BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Indigenous organizations from across the Amazon and Latin America sent a letter Monday to the United Nations warning that organized crime — including illegal mining, drug trafficking and logging — is driving violence and accelerating environmental destruction in rainforest communities. However, they urged governments to avoid heavily militarized responses in Indigenous territories.The letter, addressed to U.N. member states and agencies including the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, says criminal networks are expanding, threatening communities, ecosystems and local governance.Signatories say the expansion of organized crime is undermining Indigenous governance systems and threatening communities that have long acted as stewards of some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems.The document was signed by major Indigenous organizations including the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin and dozens of regional Indigenous federations and international advocacy groups.
Indigenous groups warn of expanding threat
An airplane pilot who works in illegal mining shows gold illegally extracted from Yanomami Indigenous territory, in Alto Alegre, Roraima state, Brazil, Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
