This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting from Belém, Brazil, the gateway to the Amazon, where the U.N. climate summit is taking place.
“The answer is us.” That was the slogan as hundreds of Indigenous leaders from the Amazon and across the region gathered in the streets of Belém Monday outside the U.N. climate summit venue, where delegates from over 190 countries continue negotiations. These are some of the voices from the streets of Belém.
INDIGENOUS LEADER 1: [translated] We are here fighting for our land, for our wildlife, for our birds that are facing extinction. We are here at this COP for results. We ask that Brazilian President Lula come and demarcate the land, so that the illegal miners don’t enter our land and our river.
INDIGENOUS LEADER 2: [translated] We are here claiming our rights, defending our forests, defending our animals, where we have survived all these years. We need to be recognized by the world as great guardians of the forest.
AMY GOODMAN: As Indigenous protests continue here in Belém, the government of Brazil has announced the creation of 10 new Indigenous territories in response to demands from protesters. There are more than 900 Indigenous delegates accredited here at [COP30], the highest number at any U.N. climate summit.
We’re joined now by Diana Chávez. She is a member of the Pastaza Kichwa Nation, head of international affairs and organizations for Pakkiru, which is based in Ecuador’s Amazon, arrived in Belém three weeks ago.
Can you talk about where you’re from in Ecuador? And despite the fact that there is a massive number of fossil fuel lobbyists, this is also the gathering of the largest number of Indigenous people since the COP began 30 years ago. Welcome, Diana.
DIANA CHÁVEZ: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you, everyone, for listening to us.
Yes, it has been — I have been here for three weeks. I’m from Ecuador, from the Amazon region in Ecuador, and specifically from the province of Pastaza, where there are seven Indigenous groups living there, that we already declared our land, our territories free from oil extraction, any extractive activities. So, it has been — we know that at least 500 Indigenous people from all over the world have accreditation to come here to the blue zone, because there is — it’s kind of hard to come in. And there is the green zone, where more Indigenous people are, for example.
AMY GOODMAN: You’re talking about areas of the U.N. summit where people have to have special passes to come in.
DIANA CHÁVEZ: Yes, yeah, we have special passes, and you can come in and at least listen to the negotiations, listen what the parties are talking about — just transition, for example. As an Indigenous people and part of the Indigenous caucus, we are seeing the just transition program, that if it’s — it’s not just transition if our territories are going to be zones of sacrifice, for example, or if countries that talk here, international, talking about how they are doing things to fight climate change, but in their countries have an agenda that promotes oil or mining extraction, for example.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what it means that Indigenous organizations are pushing for their land rights to be incorporated as national climate targets?
DIANA CHÁVEZ: What we’re saying is that the demarcation of our lands is a way to preserve and fight against climate change. It’s a mechanism. So we want that to be part of the agenda to fight climate change, because it’s not recognized. It’s not part of the programming to investing the money to demarcation of land.
So, there are so many groups of Indigenous people that doesn’t have legal recognition of their land. In Ecuador, we have it, but there are so many other Indigenous groups that don’t have it. So that’s why we’re fighting for that, because we have seen now, and there is data that shows that, all of the Indigenous territories here in the Amazon region are well preserved, have the most biodiversity, and we are saving the world. The Amazon — the Amazon basin, it’s saving the world right now, because we have the rain, the river, the biodiversity and keeping with — the carbon dioxide, for example, we capture, our forests are capturing. So, that’s why we’re having these conversations about carbon bonds, about the funds to finance climate change, for example.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about how human rights intersects with Indigenous and environmental rights? I mean, land protectors, particularly Indigenous protectors, have been the hardest hit, the most killed. It is so dangerous to be an environmentalist in the Indigenous community today.
DIANA CHÁVEZ: Yeah, so, yes, thank you for saying that. It’s hard. Like, for example, in Ecuador, our Indigenous leaders have been criminalized, and they are creating some laws that can target our people and be accused of terrorism, for example. Here at the COP, what we’re saying is we’re requesting in every part of every program that the parties are talking to recognize and respect the free, prior and informed consent and to end the persecution of our land defenders, for example.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the policies of Noboa in Ecuador, of Milei in Argentina, who Trump is bailing out now to the tune of $20 billion, and particularly their policies around Indigenous people and climate?
DIANA CHÁVEZ: Yeah, looks like something is happening here in South America. There is an agenda behind these governments, this right — that comes from the right wing. For example, we see that with Noboa, the president of the Ecuador, in this year, he passed around five laws, which won behind a door. So, it was very hard to keep up, even for organizations that were in human rights, to keep up and say something or have a meeting with the committees that were in charge of these laws. So, these laws were to protect and having release to protect the government, to help them to have this agenda for oil extraction, for mining, for example, but it’s against our lands, for example. And many of these laws have articles that said, for example, that if you’re opposed to mining, or your organization can be closed for four years, and you’ve lost the legal representation. So, we need to inform this to the people, and we need to let them know that something is happening in Ecuador. This agenda of these governments that are from the right wing, it’s really against Indigenous rights.
AMY GOODMAN: Diana Chávez, we also want to ask you about the vote that just took place on Sunday, the referendum. Voters have rejected the proposed return of foreign military bases, including those operated by the United States. About two-thirds of votes cast in Sunday’s election opposed the ballot measure backed by President Daniel Noboa, an ally of President Trump. Voters also rejected Noboa’s attempts to rewrite the constitution to weaken labor and environmental standards.
DIANA CHÁVEZ: Yes, people, I’m so happy, so happy. I was crying on Sunday that we won. The people in Ecuador said four times “no.” It was a clear rejection to this imposed decision. And I would like to mention that this was a victory, a dignity of our lives. This was for the people of Imbabura, the Indigenous people from Imbabura, but the — because they were fighting and resisting for almost one month against the government. We have a march over there. And this referendum — the results of this referendum shows that at least this goes for the people that were killed during the protests.
And I would like to say that also this shows how people are realizing the agenda of this government, and also people want peace, real peace, not laws that says that they are going to — that talk about security, but doesn’t show what are the plans to fight against illegal mining, for example. So, the people of Ecuador was wise, and we both know, and we won now. The rights of nature are staying. We are going to be — Ecuador is going to be one of the examples how you can write a law for the rights of nature and how you can keep with the collective rights of the Indigenous people.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the markings, your tattoos, and their significance, and also the meaning of your beautiful necklace and earrings?
DIANA CHÁVEZ: OK, let me just say that we — I have been here for three weeks, walking and talking with the Indigenous caucus. We, all the Indigenous people from all over the world, the seven social, cultural regions, we met, we talked, and we have consensus. And we see that as Indigenous people, we can have a consensus. And it’s hard to see how the countries, the parties, cannot get a consensus. So, at least we’re showing, because there is one thing that we are together and we’re joined, is our land. So we’re fighting to keep our territories in that way.
And since I’m from the Amazon region, of course, we use some ornaments that comes from the forest, and those are the feathers on some birds, the toucan birds. And these red things are seeds that help us to protect us from bad vibes, for example. And, of course, I’m using my face is painted with wituk. That’s how we call it in Kichwa. That protects us also. If we are going to the war, for example, this is a way to scare our enemies.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, I wanted to ask you about California and your connection to it, California, the world’s fourth-largest economy, a top importer of Amazon oil, particularly from Ecuador. How has this impacted the Indigenous people of the Amazon? And talk about the campaign, California lawmakers seeking to curb imports from the Amazon. There was a large group of California legislators here.
DIANA CHÁVEZ: Yeah, thank you. Around two months ago maybe, we were able to go to California, some of our representatives, and Waorani people also, we were there. I really appreciate that the Congress from California, they gave us a voice, and we were able to talk about what you’re just saying. So, I know that they released a statement asking the government of California to check on how many — the business that they’re having with Ecuador, and at least to stop any oil that comes from the Amazon region, which is — which is very good. So, I would like to say that about that.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you so much for being with us. Diana Chávez is a member of the Pastaza Kichwa Nation, head of international affairs and organizations for Pakkiru, an Indigenous organization based in Ecuador’s Amazon.
Coming up, Kumi Naidoo, the longtime South African activist, former head of Greenpeace and Amnesty, now the president the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. Stay with us.
