To the citizenship of the world

Letter of solidarity to the Pachamama Foundation.

From the Deep Forest, the Original Kichwa People of Sarayaku, in their legitimate right, express their broad and permanent solidarity with the Pachamama Foundation; and recognizes its work carried out in favor of Human Rights and Nature, giving a lively and supportive voice that supported Sarayaku in the last 10 years in the process and trial of the “Sarayaku Case, versus State of Ecuador.

Sarayaku condemns and frontally rejects the unilateral and violent decision adopted by the National Government, by dissolving the Pachamama Foundation; outside the provisions of the State Constitution.

We underline that in the history of indigenous peoples, the State and the Governments of the day have never supported or endorsed the strengthening of our organization. Our institutionality, governance, life plans, territorial management, or collateral issues have been their concern; being necessary that to improve our living conditions, we have to carry out a wide and strenuous self-management.

In this sense, the Pachamama Foundation supported the fundamental rights of the voiceless; reinforcing governance, strengthening the organizational capacity and management of the territory and the preservation of biodiversity. Assuming the obligations that the State must generate permanently in public policies, in favor of the true democratic exercise and development.

The dissolution of the Pachamama Foundation responds to the intention of silencing the voice of the peoples in the face of predatory extractivism and for the fear that the peoples will organize themselves for the exercise of our self-determination; fear because we claim our rights, proposing to decolonize and combat the racism that prevails since the Colony.

From the racist criterion comes the warning that a "studied Indian is dangerous" therefore at all costs they want to prevent, isolate, frighten so that solidarity human rights organizations abandon all kinds of support for the process of consolidating voice and force of the nationalities.

What happened on November 28 is the result of a clearly unfair action, provoked from the very levels of the government, which does not respect the rights of indigenous peoples to free prior consultation, and informed in good faith, attacking their assets, in collusion with false leaders expelled from their territories, who have always been badly accustomed to receiving easy money, in the name of their towns and the lives of their inhabitants, with lies and deceit, favoring large predatory companies of nature.

For the Sarayaku people, the value of justice lies in its absolute projection of balance and equanimity; It must not only fight the material action, but also find the origin of the problem and the provocation, to blame the real causes of this chaotic situation, otherwise, the guilty parties themselves will be free and judging from their power. In this sense, the State and the Government are the only ones responsible.

For these reasons, we strongly reject and hold the State responsible for any psychological, physical, moral action that could affect the members and leaders of Sarayaku, such as those of the Pachamama Foundation.

We declare that we will be vigilant in denouncing any outrage and we request that justice show its true face and that the institutional framework of the Pachamama Foundation be immediately restored.

For the People of Sarayaku

Jose Gualinga
Tayak Apu (President) Sarayaku

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