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Approaches to Indigenous Institutions in Peru

By: Eduardo Nugkuag Cabrera

Introduction 

In order to know and understand the most outstanding challenges in terms of indigenous institutions in Peru, it is necessary to go back to the historical facts of our country, making us rethink and redefine the current situation.  

According to the working document of the National Institute for the Development of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples – INDEPA of 2011, Peru is a country that has 77 Indigenous Peoples or ethnic groups and a total of approximately 400,000 inhabitants, being the country with the greatest cultural diversity and taking the first place in indigenous population. Many of these peoples have an ancestral presence in their areas and possess an incalculable amount of knowledge and technology. 

However, when we speak of Indigenous Peoples in Peru, it should be added that these have been progressively excluded and displaced from their ancestral territories during the colony, and today they face new forms of colonization called «concessions», granted many times by the State for forestry, oil, and mining developments, repeatedly violating their fundamental rights. In the same way, we cannot fail to mention the social violence of the 1980s, where terrorism was an important factor for the indigenous populations of the interior to flee to the cities. This violent social phenomenon was devastating for the culture and the very identity of the population, since in many cases they were practically enslaved, as is the case of the Asháninka indigenous people, as expressed in the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission – CVR. 

To this extent, the seventieth anniversary of the validity of the universal declaration of human rights, initially signed on December 10, 1948, makes us reflect and positively estimate the transforming force of its postulates in the contemporary world, while registering the difficulties and adversities that permanently threaten its full validity. Therefore, to date, it is worth asking if the main challenges we face as a nation seek to truly ensure the exercise of the rights of more than 28 million Peruvians, and at the same time, if these include public policies consistent and specific to the issues that benefit the indigenous population of our country. 

In this process, Peru has been characterized by enormous social inequality, which mainly affects the validity of economic, social and cultural rights. The last technical report issued by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics – INEI of 2017, maintains that regarding the rate of extreme poverty in Peru, 60% is located in the jungle and mountains, while 40% in the rest of the Peruvian territory . This figure does not clearly indicate the origin of the members that make up those territories, but the truth is that they are the areas where the vast majority of Indigenous Peoples are located ,with different languages, religions, economies, cultures and identities. 

Historically, the relationship between the State and the Indigenous Peoples has not only had repercussions on economic, social, and cultural inequalities, but even on racial ones, denying and curtailing their existence as citizens on many occasions, thus creating disagreements between different sectors of our society. This situation has also caused exclusion and inequity in terms of rights and the provision of basic public services; and, ultimately, inequity in the provision of opportunities and appropriate conditions of development plans that are adjusted to the life projects of this important part of the population. In this situation, it is necessary that the Peruvian State possess and sustains a real indigenous institution; solid, technical, economic and that contemplates indigenous representatives with voice and vote in decision-making, so that in this way they can ensure an adequate implementation of public policies that protect, promote, conserve and recognize this sector so forgotten by our country.  

1.- Current situation of the Indigenous Peoples in Peru 

Peru has a population of 31,237,385 inhabitants, according to the 2017 Census carried out by the INEI, which also indicates that Peru is the fifth most populous country in South America. “Its population density is 24.3 inhabitants per km² and its annual growth rate is 1.0%. 55.9% of the Peruvian population lives on the coast, 29.6% in the mountains, and 14.5% in the jungle. Parallel to this, it can be indicated that in the largest proportion of regions, there are peasant and native communities (rural areas where the indigenous population is located). 

In that same context, Peru is recognized as a multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual country according to article 2, paragraph 19 of the Political Constitution of Peru. These characteristics, while making its inhabitants proud, lead to the task of considering in depth that, when speaking of Indigenous Peoples, we have to know the fundamental aspects that revolve around their lives and decisions; taking into account their beliefs, customs, values ​​and moral principles, which are born from the territory and constitute the basis of their way of life and the central element of their historical demand. To date, there is no mutual trust between the Indigenous Peoples and the Peruvian State, nor are reciprocity alternatives being generated, which is why this situation is becoming more and more acute.

At this historical juncture, it should be noted that for several decades, the Indigenous Peoples have increasingly acquired leading roles as political actors, not only in defense of their own institutional interests, but also representing a political alternative for society as a whole, consolidating themselves organizationally based on the learning and internalization of their rights. The political participation of the Indigenous Peoples today involves central issues such as self-government, interculturality, the defense of their territory, the impact of the development model, individual and collective identities, the environment, the orientation of economic and social policy, the priorities in the fight against poverty, equal rights for all, the granting of special and collective rights to Indigenous Peoples, the elimination of all types of discrimination and intercultural interaction, among others. 

 But, to all this, one wonders. – Why are Indigenous Peoples entering the political scene more and more? Because their spaces, their ways of life and organization face growing and sometimes irreversible threats and invasions. In past centuries in Peru as in many Latin American countries – especially in the region Andean and Amazonian – the State has had a very limited presence, if not null, in the more remote and difficult-to-access sectors, populated mainly by Indigenous peoples who have established various forms of self-governance. These “parallel indigenous societies” can be explained, as we have mentioned in previous lines, by the colonial past. The Spanish colonial power formed the so-called «Indian Republics”, which had their own rights and obligations. At the same time, the new indigenous generations have been able to access a higher educational and professional level than their ancestors, therefore, they are in a better position to organize themselves and articulate their demands. 

In the present century, with a global economic model based predominantly on the exploitation and export of natural resources, many of which are found in indigenous territories, a greater importance has gradually been generated in said riches, leaving aside traditional agriculture. For this reason, these vital spaces of the Indigenous Peoples are no longer only invaded by large landowners or poor settlers from other regions of the country, but also by small, medium-sized and transnational private companies. As mentioned by Rodolfo Stavenhagen, former Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights of Indigenous Peoples of the United Nations Organization – UN; “ Indigenous Peoples suffer enormous pressure on their natural resources, their ancestral territories, their environment and their health, caused by various sectors; oil tankers, miners and loggers” (Stavenhagen 2007 p. 54). 

So, to the extent that the State does not make an effort to increase its presence in the most remote and border regions, the need to redefine the relationship between the State and the  Indigenous Peoples increases. Suddenly it is essential to officially recognize a series of legitimate organizational instances with a long history within the indigenous communities, without undermining the need to establish an indigenous public institution with a close participation from indigenous members. This supposes a deep change in the ways of thinking, and a search for new forms of social consensus, which will only be possible through a renewed intercultural dialogue. 

In the present, a series of conflicts that affect the Indigenous Peoples persist in Peru without any public entity that can watch over them. These include the following: 

  1. Conflicts with international and national companies in areas rich in natural resources (mines, oil, natural gas, gold and mineral deposits, forests with fine woods). Whether in the exploitation or exploration as in its repercussions- i.e environmental pollution.
  2. Conflicts in militarized zones in border or geographically isolated regions, many of which are used as retreat zones by the drug mafia, smugglers or armed organizations such as Sendero Luminoso. 
  3. Conflicts over land, which often lead to violent confrontations due to the limited presence of state institutions and services, and prevailing corruption. 
  4. Conflicts over natural resources threatened by massive illegal deforestation, migration, mass tourism, hunting and pollution. 
  5. Risk of expulsion, homicide and contagion with deadly diseases for peoples in voluntary isolation in Amazonian regions. 
  6. Conflicts over access to water reserves, which have increased considerably in recent years with the announced megaprojects ( hydroelectric dams) 

2.- Importance of public policies in relation to Institutionality  

The Brasilia Declaration, approved on November 24, 2004, establishes and indicates what indigenous public policies should be adopted by the States, among which we can highlight the following: 

  1. Creation of ministries, deputy ministries, state agencies and commissions specialized in indigenous affairs. 
  2. Creation of institutional spaces, instances and procedures for intersectoral coordination of policies with an impact on indigenous populations. 
  3. The definition of specific policies aimed at Indigenous Peoples, in terms of health, education, productive development, skills, land, access and management of natural resources, among others; and pushing for increasingly systematic efforts to obtain pertinent information on the situation of the Indigenous Peoples, as an instrument for making public policy decisions. 
  4. Creation of financing mechanisms for indigenous policies, some of which which can be consecrated through legal instruments
  5. The incorporation of new conceptual and methodological approaches, the creation and application of procedures and intervention strategies more or less pertinent and particularized to the indigenous reality, through the definition and implementation of plans, programs and projects of diverse scope, nature and content. 

So in Latin America, governments and other actors are implementing a vision of mainstreaming indigenous issues, deepening the articulation in coherent public policies aimed at this sector. To this extent, it is worth mentioning that in many countries of the region the function of politics has been handed over to the Indigenous Peoples themselves, recognizing this as an advance that highlights the interest of the States for adequate attention to indigenous issues.  

In this sense, in Peru, the creation or reformulation of an entity that oversees indigenous matters is indispensable and necessary, which has to incorporate an intercultural approach and at the same time be on a par with other countries that do have an instance of this type, as is the case of Chile, with the National Corporation for Indigenous Development – CONADI, attached to the Ministry of Social Development, which is already 20 years old since its creation as a governing body indigenous matters, as well as the experience of Ecuador through of the Council of Nationalities and Peoples of Ecuador – CODENPE. In addition, international instruments such as ILO Convention 169 in art. 6 paragraph b and art 33 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, art 15, art 22 and art 38, stating «the need for states to have an institutional framework that achieves systematic and coordinated action of fulfillment of the rights of Indigenous Peoples”. 

To this end, in 2005, the Congress of the Republic of Peru approved Law No. 28495, through which the National Institute for the Development of Andean, Amazonian and Afro Peruvians (INDEPA) was created as the governing body in terms of public policies towards Indigenous Peoples. Unfortunately, this institution has been subject to a series of inadequate political measures for its development. Since 2010, when it was assigned and absorbed by the Ministry of Culture, the new governing body for indigenous public policies has been criticized for its mismanagement in favor of Indigenous Peoples. 

3.- Brief overview of indigenous institutions in Peru (Cabanillas 2011, Pag 3)

  • With the Political Constitution of 1920, certain indigenous rights were recognized and in 1921, the Section for Indigenous Affairs was created in the Ministry of Development, which promoted the Committee for -Indigenous Law “Tahuantinsuyo”. The following year the Patronato de la Raza Indígena (Ministry of Development) was founded, which was to provide a legal framework for the demands of the communities. 
  • In 1935, the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs was created, which belonged to the Ministry of Development, and became part of the Ministry of Public Health, Labor and Social Provision. Later, in 1942, the Directorate of Labor and Indigenous Affairs was formed, which would become part of the Ministry of Justice and Labor.
  • In 1949, the Ministry of Labor and Indigenous Affairs was created. Then in 1965, the name of the ministry was changed to the Ministry of Labor and Communities. In 1968, the name was changed to “Ministry of Labor”. 
  • In 1981, the Peruvian Indigenous Institute was structured, becoming a decentralized public body, attached to the Ministry of Labor and Social Promotion. In 1986, it was assigned to the Vice Ministry of Social Promotion. 
  • In 1990, the General Directorate of Peasant and Native Communities of the Ministry of Labor and Social Promotion was created. 
  • In 1992, the Peruvian Indigenous Institute was absorbed into the Ministry of Agriculture. A year later, due to a political situation in the government at that time, it was assigned as a dependent body of the Vice Ministry of Agriculture. 
  • In 1996, the Instituto Indigenista Peruano was again absorbed by the Ministry of Promotion of Women and Human Development (PROMUDEH),  
  • In 1998, the Technical Secretariat for Indigenous Affairs (SETAI) was created as the coordinating body of PROMUDEH, dependent on the Vice Ministerial Office. 
  • From 2001 to 2003, the National Commission of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples (Conapa) was created, dependent on the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. 
  • In 2005, the National Institute for the Development of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples (INDEPA) was created, an entity that would replace Conapa. After its creation and a subsequent election of the new former Head of State, Mr. Alan García Pérez, in 2007, the Supreme Decree No. 001-2007-MIMDES was issued, where it was passed and assigned to the Ministry of Women and Development. (MIMDES).  
  • After Following many insistences by indigenous organizations, Law No. 29146 was issued, annulling the merger of INDEPA with MIMDES, thus restoring its first creation law (Law No. 28495), as well as its own Regulations. But despite the fact that this law regained its validity, Supreme Decree No. 001-2008-MIMDES was issued months later, with which INDEPA was once again assigned to MIMDES and no longer to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM), where it was originally attached. With this, the government sentenced the weakness of its actions and representativeness, since at present it does not exist.  
  • In that year, the executive power of the government of Alan García issued more than 100 legislative decrees, where two demonstrations took place for their repeal (2008 and 2009), one resulting in the serious events of Bagua.
  • On February 10, 2010, the assignment of INDEPA to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM) was decreed, and later it was classified as a Specialized Technical Audience. 
  • Finally, in July 2010, the Ministry of Culture was created and INDEPA was attached to this Ministry, which absorbed it after a few months. Therefore, INDEPA ceased to be a Specialized Technical Public Organization and became an Executing Unit of the Vice Ministry of Interculturality of the Ministry of Culture within the framework of its Operational Manual approved by the RM. No. 006-2011-MC. To date, as we mentioned above, it no longer exists. 
  • Today, the General Directorate for Policies for the Inclusion of Ancestral Knowledge and the General Directorate for Interculturality and the Rights of Peoples are organs of the Vice Ministry of Interculturality, absorbing and minimizing the functions that INDEPA initially had, being now an entity of dubious credibility for the indigenous organizations that led to its creation.Iit is also far from being what was once wanted, an entity that achieves the rapprochement, participation and development of Indigenous Peoples together with the accompaniment of their indigenous and the state. Now it is only conceived as one more job, with political interests and without tangible results of the work entrusted to it. 

Strengthening indigenous institutions is key and a challenge for the Executive Power of the current Government of Pedro Castillo, considering the proper implementation and execution of public policies in compliance with the Law of Prior Consultation and national and international regulations related to the issues of Indigenous Peoples. 

Conclusion 

In more than 500 years, after hard and persistent protest struggles, the recognition and respect of the rights of the Indigenous Peoples has been achieved. However, to date this is not enough and it is necessary for the State to assume the responsibility of building a political entity of indigenous institutions with technical and economic capacity, capable of really ensuring the development of Indigenous Peoples and their participation, avoiding partisanism and discontinuousness. 

The approval of Law 29785, law of the right to prior consultation of Indigenous Peoples  recognized in ILO Convention 169, undoubtedly requires the creation of a body similar to INDEPA in order to lead and promote a national policy of intercultural dialogue between the State and Indigenous Peoples, which will in turn generate adequate social cohesion in the country.