COVID-19: More than 23,000 indigenous people infected and 1,000 deaths in South America
Governments do not consider indigenous communities and their priorities point to urban areas, to obtain supplies for them, such as the purchase of ventilators or medicines
The advance of COVID-19 in South America has shown that the governments of the countries that share the Amazon have neglected attention to indigenous peoples in the midst of the pandemic. The health crisis is added to other historical problems suffered by these communities, such as the lack of basic services, access to health, food and destruction of their environment, among other situations that make their lives quite difficult.
The pandemic that attacks in a very harsh manner the American continent, with more than 10 million people infected — some 4.5 million in South America, is also hitting indigenous peoples with great intensity. More than 23,000 in the southern cone alone were affected with at least 1,000 deaths, in cases detected in 190 indigenous peoples.
These figures, collected and published by the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (Coica), detail that more than half of these cases affected by the new coronavirus correspond to Brazil.
In this regard, the regional platform — which brings together nine countries that have in their territories a part of the Amazon — collected statements from the apu (indigenous leader) Gregorio Mirabal, on the situation of the Amazon and the pending attention for indigenous communities.
“This pandemic has shown that there was no plan for the countries and even less for the indigenous peoples. Historically, both hospitals and schools were in the same situation [of oblivion]”, said Mirabal, general coordinator of Coica, during an intervention in the Peruvian program OjoPúblico-Pregunta.
Also participating in the program were Alicia Abanto, Deputy for the Environment, Public Services and Indigenous Peoples of the Ombudsman’s Office; and Carol Zavaleta, physician and researcher in indigenous health, nutrition and food security at the Cayetano Heredia University. They talked about how the pandemic is advancing in the communities and the response of the authorities to the situation, the relevance of the Escazú Agreement for the region and strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in indigenous territories.
Forgotten and vulnerable Indigenous communities
Meanwhile, Alicia Abanto pointed out three of the main structural problems in the care of the Amazonian peoples. The first of these is the pandemic itself, which worsens the structural problems that already systematically affected women and indigenous peoples in Peru, but also in the rest of the countries of the region.
The second is the profound inequality that affects indigenous peoples even more, victims of discrimination that is also expressed in the lack of services, caused by a historical neglect of the State towards indigenous peoples.
Third is the precariousness of governments in adequately addressing dialogues and preventing social conflicts.
To these problems is also added the lack of official records on the cases of COVID-19 in the indigenous population, which unfortunately in the Peruvian case, have had to add the death of historical environmental leaders, such as the apu Santiago Manuin, who died at the beginning of last July.
When asked about the mourning and the deceased indigenous people, the Apu Mirabal considered that the region is in a stage where the departure of the grandparents — added to the destruction of the jungle by extractivism — represents the parting of thousands of years of history. But in addition — according to Mirabal — indigenous peoples were already facing several pandemics simultaneously as a result of the lack of concern of the governments that took their turn in power.
“One of them is our lack of memory for all the people. The pandemic without water is another, because water contaminated with mercury or oil or in cities is another pandemic. How are you going to wash your hands or have sanitary conditions if you don’t have water; or if you have it but contaminated. The other pandemic of our government is the lack of dialogue and action. They don’t want to articulate. This is another pandemic that we have to overcome together as peoples”, explained the indigenous leader.
The Peruvian case
In Peru — warned Alicia Abanto — in the Ucayali region there are so far 325 communities affected by the pandemic, while in another Amazon region such as Loreto, 15 health facilities have been closed due to lack of personnel, whose members were infected and sick with COVID-19.
“There are 844 infected health workers. This implies that since there is no replacement of personnel, the health facilities that are closest to the community, close. If we are talking about the lack of personnel for the capitals or for the important cities of the region, imagine what is happening in the health centers that are in indigenous territories”, added Abanto.
Only in Peru, indigenous infections exceed 4,700 cases confirmed by the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (Aidesep).
Meanwhile, for Dr. Carol Zavaleta, governments have not considered the indigenous communities and the priorities have pointed to urban areas, to obtain supplies, such as the purchase of ventilators or medicines. Thus, isolated peoples who have tried to resist the advance of the pandemic have been forgotten.
“On the one hand, we see the Amazon as a beautiful place, full of resources and important for the development of Latin American countries. However, when we worry about looking at its people, we put them last in the queue”, Zavaleta pointed out.
In Satipo, Junín region, the Ombudsman’s Office has reported infections in hundreds of people from three indigenous communities, which shows that prevention mechanisms are failing.
Cross-border pandemic
The border area in the Amazon has hosted official meetings, such as the signing of the Leticia Pact in September 2019, supposedly to coordinate the preservation of the natural resources of the most biodiverse area in the world.
But, according to the apu Gregorio Mirabal, the visit of the political leaders -among them Martín Vizcarra, president of Peru- did not fulfill more than a formal role.
“It turns out that Leticia right now is one of the most serious epicenters of the pandemic. Why? Because this pandemic is crossing-borders. Leticia has borders with Colombia, Peru, and Brazil”, said Mirabal, recalling the Leticia Pact.
“They signed the Leticia Pact, but they didn’t even go to see how the Leticia hospital was, they didn’t even go to see if there were doctors or if there were schools and how the situation was in the Triple Frontier. They were there to take their picture”, insisted the apu of Coica.
For Abanto and Zavaleta, although an immediate solution is complex, the effort must be put on a massive intervention by the government regarding prevention. One could well go back to the beginning and communicate in an adequate way the messages that reach the indigenous population.
For its part, the apu recommended that the leaders who signed the Leticia Pact in 2019 should work on a measure to combat COVID-19. “Just as they met for the Leticia Pact, to take a photo, meet urgently for a cross-border health plan to eradicate this pandemic”.
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