Current:Home > StocksPeruvian rainforest defender from embattled Kichwa tribe shot dead in river attack-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Peruvian rainforest defender from embattled Kichwa tribe shot dead in river attack
View Date:2024-12-25 00:48:04
LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Kichwa tribal leader has been shot to death in an area of the Peruvian rainforest that’s seen high tensions between Indigenous people and illegal loggers.
Quinto Inuma Alvarado was attacked as he was returning from presenting at a workshop for women environmental leaders in the San Martín region of the Amazon on Wednesday, his son, Kevin Arnol Inuma Mandruma, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Peruvian police confirmed his death.
“He was travelling in a boat,” when assailants blocked the river with a tree trunk, Kevin Inuma said. “There were many shots fired.”
The boat carried six people, said Kevin Inuma, including his mother, brother, sister and uncles. Quinto Inuma was shot three times in the back and once in the head, and Kevin Inuma’s aunt was wounded too, he said.
Kevin Inuma was not on the trip. He said his brother and mother recounted the attack to him.
Quinto Inuma had received numerous death threats over illegal logging, said Kevin Inuma.
The loggers “told him they were going to kill him because he had made a report,” he said. “They’ve tried to kill him several times, with beatings and now gunfire.”
A joint statement from Peru’s ministries of Interior, Environment, Justice and Human Rights, and Culture, said Quinto Inuma was the victim of a “cowardly” attack. The statement promised a “meticulous investigation on the part of the National Police” and said a search for suspects was underway.
“We will continue working hard against the illegal activities that destroy our forests and ecosystems and threaten the lives and integrity of all Peruvians,” the statement said.
Peruvian Indigenous rights news service Servindi wrote in 2021 that the victim’s community had been left to combat illegal loggers alone, suffering frequent attacks “that could take their lives any day.”
The workshop Quinto Inuma had been attending was aimed at helping women leaders of the Kichwa exchange knowledge on how to better protect their land.
Last year, an Associated Press investigation revealed Kichwa tribes lost a huge chunk of what was almost certainly their ancestral territory to make way for Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park, which straddles the point where the Amazon meets the foothills of the Andes mountains. The trees in it were then monetized by selling carbon credits to multinational companies seeking to offset their emissions.
The Kichwa say they gave no consent for that and received no royalties, even as many lived in food poverty after being barred from traditional hunting and foraging grounds. Quinto Inuma attended a meeting in 2022 with Peruvian national parks authority Sernanp, which was observed by The AP, to discuss the conflict.
The nonprofit Forest Peoples Programme wrote online that Quinto Inuma was a “tireless defender of the human rights and territory of his community.”
The lack of title to their ancestral land has left Kichwa communities in a “very vulnerable position,” it said, “unable to defend themselves from illegal logging” and “with no legal consequences for the perpetrators.”
“The death of Quinto Inuma highlights the impunity that prevails in cases of environmental crimes and violations of Indigenous peoples’ rights,” it said.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (29)
Related
- What is prize money for NBA Cup in-season tournament? Players get boost in 2024
- Gov. Kristi Noem touts South Dakota’s workforce recruitment effort
- Armed attack during live broadcast at Ecuadorian TV station. What’s behind the spiraling violence?
- Massachusetts family killed as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, police say
- Trump’s economic agenda for his second term is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates
- Kate Middleton's Pre-Royal Style Resurfaces on TikTok: From Glitzy Halter Tops to Short Dresses
- 'A sense of relief:' Victims' families get justice as police identify VA. man in 80s slayings
- Family of Arizona professor killed on campus settles $9 million claim against university
- Trading wands for whisks, new Harry Potter cooking show brings mess and magic
- Should you bring kids to a nice restaurant? TikTok bashes iPads at dinner table, sparks debate
Ranking
- Former West Virginia jail officer pleads guilty to civil rights violation in fatal assault on inmate
- Vanilla Frosty returns to Wendy's. Here's how to get a free Jr. Frosty every day in 2024
- RFK Jr. backs out of his own birthday fundraiser gala after Martin Sheen, Mike Tyson said they're not attending
- Human remains believed to belong to woman missing since 1985 found in car in Miami canal
- Queen Bey and Yale: The Ivy League university is set to offer a course on Beyoncé and her legacy
- Former UK opposition leader Corbyn to join South Africa’s delegation accusing Israel of genocide
- Why are these pink Stanley tumblers causing shopping mayhem?
- Adan Canto, 'Designated Survivor' and 'X-Men' star, dies at 42 after cancer battle
Recommendation
-
Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper Prove They're Going Strong With Twinning Looks on NYC Date
-
NRA lawyer says gun rights group is defendant and victim at civil trial over leader’s big spending
-
Lawyers may face discipline for criticizing a judge’s ruling in discrimination case
-
Boeing supplier that made Alaska Airline's door plug was warned of defects with other parts, lawsuit claims
-
Early Black Friday Deals: 70% Off Apple, Dyson, Tarte, Barefoot Dreams, Le Creuset & More + Free Shipping
-
Votes by El Salvador’s diaspora surge, likely boosting President Bukele in elections
-
A legal battle is set to open at the top UN court over an allegation of Israeli genocide in Gaza
-
Girl Scout Cookies now on sale for 2024: Here's which types are available, how to buy them