Indigenous communities in Latin America: resilience or how to survive in adversity

"More than vulnerability, the indigenous people have shown resilience in several centuries of pandemic, and this will not be the last time". With these words opens the report 'Indigenous Peoples in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic' prepared by the Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC).  On June 17, Paulo Paiakan, an important Brazilian indigenous leader of the 1980s, died from this pathogen. However, he was not the only one. The disease of the era of globalization has entered various communities in this and other Latin American countries and has caused the death of hundreds of people, highlighting the inequalities that exist in the world.  

"Pandemics affect different population groups in different ways, exacerbating the inequalities that already exist in society. Among these sectors, without a doubt, are the indigenous people," warned FILAC's Board of Directors last March.  According to this institution, in Latin America, the indigenous population exceeds 45 million people, just under 10% of the region's total population. In this scenario, up to 826 different communities have been registered, of which around 100 are of a cross-border nature. 

Brazil is the country where most indigenous peoples live (305), followed by Colombia (102), Peru (85) and Mexico (78). At the other extreme are Costa Rica and Panama, with 8 and 9 Indigenous Peoples each, El Salvador (3) and Uruguay (2). This multicultural reality is marked by the extreme vulnerability that plagues the thousands of people who live in these areas; a vulnerability that is manifested mainly through high rates of malnutrition, difficulty in accessing health services, or precarious infrastructure. To this is now added the threat of COVID-19, which affects several communities in the region, and which could decimate the continent's indigenous population, as warned by the group Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), which has also accused the government of Jair Bolsonaro of "having done nothing" to contain the spread of this disease in areas where up to 750,000 indigenous people live. 

"The spread of COVID-19 has exacerbated and will continue to exacerbate an already critical situation for many indigenous people: a situation in which inequalities and discrimination already abound. Increasing recessions at the national level and the real possibility of a global depression will further aggravate the situation, causing fears that many indigenous people will die, not only from the virus itself, but also from the conflicts and violence linked to the scarcity of resources, and in particular clean water and food," the UN Expert Mechanism has noted. 

In this scenario, the Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC) together with the Indigenous Forum of Abya Yala (FIAY) and indigenous organizations of the region, among other actions, created the Regional Indigenous Platform in front of the COVID-19 called 'For life and for the Peoples'. This platform aims to promote the exchange of information, analysis and coordination to enhance dialogue with governments and promote appropriate responses to mitigate the impact of this pandemic on the continent's indigenous peoples. 

In the Amazon, a report by the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) has denounced the situation of indigenous peoples in a migratory situation and has announced an increase in cases in some of the nine countries that make up the basin (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guyana and Suriname).

According to the latest report prepared by FILAC, at least 7,246 indigenous persons had been infected by the coronavirus by early June 2020, of whom 847 had died. In total, about 163 villages in ten countries have been affected by the pandemic.   In Belize, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Uruguay, no persons infected with this pathogen have been recorded in indigenous communities in recent weeks. 

"Beyond the numbers, this report highlights the gravity of the situation for the communities. Many of them are at high risk, even of disappearing. This is evident in several cases explained in the report and in the testimonies contained in it," said FILAC president Myrna Cunningham during the presentation of this report. "Indigenous peoples with small populations, isolated peoples or those in initial contact, some of them cross-border, among others, face extremely serious situations that, if not addressed urgently and appropriately, run a serious risk of affecting their very existence. The rapid pace of the spread of the disease and the loss of life in the indigenous territories of Latin America are indicative of a scenario of maximum alert," said Alvaro Pop, technical secretary of the same organization. 

The resilience that characterizes these communities has once again become evident with the appearance of this disease. The latest report prepared by FILAC highlights actions carried out by these people that range from community surveillance to the dissemination of information in their own languages or solidarity actions to avoid food insecurity. 

However, the rapid rate of infection in Latin America and the loss of life in certain indigenous territories may lead to the disappearance or extinction of certain communities, as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned. "The danger lies both in isolated villages, with difficult access to health services, and in densely populated cities, such as Manaus, Iquitos and Leticia... Taking into account that the amount and rate of contagion is twice as high as in other areas of the countries that share the Amazon River basin, without immediate action, these communities will face a disproportionate impact".

Gaps in health services and the epidemiological situation are two other threats facing these communities. On the one hand, there are certain social factors such as the difficulty of accessing potable water or living in a healthy home, which are intermingled with other environmental factors, such as climatic variation or the pollution of rivers and forests, creating the perfect breeding ground for the spread of this pathogen. 

"People have to walk between 6 and 7 hours to reach San Felix Hospital, but when they finally arrive they find that there are not enough medical personnel, supplies or materials. Faced with this situation, indigenous authorities and officials have had to set up schools and colleges as shelters so that people who have tested positive can receive treatment and do the quarantine. In the community of Chiriquí Grande, on the outskirts of the region, the authorities hired hotels, but the (non-indigenous) neighbours opposed the attention of the indigenous people for fear of being infected," states the report prepared by FILAC in which it describes the situation in the Ngöbe-Buglë region in Panama, among other communities. 

Throughout history, the indigenous communities of Latin America have demonstrated their ability to turn adversity into opportunity. However, the resilience that characterizes them should be accompanied by certain policies and actions to prevent and protect this multicultural reality that defines the region. "Faced with a common evil that does not understand borders or geographical limits, States have not managed to unify or at least coordinate responses, as if the sovereign approach could have a chance of success in the face of a pandemic that, by definition, is global," concludes FILAC after warning of the dangers hidden in this disease.