Helping the Indigenous children of Peru by prosecuting the government of Peru for genocide

A man leads his horse, loaded with supplies purchased in Cusco, through a blizzard and over a high pass en route to the extant Quechua-speaking Incan village of Q'eros in the Peruvian Andes. Photo © Ethan Welty / Aurora Photos

Donations in Peru usually end up in the wrong hands. While I am glad to see that some people in Lima care about the Andean children –and that our Indigenous peoples know that Lima cares about them- I find it contradictory when Lima’s bloggers and the media try to help our Indigenous peoples of the highlands after they have remained silent on what is happening with the Amazonian peoples of Peru and their struggle against free trade policies.

When I read Lima blogs and media I find few exceptions of independence and honesty when it comes to Peru’s social issues. Now that I see information posted about bank accounts and donations centers, I become aware of what happened in the 2007 earthquake experience and the 2008 winter season fundraisings, so I want remind everyone that some of those donations WILL NOT reach the Andes.

This is the same press and media that has remained silent about the recent IV Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples in Puno, where the Lima government sent military and police personnel to intimidate the over 6,500 Native leaders that came from 22 countries of the world. Such a historical event addresses exactly what Indigenous peoples want to do in order to avoid tragedies like we are seeing in Peru. But the silence of Lima is due to the genocidal government of Garcia.

We must demand the governments of Lima and Puno, to send immediate emergency resources including mobile hospitals and heating systems to the area, by helicopters or any other way. At the same time, Peruvians should demand for a reform in the way economic resources are distributed in Peru, with more investment in social infrastructure for the poor.

Also, it is time to trial President Alan Garcia, his Cabinet and some members of Peru’s Congress, for racist genocide against the Indigenous peoples at the international human rights tribunals. They have the economic and political power to save lives, but their internalized racism and corrupted selfishness have pushed them to commit these crimes against humanity.

Donations and internet campaigns can only do so little when the big guys feel they can do whatever they want with the government. In a country that exports annually $37 billion dollars in natural resources mostly from the Andes and the Amazon forest, you have to realize there is a racist policy on taking that richness away from those regions, and then forget about the peoples that live there. An internet campaign to donate sweaters, blankets and canned food won’t change that.

The same way the Peruvian government ignores Indigenous peoples of the Andes, they are now promoting human displacement in the Amazon forest, when they allow extractive industries corporations to take over the Indigenous territories. It’s all about money no matter if it means killing innocent people.

If we really care, bloggers and media of Lima should take on this initiative and start a campaign to prosecute the real criminals here, and this way we will avoid any future deaths of innocent people in Peru, surely and finally.

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