UNREALISTIC HUAORANI CONFRONT LOGGING AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 QUITO 000259

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS TO USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EAID SOCI EPET ECON PGOV PHUM EC
SUBJECT: UNREALISTIC HUAORANI CONFRONT LOGGING AND
PETROLEUM ISSUES


1. Summary: With an agenda focusing on illegal logging,
their relationship with the petroleum industry, and
institutional corruption, the Huaorani indigenous group held
a general assembly in the jungle community of Nemonpari.
While laudable in its effort to tackle these pressing
issues, the new Huaorani leadership holds unrealistic
expectations regarding its ability to shape government
policy, influence the private sector, and manage the
Huaorani population. USAID programs support the territorial
integrity of the Huaorani lands and the institutional
stability of the Huaorani leadership. However, political
weakness -- in both Ecuador's indigenous groups and the
Ministry of Environment -- undermines efforts to protect the
fragile, mega-diverse ecosystem in the rainforests of the
Ecuadorian Amazon. End Summary.

NEW LEADERSHIP CALLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
--------------


2. Four months after forcing out the previous Huaorani
leadership, the indigenous group's new directorship held an
Extraordinary General Assembly on December 27-28, 2005. The
Huaorani leadership represents some 2900 Huaorani who live
in 32 disparate communities spread out over a legalized
territory that covers over 1.6 million acres and includes
parts of Yasuni National Park, considered by leading
biologists to be one of the most biodiverse locations on the
earth. Over 120 Huaorani traveled to the community of
Nemonpari -- some traveling up to 5 days in canoes and over
land -- to attend the assembly. Representatives from all of
the 32 communities were present.


3. The eight new directors, who represent the Huaorani in
their relations with both the private sector and the GOE,
addressed critical matters facing the Huaorani, including
illegal logging, the Huaorani's relationship with petroleum
companies, and corruption on the part of prior directors.
Econoff and AID specialist attended the Assembly to discuss
these issues with community representatives and the new
Huaorani leadership.

ILLEGAL LOGGING UNFETTERED
--------------


4. Utilizing petroleum roads to gain access to the
rainforest, loggers have been penetrating Huaorani (and
other indigenous) lands to illegally extract, among other
wood, cedar and mahogany. (Ecuador's deforestation rate is
nearly half a million acres per year.) Loggers, who in
recent years have included Colombians, make frequent threats
against indigenous people who attempt to intervene in their
activities. Some deaths, including the 2003 massacre of 23
members of the Tagaeri tribe, have been linked to loggers.
Most recently, after months of reported threats from
loggers, a building used to check timber transport out of
Yasuni National Park was burned to the ground on December

24.


5. While the threat is primarily external, Huaorani Vice
President Moi Enomenga acknowledges that some Huaorani
facilitate (and benefit from) illegal logging on Huaorani
land. For example, the Bave family (a father and two sons)
have become wealthy by controlling the waterways at the end
of the Via Aucas, a road that originally was built to
facilitate petroleum extraction. Loggers pay the Baves for
safe passage on these waterways -- primarily the Tiguino and
Cononaco Rivers.


6. As is the case in other parts of Ecuador, federal
government officials are minimally involved in trying to
control the illegal traffic of timber from Huaorani lands.
In response, the Huaorani have been working over the past 2
months with provincial government officials -- to include
the military, elected officials, and representatives of the
MOE -- along with petroleum companies such as Encana and
Petrobras, to develop a plan allowing for the Huaorani to
patrol and control the flow of timber from their lands and
that of Yasuni National Park. While agreements at the local
level have been reached, implementation of the plans still
requires support from Ministers in Quito.

LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PETROLEUM SECTOR
-------------- ---


7. The Huaorani have a love-hate relationship with the
petroleum sector. On the one hand, Huaoranis claim that
petroleum roads facilitate illegal logging, petroleum
companies pollute their rivers and undermine their health,
and petroleum money erodes their culture. On the other
hand, petroleum companies are often the major source of
funds to the local communities and, through agreements
signed with Huaorani leaders, provide ONHAE (the Huaorani's
legal organization) with a budget over 2 million dollars per
year to help pay for ONHAE's administration and to cover a
wide variety of health and education projects in the
territory.


8. What is particularly disturbing to many Huaorani is the
manner in which corrupt Huaorani leaders have abused the
petroleum sector relationship at the expense of the rest of
the Huaorani community. During the Assembly, a wide range
of Huaorani, from current directors to illiterate elders,
recounted stories of petroleum money intended for schools or
health care disappearing into the hands of the directors and
never reaching its intended targets. Meanwhile, oil
companies complain that no sooner do they reach an agreement
with representatives of one indigenous group that a new
group of leaders claiming to represent the same indigenous
group want to strike their own agreement.


9. Much of the Huaorani furor during the Assembly was
targeted at former ONHAE President Armando Boya, who in
early 2005 signed an agreement with Petrobras that granted
the Brazilian oil company access to Huaorani territory in
exchange for financial support for the Huaorani. Sensing
kickbacks and corruption on the part of Boya, the Huaorani
community has sought to nullify the agreement. Responding
to pressure, the Ministry of Environment has temporarily
halted the construction of a Petrobras road into Huaorani
territory within the Yasuni National Park. At the General
Assembly, Huaorani representatives voted to not abide by the
agreement Boya signed with Petrobras and to prohibit any
future relations with Petrobras. The legal significance of
this vote is unclear. Meanwhile, Huaorani representatives
at the Assembly remained open to agreements with other
petroleum companies.

MINIMAL INSTITUTIONAL OVERSIGHT
--------------


10. Over the past two decades, a series of Huaorani
Directors have taken advantage of weak community oversight
of the Huaorani leadership. Low literacy levels and a lack
of Spanish fluency among the Huaorani had for many years
allowed Directors to misrepresent contracts being signed by
ONHAE. Even with improved literacy and Spanish,
geographical factors remain an obstacle to proper oversight.
Given their isolation the 32 communities can easily be kept
out of the loop on important decision-making. More
importantly, ONHAE headquarters (and the Directors' homes)
are located in the city of Puyo, which is not even in
Huaorani territory. This physical separation limits the
ability of community representatives to oversee ONHAE
activities and provides opportunities for the Huaorani
leadership.


11. As many Huaorani acknowledged to Econoff, a position
with ONHAE is for many Huaorani an opportunity to make some
quick money -- those elected to the Directorship are
considered "lucky." Recently ousted President Juan
Enomenga, when discussing accusations of wrongdoing,
appeared undisturbed. However, there are some directors,
including those in the current leadership, who appear
sincerely interested in bettering the Huaorani's situation.
While US and European NGOs support such directors, the NGOs
come and go as funding and the relative popularity of other
environmental causes fluctuate. This inconsistency
undermines stability in the Huaorani leadership. Most
recently, NGOs which provided financial assistance for the
current leadership to hold August 2005 elections that ousted
the Boya directorship were either unable or unwilling to
show up to the December General Assembly. In the eyes of
some Huaorani, their absence undermined the standing of the
new leadership.

POLITICAL WEAKNESS FORCING HUAORANI TO GO LOCAL
-------------- --


12. Huaorani leaders have for many years overestimated
their capacity to affect the political landscape. Both with
respect to illegal logging and petroleum exploration and
extraction, ONHAE leadership has acted as if the territorial
titles they have received from the GOE came with the
political power to determine government policy and
enforcement in those territories. This has proven an
exaggeration. In order to overcome their political
weakness, the Huaorani have altered their tactics and are
working directly with actors at the local level, as they
have been doing with respect to logging in Yasuni.


13. The Huaorani also are looking into their own community
for leadership on health, logging, and petroleum issues.
With the help of the UASAID-backed CAIMAN project, AMWAE,
the Association of Huaorani Women of the Ecuadorian Amazon,
was founded one year ago. AMWAE brings a needed voice into
community debates and AMWAE President Alicia Cahuyia
represented the Huaorani at the UN in May 2005. However,
women clearly still played a minor role during the
Assembly's deliberations.

USAID PROGRAMS PROVIDE NEEDED ASSISTANCE
--------------


14. USAID, through the CAIMAN Project, runs several
programs to address shortcomings in the management of
Huaorani institutions and territory. Given the complete
lack of fiscal oversight during the previous administration,
USAID did not directly support ONHAE (opting instead to
focus support on AMWAE). The recently installed ONHAE
leadership has demonstrated greater commitment to
transparent administration. As a result, AID has agreed to
provide support to strengthen ONHAE oversight by funding an
accountant to help track spending and the distribution of
grants. AID also works to facilitate Huaorani assemblies,
increasing the contact that ONHAE has with community
representatives. While legalizing their land with the GOE
was critical for its management, the Huaorani also need to
demarcate the territorial boundaries, which AID has
facilitated through the funding of work parties.

COMMENT
--------------


15. While these USAID programs successfully tackle specific
concerns associated with the Huaorani community's management
of its mega-diverse territory, they do not change the
overall political landscape in which the Huaorani operate.
A weak MOE, underdeveloped Huaorani institutions, and
endemic corruption limit the Huaorani in their efforts to
productively manage logging and petroleum issues.

JEWELL