the resources that allow for the life and development of indigenous communities.

Opening Panel

“Modernity, Indigenous Cosmovision and the International Context” was the name of the first international forum. Important intellectuals from throughout the continent gathered together and shared visions for the coexistence of modernity and indigenous cosmovisions.

Faced with the exploitation of nature caused by globalization, the forum was united behind the idea of protecting nature against the threats posed by an economic model that centers development on the destruction and exhaustion of the resources necessary for humanity’s survival. With regard to this problem, President of the Guambiano People Lorenzo Muelas, from Colombia, shared his experience working with citizens and the local government in developing norms for protecting the area’s biodiversity. Among other things, the program prohibits the privatization of natural resources and the commercialization of transgenic products. These rules were developed as a way to protect threatened natural resources.

In Mexico, this integration-based cosmovision has led to the development of new forms of governance that reflect the distinct practices of interaction, engaging in politics and governance. Universidad de Morelos de Mexico Professor Sylvia Marcos discussed the Zapatista guerrillas` forms of government and women’s role in these processes. Marcos, who has studied female Zapatistas, indicated that women are protagonists in developing this cosmovision, which creates the possibility of new strategies for struggle that correspond to a peaceful and creative project.

For his part, Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) representative Abraham Salazar issued a call for the recuperation of this cosmovision and the assumption of new forms of governance based on equilibrium between peoples and nature.

Also participating were Murcia Andrews—who discussed indigenous people’s experiences in South Africa—and Rodrigo Montoya from the Universidad de San Marcos, who referred to indigenous peoples` concept of spirituality.

This meeting will continue throughout the conference. There are three more panels and a debate of the proposals for a National Agenda and the Declaration of the Indigenous People’s of Peru and the World.

Rocio Alorda, Minga Informativa/ANAMURI