[WSMDiscuss] ES / EN Fwd: Los indígenas se mueren... PASA LA VOZ / The Indigenous Peoples are dying... (Fundación Pueblo Indio Del Ecuador (‘Foundation of the Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador’))

Wed Jun 17 19:06:11 CEST 2020

ES / EN

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Viruses in movement…, Indigenous Peoples in movement…, Abya Yala in movement…, Ecuador in movement…, Resistance in movement…, Solidarity in movement…

[Here, from the depths of the pandemic and in the context of the virus of an uncaring Settler state – like so widely across the world -, an appeal from Abya Yala, from the Fundación Pueblo Indio Del Ecuador (‘Foundation of the Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador’) that also asks a hard question of the nation-state, a fundamental question that I think many people are beginning to think about, around the world : What is this ‘nation-state’ that we are allowing to rule us ?  And that has turned out to be so brutally uncaring - and in many places, violent -, so widely across the world ? :

… The State appears as a strange socio-political structure for those who do not receive the attention and respect that it extends, badly or well, for other citizens. … Being Indian [indigenous] is not only a question of ethnic identity but also an economic, social, and ethical one. Will the government let indigenous people die of disease and hardship? Will it be able to meet the historical challenge that is presented to it?

¡ Los indígenas se mueren ¡ …PASA LA VOZ

The Indigenous Peoples are dying...

Fundación Pueblo Indio Del Ecuador (‘Foundation of the Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador’)

            In solidarity…

            JS

fwd

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Fundacion Pueblo Indio Fundación Pueblo Indio <fundacionpuebloindiodelecuador at gmail.com>
> Subject: Los indígenas se mueren... PASA LA VOZ
> Date: June 17, 2020 at 10:55:41 AM EDT
> To: undisclosed-recipients:;
> 

[Google translation, slightly modified -js :]

The indigenous people are dying !

Ileana Almeida

The corona virus pandemic spreads among the entire population and, as always, the indigenous peoples are the most affected because they endure the worst living and health conditions. The bases and the leaders of their organizations have reiterated claims and requests, but the government does not seem to assume the seriousness of the situation and does not respond to the extent of the magnitude of this tragedy among the descendants of the original peoples.

The curaca Dawa, from Arajuno, on behalf of his people cries out for a hospital. Chachi communities have voluntarily isolated themselves to prevent contagion. The Siona-Sequoia care for their elders as best they can. María Minda Aguinda, from the Cofán people, declares that she no longer has the strength to continue fighting. The Waorani denounce the lack of humanitarian attention: Oswaldo Nemquino does not know what is happening because the news comes too late, Alicia Nemquiwi says that a supplier from the Repsol company, who works in the province of Orellana, was confirmed with covid-19, and they couldn't ask anyone for help.

In the Shuar language there is no word for pandemic or virus, and they have coined the term mesett ("strong disease") to designate them. The epidemics brought by the oil companies have almost killed the Zapara, reduced to five speakers [people who speak their language]. Those who live in bordering places of Ecuador and Colombia, the Awa and the Embera, they hide deep in the jungle to be safe from guerrillas, soldiers, and drug traffickers. Children do not have access to distance education, of course. Jungle villages are not protected by an epidemiological fence, although it is well known that they have no defenses against exogenous diseases and that an epidemic can extinguish entire villages. Ángel Lema laments that quichuas settled in Quito can no longer sell the knickknacks that allow them to earn a living.

María Guamán claims that in the San Roque market, where they sold fruits and vegetables, they have closed their doors. Leónidas Iza asks for direct channels to distribute food and warns that infections are increasing. Alberto Ainaguano laments: In addition to the virus, the Sangay eruption comes over us, damaging the crops.

Long lists of suffering and demands are published in alternative media that are available to the Aboriginal population. The Fundación Pueblo Indio del Ecuador and other NGOs do what is within their reach to mitigate ills and fill gaps that are exacerbated and multiplied in the current circumstances. The State appears as a strange socio-political structure for those who do not receive the attention and respect that it extends, badly or well, for other citizens.

Being Indian [indigenous] is not only a question of ethnic identity but also an economic, social, and ethical one. Will the government let indigenous people die of disease and hardship? Will it be able to meet the historical challenge that is presented to it?

____________________________

Jai Sen

Independent researcher, editor; Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Globalisation Studies at the University of Ottawa

jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded and unsurrendered Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900) 

CURRENT / RECENT publications :

Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance. Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ? (Indian edition). New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>, MOM1Flipkart <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>, and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
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