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Indigenous Protest in the Andes

Neil Hughes

Languages and International Studies


Intro

Core concepts– Andean Region– Indigenous – Neoliberalism


Andean Region– 7 countries– Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia

Geography- highland and lowland regions

Culture- indigenous practices, customs and traditions

Society- poverty and social inequality

Politics- democracy, social protest


Indigenous– Descendants of those that

inhabited a territory prior to colonisation

– Maintain traditional practices, customs and traditions

– Self-identify as indigenous– Close association with

ancestral territories– Linguistic difference– Social, economic and

political marginalisation

Indigenous protest in the Andes

Neoliberalism– Theory that has dominated

policy-making in developed and developing world since 1980s

– Economic crisis: low growth, high inflation, high unemployment

– Consensus about causes Excessive state intervention,

trade unions, anachronistic social practices

– Consensus about solutions Market reforms: privatisation,

deregulation, trade and investment liberalisation; curb trade union powers, extend private property


– Benefits: growth, employment, consumer choice– Milton Friedman: democratic governance– Criticism: Stiglitz, Harvey, Klein

According to Harvey “the process of neoliberalisation has entailed much creative destruction, not only of prior institutional frameworks and powers but also of divisions of labour, social relations, welfare provisions, technological mixes, ways of life and thought, reproductive activities, attachments to the land and habits of the heart”


– Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine

– Criticism in developing world

– Latin America: social protest, political instability, change in political culture


Lecture– Incidence of protest– Causes of protest– Social composition – Action repertoire– impact


Incidence of protest– Observatorio Social de

América Latina– 2000-2004: 180%

increase– Argentina, Bolivia,

Ecuador– Peru since 2006: 250%

increase


Causes of protest– Neoliberal economic

policies Free trade Privatisation of natural

resources

– Free trade: Peru: 2005 Competition from

subsidised imports, impact on food security


– Resource privatisation Bolivia 2000: Water War

– Cochabamba– Aguas de Tunari: price increases of up to 150%– Protest involving: “rural peasant irrigators, local water

collectives, urban workers, middle classes, elderly men and women, shantytown dwellers, the traditional left, and anybody unhappy with the established order and its corruption and inefficiency” (Silva, 2009, p.127)

– Cocaleros: Evo Morales– Bolivian Rural Workers’ Union: Felipe Quispe


– Cancellation of water privatisation.

– “the water war marked a turning point in resistance to neoliberalism. It was a local issue with national resonance in which tried and true government mechanisms of political exclusion, manipulation and repression only stiffened resolve and expanded mobilisation by heterogeneous social groups that included middle classes, who obtained significant concessions” (Silva, 2009, p.131)


Peruvian Amazon 2008/9: AIDESEP– International Law: Convention 169 of the International

Labour Organisation– Brian Keane (Land is Life) “International agreements and

inter-American human rights law recognise indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands, and explicitly prohibit the granting of concessions to exploit natural resources in their territories without their free, prior and informed consent”


– Since 2006: 50 drilling concessions, 70% of Peruvian Amazon open to exploration

– Ideological onslaught: “The Syndrome of the Orchard Dog”, “nature is a resource”, “laziness and indolence”


Social Composition– Indigenous and peasant organisations– Ecuador: Donna Lee Van Cott (2005, p.138): “by the mid

1990’s, the indigenous movements had become the most powerful Ecuadorian collective social actor and the object of increasingly favourable public opinion”

– CONAIE: 80% of indigenous population– Bolivia: Cocaleros, Rural Workers’ Union– Peru: AIDESEP, Peruvian Peasants’ Federation


Action Repertoire– Direct action: demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins, occupations

Road blockades: poor transport infrastructure, effective, violent confrontations

– El Alto, Bolivia, 2003: 67 protestors killed– Civil Action in US courts

Protest marches; Bolivia 2000, Chapare to la Paz

– Electoral Politics Ecuador: Pachakutik Bolivia: Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS)

– Evo Morales first indigenous head of state


Impact– Blockage or repeal of

neoliberal reforms– Ousting of several

governments: Ecuador 2000 and 2005

– Constitutional recognition of indigenous rights: Ecuador 2000, Bolivia 2009

Bolivia: indigenous self-rule, seats set aside in Congress for minorities, control of renewable resources, access to water a fundamental human right

– Increased political representation


Impact– Blockage or repeal of indigenous reforms– Ousting of several governments: Ecuador 2000

and 2005– Constituional recognition of indigenous rights:

Ecuador 2000, Bolivia 2009 Bolivia: indigenous self-rule, seats set aside in Congress

for minorities, control of renewable resources, access to water a fundamental human right

– Increased political representation


“The goals are clear: to regain a measure of national economic autonomy, to reconstruct the mixed economy, to reintroduce industrial policy, to offer land reform for indigenous and mestivo peasants, to protect popular sectors from the market by providing services and subsidies; to construct institutions for a more participatory democracy; and to politically include intellectuals and popular sector leaders in his administration” (Silva, 2009, pp.145-6_

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