Sarayaku, November 08, 2011
Mr. Economist.
Rafael Correa Delgado.
CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR.
In his office,
The Original Kichwa People of Sarayaku, faced with the abuse of Human Rights by their brother leader, Marco Guatemal, President of the Indigenous and Peasant Federation of Imbabura (FICE), illegally detained for defending the rights of Mother Nature and accused of “Sabotage and terrorism," he says.
That it is the primary duty of the State to guarantee, without any discrimination, the effective enjoyment of rights; to have organizations that represent them in their identity and their form of social organization, to develop their own forms of coexistence for the generation and exercise of authority, to preserve the imprescriptible ownership of their community lands and territories, to free and informed prior consultation about development programs and laws that violate their rights to live in a healthy environment.
In the 21st century, it still lives on the utopian theory of predatory developmentalism, with the imposition of autocracy, which in response to the interests of transnational companies, generates the disgrace of democratic systems, with the imposition of the adverse ideological political structure and bills without consultation before civil society and indigenous peoples, prioritizing false development in exchange for the destruction of life systems and progressive extermination of the benefits of nature, identities and cultures of the Peoples and Nationalities of Ecuador.
Sarayaku stands in solidarity with comrade Marco Guatemal, President of the FICI, who, in the legitimate and constitutional exercise of their rights, manifested so that legal guarantees are respected and established in accordance with the constitution of our country as well as international conventions and treaties. .
We ratify our real commitment as the Kichwa People of Sarayaku, to exercise, protect, defend and claim our legitimate and constitutional rights over our territorial referents for the existence of our present and future generations. Therefore, from SARAYAKU we are also joining efforts for the cause of our brother Marco Guatemal, for the illegal detention, since only through social pressure we have and will continue to change the imposing public policies of the Government-State, and thus rebuild, reestablish the true democracies in our country.
We request the immediate release of comrade Marco Guatemal and the filing of all criminal proceedings against leaders, social leaders and indigenous people in the country. So also respect for freedom of expression, opinion, thought and respect for human rights.
“DEMOCRACY LOSES WHEN HUMAN RIGHTS ARE REPRESSED”
“POVERTY IS NOT FIGHTED BY DESTROYING NATURE”
Sincerely,
Jose Gualinga.
TAYAK APU (PRESIDENT)
OF THE ORIGINAL KICHWA PEOPLE OF SARAYAKU
