The indigenous and the IIRSA megaprojects in Venezuela

From the 8th till the 15th of July this year, the House for the Cultural Diversity of Bolívar City was host to the first national workshop to review and design strategies for the indigenous peoples in the face of infrastructure development projects in the Venezuelan Amazon, promoted by the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional South American Infrastructure (IIRSA, in Spanish). Around 50 community leaders from the initial settlements in the states of Amazonas, Bolívar and Delta Amacuro took part in the event which was organized by the Coordination of the Indigenous Associations of the Amazon Basin (Coica, in Spanish) and by the Regional Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the Venezuelan Amazon (Orpia, in Spanish). The conference was supported by the People’s Power for Culture Ministry, the People’s Ombudsman, the Ford Foundation, the Venezuelan National Indigenous Council (Conive, the Bolívar State Indigenous Federation, the Union of the Warao Indigenous Communities, and the Bolívar Autonomous Indigenous Institute.

Nicolás Betis, deputy general coordinator of Coica and assistant advocate for the indigenous rights of the Ombudsman for the Venezuelan people, explained that since the year 2000 there is a drive of the IIRSA for a series of projects, which will be mainly developed in indigenous territories of the Amazon. Therefore he felt it necessary that, through the Orpia and the Coica, “the people evaluate the present situation, plainly acknowledge the threats and opportunities that these projects will bring them and hence devise a strategy that will allow them to play a strong regional role that are directly taken into account on all the decision making processes, ensuring the compliance with their given rights and assuring their participation in the planning processes in both the government and international monetary institution spheres”.

Betis added that the IIRSA has endowed with at least 30 infrastructure projects on the Guyana Shield Hub, which comprises the Venezuelan Amazon, that “shows no serious preventive measures in either the stages of design or planning to avoid or mitigate environmental, social and cultural impacts that will take place in these territories, despite the protection that safeguard the indigenous population, in many cases, as the legal frameworks and furthermore in the international sphere the Convention 169 by the International Labour Organization”.

In this regard, the attendees formed working groups through the week to set up a strategic plan of action that can achieve, as put by Betis, “the respect for the human rights of the indigenous population, the respect for the natural environment, a compulsory consultation process and open spaces for dialogue and participation of the Orpia in the planning process of the megaprojects in the Venezuelan Amazon”.

Projects

IIRSA was established in August 2000 during a meeting of the South American Presidents that took place in Brasilia, and it was conceived as an “institutional tool for the coordination of intergovernmental actions within the twelve South America countries, aiming to set up a shared agenda to boost the integration of transport, energy and communications infrastructure projects”. The website lists that up until 2010, the 524 projects of the IIRSA portfolio presented a breakthrough of 73,7%, and estimates that until June this year the investments totalled 83.363,1 million dollars, broken down as follows: 10,1% on completed projects (8.468,8 million dollars); 33,4% in execution stage (45.835,7 million dollars) and 30,2% in its developing stage (29.058,6 million dollars).

Venezuela accounts for a total of eight of the 30 projects afore mentioned, which are part of the IIRSA portfolio intended to the Guyana Shield Hub, meaning: the expansion of the present Guri-Boa Vista transmission line; the optic fibre cable connecting Caracas–North of Brazil; the deep water harbour in the northeast of the Venezuelan Caribbean coast or the improvement of the existing Guanta harbour; the second bimodal bridge crossing the Orinoco River; the railway connecting the deep water harbour or the Guanta harbour with the Guayana City; the Venezuela-Suriname-Guyana pipeline; and the connecting ways between Venezuela (Guayana City) – Guyana (Georgetown) – Suriname (Apura-Zanderij-Paramaribo).

Derecho a la consulta previa

Juan Carlos Jintiach, Coica’s coordinator for the International Economic Cooperation and Autonomous Development with Identity, added that the workshop allowed the indigenous peoples to recognize the key players behind the IIRSA megaprojects, and also pointed the importance of becoming acquainted with the projects intended by the Simón Bolívar National Plan, “because one of the main requirements to allow discussion is the right of information and this is Coica’s main duty, to take this information to the real actors, the people and organizations that although take part in the discussion of a national development dialogue on many occasions are not considered”.

Furthermore, he stated that the workshop emphasized the necessity of community involvement in the search for information that can fuel debate, as well as in the pledge for the right of previous consultation and their full and effective participation. “They should have a go through all the pros and cons of the projects portfolio, to find out if they will indeed strengthen the indigenous populations or if it is only a further step towards its extinction and looting of its natural resources, so while we have to acknowledge Venezuela as a sovereign state that has its national plan, there should be also the responsibility of consenting of their universal rights, respecting the constitutional and collective rights of indigenous peoples”.

Ninfa Tividor, Orpia coordinator, highlighted the relevance of topics covered in the workshop that were in connection mainly with the cultural and environmental impacts in the indigenous areas and jurisdictions that could be generated by the infrastructure projects. “Our proposal is that our peoples should be entitled consultation and direct participation, given that our National Constitution guarantees us that right.” Tividor states that the next task is to get out the information acquired in the workshop “and take it down to our Venezuelan indigenous leadership, and that they in turn act as multipliers in their communities.”