For Self Determination – Decolonization.
Los Angeles, CA – Gathering in independent formation as a continental alliance of Original Nations of Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala [Americas], the Continental Commission Abya Yala has convened in Los Angeles for a four-day gathering to advance a collective geopolitical agenda in defense of right of self-determination of Indigenous Peoples.
Calling for the implementation of the international protocols and procedures for decolonization in the hemisphere as Indigenous Peoples, equal to all other peoples, the Encounter of Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala has denounced as illegitimate and discriminatory the continued normalization of the doctrine of “Internal Colonization” of Indigenous Peoples by the states of the Americas under the so called “Blue Water Rule”.
The continental gathering of Indigenous Peoples is occurring while the Organization of American States (OAS) is also convened in summit formation in Los Angeles, and while the Inter American Development Bank holds a hemispheric Trade and Investment Forum with trade and foreign affairs ministers from the Americas and private-sector executives on June 7, 2022.
Addressing the systematic violation across the continent of the right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent regarding economic development projects that impact the human rights and territories of the Indigenous Peoples, the first day of the Indigenous Encounter of Abya Yala heard direct testimony from across the continent that described a system of complicity and collusion among corporate elites, extractive industries, corrupt government officials, military and paramilitary forces, narco cartels, and international financial institutions.
Accordingly, today a message will be sent to the Inter-American Development Bank demanding that the violation of the right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent be specifically and officially identified as an issue of financial liability in the accounting systems of the institution.
The violation of the right of the right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement USMCA is another issue being addressed in the Indigenous Encounter this week, in conjunction with the defense of rights of Indigenous Peoples as Migrant Workers with Families under Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Another priority issue is the battle by the Lenca Nation in Honduras to defend the Gualcarque River and bring accountability for the assassination of Berta Cáceres.
The Continental Commission has announced that they will address the OAS summit later this week with a set of demands and proposals to advance the collective right of self-determination of the Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala, and move proactively into a continental protocol for decolonization, respect for human rights, the well-being of the future generations and the Territorial Integrity of Mother Earth.
In response to the interventions by the Maya representatives given in the first day of the Indigenous Encounter, the Continental Commission Abya Yala will deliver notice to the government of Mexico during the OAS Summit in opposition to the AMLO Train project in Mexico (AKA Maya Train) as part of the mega development project known as the Trans isthmic Plan Puebla-Panama. Further actions in opposition to the Maya Train in Mexico will be announced this week.
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Letter to AMLO, President of Mexico from the Continental Commission Abya Yala.
HALT the Maya Train Project!
June 7, 2022
To: Lic. Andrés Manuel López Obrador President of the United States of Mexico
From: Continental Commission Abya Yala
Upon gathering in the City of Los Angeles for the Encounter of Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala, and having heard the testimony of our Maya Nation relatives from Mexico regarding the impact of the Maya Train project being promoted by your government, we denounce the blatant and systematic violation of the right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples in the context of the USMCA-CUSMA-TMEC triparty international trade agreement between Mexico-Canada-USA, and we call upon your administration to HALT the Maya Train.
On November, 2018, just days before you assumed the Presidency, a respectful letter was presented to you explaining why the AMLO Train Project (aka Tren Maya) should not be carried out with arguments and facts that come from scientific studies as well as the wisdom of the people who live in this region. The letter explained that it was indispensable that the project:
“Not ignore the principle of prior, free and informed consultation of the local indigenous communities to be affected as required by ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples”; This may not be substituted by any “national consultation” and must be carried out in a transparent manner and under the observation of a commission that has no conflict of interest”.
Yet today, the so called Maya Train, promoted by your government is being built in violation of the self determination of the Mayan peoples and communities that ancestrally have inhabited this territory; without the explicit consent of the peoples and communities and without consulting experts in whom the people of Mexico have invested large amounts of resources to generate knowledge about the bio cultural heritage of the nation.
At this moment, the construction of the Maya Train has impacted the life ways, biodiversity, sustainability, environmental quality, the human rights and survival of the peoples and communities that inhabit the entire region which the project claims to benefit.
The Continental Commission Abya Yala, gathered in the City of Los Angeles joins today in solidarity with our Maya relatives and other the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico who stand in resistance and opposition to the destruction of Mother Earth under the Plan Puebla-Panama (Trans Isthmic Plan) that includes the Maya Train project.
We call upon the government of Mexico to:
- Halt the Maya Train project.
- Conduct a serious and careful evaluation of the impacts the project has already caused.
- Designate funding for the social and ecological restoration of the region.
- Engage in an in-depth conversation that includes the Indigenous Peoples and communities of the region as a priority, regarding the appropriateness of the Maya Train and other projects that purport to recover the environmental and cultural values of the Maya.