Ashaninka lose patience with administration delays

The blockade was reported as follows:

5/8/2004 Article from Diario Peru:
One hundred communities isolated by Asháninka protests

The indigenous people of Rio Tambo, (Satipo Province), yesterday carried out their threat to close all routes to Atalaya, (Ucayali Province), until the border problems between the two districts are resolved. With the help of the community militias and armed with spears, sticks and stones, about three thousand people took part in the blockade of the Mazamari-Puerto Ocopa road and took over about 23 kilometres of the route, leaving more than one hundred communities without communications.

The Asháninka of 42 communities, who are prepared for an indefinite blockade until the border and administrative problems are resolved, also interrupted river transport in the Tambo, Ene and Perené Rivers. This situation is threatening the local economy, as there are around one hundred trucks and boats unable to move, with merchandise that will soon rot.

The director and president of the Central Asháninka del Rio Tambo, Berlín Diques Ríos, said that the blockade will continue until their demands are dealt with. In addition, the authorities in Satipo have decided to call a 24 hour stoppage in support of the communities’ claims.

On his part, Dante Navarro Páucar, mayor of Atalaya, said that more than ten thousand citizens of their province are being affected by the shortage of food supplies. Although he recognised that the limits between the provinces are not well defined and that the Asháninka’s protest was a just one, he pointed out that to treat this problem in a confrontational manner would not help either group.

Commission: Immediately, with the aim of finding a solution to this conflict, a commission of technicians of the Office of the Council of Ministers, (PCM), travelled yesterday to the area. Omar Landeo, head of the National Technical Directorate for Territorial Demarcation of the PCM, said that the group will listen to the communities’ claims and will develop a technical solution.

“Unfortunately, the problem has been dragging on for 20 years and it is very complicated to find immediate solutions”, he pointed out. However, he reminded us that on the 29th and 30th of April there was a round table meeting at which the authorities and the leaders of all the communities involved signed an agreement promising to look for a peaceful solution.

In addition to the above press article, Ivan Brehaut (Director, Asociación para la Conservación del Patrimonio de Cutivireni, ACPC) and Berlin Diques (President, CART) add, to clarify the aims and objectives of this blockade:

The Asháninka communities of Rio Tambo District are demanding action on the following points:
• Solution to the border problems between Atalaya, (Raymondi Province, Ucayali) and Rio Tambo, (Satipo Province, Junín);
• Approval of the title and extension applications for the indigenous communities of Rio Tambo District;
• Resolving the problems related to the improvement of the road between Mazamari and Puerto Ocopa;
• The risk of invasions of community lands presented by the opening of the road between Puerto Ocopa and Atalaya.

The position of the communities has become more radical as they have become disillusioned with the repeated failures of the State to fulfil its promises to address the issues outlined above. The management of CART, Central Asháninka del Rio Tambo, presided over by Sr. Berlin Diques, is firmly committed to the defense of Asháninka community territories, against illegal logging and to the defense of the life and culture of the Asháninka people.