An article implying that Peruvian natives should be bombed with napalm has been named by London-based Survival International as the ‘most racist article’ published in the last year by the mainstream media.
The article, published by daily El Correo, was written the newspaper’s Director and columnist, Aldo Mariátegui.
In his column, Mariátegui refers to Amazon natives as “savages,” “Paleolithic,” and “primitive,” and writes that in protests that have recently engulfed much of Peru’s Amazon, they were manipulated by “communist excrement.”
“For those of you who still think of these “ethnic groups” as “good,” “naïve” and “pure,” I will remind you that it was these same people who perfected the art of shrinking the heads of their enemies and wearing them on the belts holding up their loincloths,” wrote Mariátegui. “If the “natives” didn’t shrink the heads of the policemen they killed (in the recent protests) and eat their remains, it was only because there wasn’t time.”
Mariátegui concluded by adding: “I don’t know what keeps the president from providing the air force with all the napalm necessary.”
The “most racist article of the year” award is part of Survival’s ‘Stamp it Out’ campaign which aims to challenge racist descriptions of indigenous peoples in the world’s media. The winner receives a certificate inscribed with a quotation from Lakota Sioux author Luther Standing Bear: “All the years of calling the Indian a savage has never made him one.”
“This article makes depressing reading for anyone who thinks newspapers should educate and inform their readers. We hope the publicity this award receives will make the paper think twice before printing such offensive rubbish again,” said Survival’s Director, Stephen Corry.
Before dawn on June 5, 2009, violence erupted on a remote jungle highway in the Bagua province of Amazonas department after army helicopters, soldiers strategically positioned atop hills, and police began to throw tear gas grenades directly into the crowd of 5,000 protesters.
The tear gas caused panic and angered the protesters, who responded with violence. Police accused protesters of firing first, but the tribesmen denied having guns and Peru’s DA has confirmed that they only carried their traditional spears.
Despite the government’s attempt to link not only the Bagua clash but also a series of social protests in southern Peru to “outside interests”, leading political analysts and sociologists say the protests are home grown and lay the blame squarely on the central government’s procrastination in negotiating and solving issues.
In April, the Public Ombudsman, mentioning the dire lack of dialogue and pro-active decisions by the government, opened a special department to fill the gap, acting as a bridge to negotiate or at least listen to social demands and to bring both sides to the table.
For almost two months prior to what is locally referred to as the “baguazo,” Aidesep, and other Amazon groups demanded the repeal of several Executive decrees enacted last year to provide attractive investment conditions for the Free Trade Agreement signed with the United States, as well as other laws they contend infringe on their own territorial rights. Decree 1090, also known as the Forestry and Wildlife Law, is one of the most contentious, as it allows land to be sold if determined to be “of national interest.”
This decree, and several others written by the Executive last year, have been declared unconstitutional by two different Congressional commissions and the Public Ombudsman’s office, on the grounds that there was no prior consultation held with the indigenous communities who will be affected by the laws, contrary to the ILO’s Convention 169 on indigenous rights.
Congress did eventually repeal the laws on June 18, but not before 10 months of outright refusals followed by promises, postponements and backtracking that eventually led to the violent death of 24 police and 10 native protesters.
