Amazon Dialogue: Negotiating Through Distrust

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001629

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/04
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB ETRD ECON PE
SUBJECT: Amazon Dialogue: Negotiating Through Distrust

REF: LIMA 1389 AND PREVIOUS

CLASSIFIED BY: Jessica Huaracayo, Political Officer; REASON: 1.4(B),
(D)


1. (C) Summary. Working groups formed to resolve issues arising
out of the deadly June 5 Amazon clashes have shown uneven progress
thus far. GOP contacts assure us that the dialogue process will
lead to a new forestry law that brings Peru back into compliance
with the PTPA by the August 2010 deadline. Indigenous actors and
their NGO advisors report continued frustration with the working
groups and other factors, such as the Ministry of Justice's effort
to decertify the principal organization (AIDESEP) representing
indigenous community interests in the dialogue. While the various
actors participating in the process emphasize their interest in
resolving both the immediate and longer term challenges, distrust
remains pervasive among participants. Meanwhile, AIDESEP appears
to be upping its demands, either to undermine the negotiations or
to pressure the government on other fronts. End summary.



Summary of Working Groups' Progress

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2. (C) The four working groups ("mesas de dialogo") formed to
address the issues underlying and arising out of the deadly June 5
Amazon clashes (reftel) continue into their fifth month, with
uneven progress, some setbacks, and wrangling over interpretations.
Mesa 1 appointed an investigative commission to research the causes
of the June 5 violence; Mesa 2 was formed to generate successor
laws to legislative decrees 1064 and 1090 (the forestry law),both
of which were repealed after June 5, and to discuss seven other
decrees of concern; Mesa 3 was established to create the domestic
legal structure needed to implement ILO 169, and define what
constitutes "prior consultation" with indigenous communities
regarding issues that affect them; and Mesa 4 was set up to forge a
development strategy for the Amazon region. The following is a
summary of each mesa's progress, reflecting the views of a range of
our GOP, NGO and indigenous community contacts who attend mesa
meetings:



-- Mesa 1 concluded its work on September 2, when it formed an
investigative commission to investigate the June 5 events. The
commission, some of whose members were nominated by indigenous
representatives and some by the GOP, is now scrambling to complete
its mandate. The group's technical assistant (protect) told us
that government support for the commission and the investigation
was "very weak": the GOP's lead representative rarely attends
meetings, the budget is minimal, and the government has provided no
place for the group to operate. As a result, the commission is
working out of a small, ill-equipped office on loan from a
religious organization, and has sought additional funding from the
UNDP. The commission's findings, to be presented in December, will
be non-binding, but may serve as evidence for court proceedings.
(Separate criminal investigations of the June 5 events are ongoing,
and Congress has its own investigative committee.)



-- Mesa 2 is tasked, inter alia, with providing conceptual input
for a new forestry law to replace the repealed legislative decree
1090, which had included elements required for Peru's compliance
with the PTPA. The group met repeatedly throughout the month of
October and has "advanced significantly," according to GOP and NGO
contacts. Still, on October 20, dialogue almost broke down after
the government issued a Bagua-related arrest warrant for the
group's coordinator, Bladimiro Tapayuri. AIDESEP agreed to
continue to participate in the working groups (church groups and
other NGOs take the credit for keeping AIDESEP at the table),but
in recent days demanded that the government "stop its persecution"
(through arrest warrants) within 20 days. On October 29, just when
the group had reached consensus on conceptual input for the new
forestry law, AIDESEP presented a new list of demands, which
included the revocation of the national water law and eight
additional legislative decrees passed at the same time as 1090.
Most of these decrees had been the object of protests leading up to
the bloody June 5 clash; others (including the decree that created
the Ministry of Environment) have only recently begun to be
analyzed in this forum. Government representatives have agreed to
respond to this document when the group reconvenes on November 9.



-- Mesa 3, which will submit draft legislation that would create a
mechanism to implement the "prior consultation" required by ILO
Convention 169, Art. 6, is also said to have made great progress.
But, like Mesa 2, there is no concrete outcome yet. Our contacts
tell us that the two main indigenous groups at the table (AIDESEP
and CONAP) have agreed on a draft, based on the Human Rights
Ombudsman's law proposal but that the GOP has not yet joined the
consensus. The group meets next on November 11.



-- Mesa 4, looking at broad issues of development in the Amazon
(bilingual education, infrastructure, etc.),reportedly meets
almost daily. Government representatives say the group's work is
"86% complete." Several working-level government officials told
Embassy that dialogue consists mostly of indigenous participants
airing concerns and presenting new "actas" (usually a list of
protesters' demands). Some observers have told the Embassy that
GOP representatives bring little input to the dialogue but readily
sign the supposedly non-binding "actas," a practice which observers
say could backfire in months to come if indigenous communities
decide to cash in on the promises included therein. A government
delegation, led by the Minister of Agriculture, traveled to
Amazonas region at the end of October to meet with indigenous
community representatives regarding their development needs.



Update on Forestry Law and PTPA Implementation

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3. (C) Contacts within the GOP are generally optimistic, and
assure us that a new forestry law that brings Peru back into
compliance with the PTPA will be created and approved in Congress
by June 2010. While the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) has not
yet begun its draft of the law, contacts at the Ministry of Trade
and Tourism (MINCETUR) tell us the drafting process will be
relatively straightforward, and will use the repealed forestry law
- legislative decree 1090 - as a model while also including
conceptual input from Mesa 2. MINCETUR and MINAG jointly conducted
two outreach meetings with civil society in early September to
discuss PTPA implementation (including issues of traceability and
chain of custody) and have promised to schedule additional meetings
soon. Both ministries have also arranged a series of regional
workshops for the month of November for the same purpose.



Indigenous Concerns About Mixed Government Signals

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4. (C) Indigenous representatives and their NGO advisors report
continued frustration with the mesas and the relationship with the
government writ large. Regional governments representatives, who
were central actors in the dialogue at the outset of the mesas,
have reportedly stopped attending meetings altogether. Relations
with the central government remain strained, due mostly to events
outside the mesas. Outstanding arrest warrants of indigenous
leaders for inciting violence during the Bagua events, and a
Ministry of Justice petition to dissolve the principal indigenous
organization taking part in the dialogue (AIDESEP) are perceived by
indigenous participants as evidence of the GOP's contradictory
approach. Government representatives have acknowledge a need to
intensify their outreach with indigenous communities and NGOs on
issues relating to the mesas and also to better publicize
government participation in the ongoing dialogue process, its good
intentions and the desire for results that reflect the interests of
all Peruvians. (Note: An observer from the Human Rights
Ombudsman's office (protect) told us the main AIDESEP

representatives assigned to the mesas rarely attend, allegedly
because they are overwhelmed with work at their organization's
headquarters, but send lower-level colleagues instead.)



Comment: Hope for Progress Amid Pervasive Distrust

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5. (C) The various actors participating in the process emphasize
their interest in resolving both the immediate and longer term
challenges. Government officials in all participating ministries
and at all levels have told us their engagement in the process is
energetic and their interest in resolving outstanding issues
relating to the forestry law, prior consultation, and Amazon
development is real. Indigenous community representatives and
their NGO advisors echo this interest in resolving the issues
underlying the conflict. Still, the distrust on both sides remains
pervasive, with indigenous and NGO representatives claiming the
government is indifferent to their interests and pursuing a
contradictory path, negotiating while seeking to discredit their
negotiation partners at the same time. Some NGO critics
additionally claim individuals within the GOP are motivated by
personal interests rather than the greater good.




6. (C) Meanwhile, government officials see indigenous community
representatives continually changing and expanding the terms of
negotiation as clear evidence of bad faith. These new and
unrelated demands, including for the repeal of the water law, may
be intended to complicate or even undermine the negotiations, just
as consensus seems to be in reach. Or AIDESEP may be seeking to
pressure the government to remove outstanding arrest warrants
against indigenous community leaders and to desist in its effort to
decertify the organization. Despite mutual distrust and
frequently clashing views on how to approach development in the
Amazon and Peru in general, however, moderate observers, including
NGOs, see real progress. And perhaps most important of all,
participants remain engaged at the negotiating table and committed
to continuing the dialogue.
MCKINLEY