They barely have trees to hide

There are still contactless tribes on the planet that defend their territory with nails and teeth. Possibly, the more extreme case is that of the trench they have mounted In North Sentinelbut they are not the only ones. In general, the few tribes of this type that remain have managed to escape the “exterior” showing themselves faithful to their way of life. The problem, As we point out Recently, they are receiving a series of visits Very dangerous.

And in other cases, they are directly taking away their “hiding place.”

The last resistance. They told it in two extensive reports The Guardian and O Globe. Twenty -five years ago, the anthropologist Beatriz Huertas He followed the traces of an invisible town in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. The Mashco Pirothe largest indigenous group not contacted on the planet, appeared on the banks of the rivers, took bananas and faded in the jungle. Since then, its history has been that of a silent resistance to threats every time most lethal: Legal and illegal felling, drug trafficking, diseases brought by outsiders and climate change that alters the vital cycles of the jungle.

Although Peru protected a portion Of their territory, the wood concessions granted right next and within their traffic areas have caused forced and violent coexistence. The expansion of Protected Areaapproved Almost a decade To avoid these clashes, it was never implemented. The result is a jungle where the Mashco Piro live In constant alert And where even the indigenous guards such as Romel Ponciano confirm that only men and adolescents are seen: the rest is hidden, fearing new fatal meetings.

A diffuse border. Despite international treaties already a national law of protection of villages in isolation, the real measures to safeguard the Mashco Piro have been fragmented, slow and insufficient. While the Ministry of Culture reduces budgets and surveillance positions operate with just two people, wood concessions with international certification as FSC (supposedly synonym for sustainability) overlap vital territories for isolated.

Companies like Tahuamanu Canales Madera They have been involved in mortal confrontations, and others as wood They manage concessions within the area whose protection remains stagnant Since 2016. In parallel, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and local authorities such as the mayor of Tahuamanu They promote studies “Verifiers” that seek to question the need for the territory for isolated, prioritizing the commercial value of wood over the right to exist without contact.

What do the authorities say. He Official speech oscillates between denying the very existence of isolated peoples (as the former President Alan García) and justify its displacement on behalf of the “order” against drug trafficking. All this under a developmental development that makes indigenous obstacles and not holders of fundamental rights.

Paper battles. Indigenous organizations have achieved legal victories, such as the Cancellation of 72 concessions In Loreto, but they fear that these triumphs evaporate if the idea of ​​”shared areas” between isolated villages is institutionalized. In fact, the proposal to exclude non -contacted communities from the consultation processes required by the FSC certification It has been indicated as a serious omission.

Impunity. Activists like Carla Cárdenas have presented motions To prohibit any certification in territories with indications of peoples in isolation, but the vote is in the hands of the sector’s own companies. While, The Guardian remembered that each delay in summoning the committee that must decide on the expansion of the Mother of God Reserve prolongs the impunity of operations in Mashco Piro territory and paralyzes other strategic reserves Like Yavarí-Mirimin the north of the country.

Plus: all this happens in a region already crossed by the Interoceanic roadwhich brought illegal gold, secondary routes of logging, and a Deep fragmentation of the Amazon ecosystem. Even areas with “more responsible” companies have become conflict points.

Two countries and a threat. On the Brazilian side, the situation It is not better. Although the Lula government has taken some steps such as the proposal of the indigenous territory of the Chandless River, indigenous organizations denounce that the commitments are more rhetorical than real. The projected path between Santa Rosa do Purus and Manoel Urbano worries the defenders of the ACRE, as it could become a new entrance door for timber and traffickers.

Binational cooperation with Peru, essential to protect a people whose mobility does not know political borders, expired in 2016… and was never renewed. In absence of agreements Government, indigenous organizations themselves have proposed two large territorial corridors that would add 25 million hectares protected From the ground, Manchineru volunteers monitor the movements of their “distrustful relatives” to avoid fatal encounters and preserve their autonomy. But the recent dynamism of the Mashco Piro (their appearance out of season, its downstream) suggests that external pressure is forcing them to alter your patterns traditional

Warning from the jungle. Thus, in the core of this silent tragedy the report highlighted a truth that the Mashco Piro repeats when they are shouted from the other shore: They don’t want contact. It is not ignorance or a whim: It is memory. That of generations that have seen diseases, weapons, chainsaws and roads such as Death omens.

For the Mashco Piro, the trees They are monuments. Asking them if they want to approach, The answer It is the same: “No, because you are bad.” They do not distinguish between good and bad, but between a worldview that respects the jungle and another that destroys it. If you do not act soon, and if your will is not respected and your territory is protected effectively, that warning could become an epitaph.

Without trees and their wood has nowhere to hide.

Image | Survival International

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