Political Participation of Indigenous Amazonians in Peru: the Case of the Shipibo-Konibos
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POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS AMAZONIANS IN PERU: THE CASE OF THE SHIPIBO-KONIBOS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Miguel Walter Hilario May 2010 © 2010 by Miguel Walter Hilario. All Rights Reserved. Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/fs656wp8213 ii I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. William Durham, Primary Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Dominique Irvine I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Terry Karl Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies. Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in University Archives. iii Abstract: This study uses theories from anthropology, political science, and sociology, together with an international law framework, to understand the political participation of the Shipibo-Konibos, indigenous Amazonians of eastern Peru. It explains why Peru’s native peoples do not follow the generic sequence of indigenous social movements in Latin America in their quest for rights of self-determination. Using an original case study of the Shipibo-Konibo nation, including analyses of the historical record and of data collected using anthropological field methods, I argue: (i) that the politics of equal interaction is a better analytical model than identity politics for understanding indigenous political participation in Peru; (ii) that colonization has weakened Shipibo-Konibo’s cultural, social and political customs and their spirit of resistance, resulting in their systematic co-optation by the state, which hindered their autonomous organizational development; (iii) that despite several decades of political activity, the Shipibo-Konibo have not achieved a bona fide social movement (one that is continuous and systematic), but rather have engaged in repeated discrete campaigns or "waves" of social mobilization; (iv) that Shipibo-Konibo identity has been weakened by an array of forces acting over time, and this weakening partially explains the lack of advancement from mobilization to genuine movement; (v) that the new political process of the Shipibo-Konibos — namely, participation in municipal elections — is paradoxical in the sense that they have not yet implemented an indigenous agenda in municipal politics; (vi) that attaining municipal power in the majority of Shipibo-Konibo districts has had both positive and negative effects, empowering their collective identity and ii cultural revival on the one hand, but resulting in political schisms and disillusionment of the populace due to poor performance by most indigenous mayors, on the other. The thesis contributes to the older political, sociological and anthropological debate about Peru’s exceptionalism with regard to indigenous social movements. It also offers a recommendation for indigenous organizations about ways that the long quest for rights of self-determination can be implemented in a realistic manner in Latin America. iii Acknowledgments I first acknowledge the originator of my energy and life – God. Secondly, I thank my mother Zoila whose spirit of fearlessness and determination to make a path when there is none has empowered me to always to look ahead and create a new path when I encounter a dead end. I am extremely grateful to my long time mentor and main advisor William Durham, and my professors Nickie Irvine and Terry Karl, whose patience, inspiration, support and teachings have made me who I am professionally and intellectually. Moreover, professors such as Lucia Da Sá, Kathleen Morrison, Michael Wilcox, Amanda Stronza, Constanza Ocampo-Raeder, and Chris Mantzavinos have shaped my worldviews. I am also grateful to my daughters Vanessa and Olivia, and their mother Kim; my dad Miguel; my sisters Nilda, Angelica, Elizabeth, and Karina; my nephew Ronald; my American family Pat and Denise Parks and their sons Pat Jr., Aron, and Brian; and my friends Warren Linney, Josh Mailman, Winder Basilio, Mark Elsner, Thomas Kohnstamm, and Carlos Mendoza. They have all supported me holistically to accomplish this task. I also want to gratefully acknowledge Mr. and Mrs. Bing whose ongoing financial support made my field research possible as well as the write up of this dissertation. I am also indebted to the great scholars whose work inspired and made this dissertation viable including W. Kymlicka, M. Freeden, A. Brisk, J. Albo, M. Tanaka, J. Anaya, D. iv Lee Van Cott, L. Eaken, and J. Tournon. Finally but not least, I am thankful to the great people of the Shipibo-Konibo nation and their leaders inter alia J. Maldonado, C. Soria, G. Muñoz, E. Diaz, R. Silvano, E. Torino, S. Rojas, M. Vasquez, M. Gomez, J. Macedo, M. Rojas, M. Silva, H. Zampallo, R. Guimarez, M. Picota, S. Cumapa, P. Maynas, C. Yui of the eastern Amazonia who participated in this study. v Table of Contents Chapter One 1. Introduction: The Question of Indigenous Political Participation in Peru 1 Chapter Two 2. The Shipibo-Konibos with/in The Peruvian State: Co-optation by the State and National Culture 38 Chapter Three 3. The Shipibo-Konibos Emerging as New Actors: Identity, Organizations and Movements 85 Chapter Four 4. The Shipibo-Konibos in Municipal Government: The Paradox of Power 137 Chapter Five 5. Conclusions and Implications 191 6. Bibliography 222 vi List of Charts and Illustrations 1. Model 1 19 2. Map 1: Location of Majority Shipibo-Konibo Districts in Peru 24 3. Map 2: Native Communities by Ethnic Group in the Central Peruvian Amazon 36 4. Map 3: Land Titling Status of Native Communities of the Peruvian Amazon 59 5. Map 4: Petroleum Concessions Under Contract, in Negotiation, and in Development in Peru 63 6. Table 1: Geographical Location 66 7. Table 2: Result of Election: District of Iparia, 1998, 2002, 2006 148 8. Table 3: Shipibo-Konibo Candidates in the District of Iparia, 1989 – 2006 149 9. Table 4: Result of Election: District of Tahuania, 1998 – 2002– 2006 161 10. Table 5: Shipibo-Konibo Candidates in the District of Tahuania, 1995 – 2006 162 11. Table 6: Results of Elections: District of Padre Marquez 1995, 2002, 2006 168 12. Table 7: Shipibo-Konibo Candidates in the District of Padre Marquez, 1992 – 2006 169 13. Table 8: Opinion of Focus Groups about indigenous mayors in Iparia: Colonia del Caco, Utucuro, and Vista Alegre de Iparia 185 vii CHAPTER 1 THE QUESTION OF INDIGENOUS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN PERU In this chapter, I first lay the conceptual framework for my dissertation by reviewing the generic sequence of indigenous political participation. I show that Peru is an unusual case that does not fit the generic sequence and briefly explore the question “why not”. Second, I review the implications of this difference for understanding indigenous social movements in Latin America. In this context, I discuss the transition of indigenous peoples from being labeled as a “problem” to entities with rights to self-determination. Thirdly, I discuss how the politics of equal interaction is a better analytical model than identity politics to understanding indigenous political participation in Peru. Finally, I give an overview of the hypotheses and methods that guided my research, and describe briefly the relevance of the dissertation to broader discussions today about indigenous political participation in Latin America. Indigenous peoples’ political “participation” in Latin American states, either voluntarily or involuntarily, is not a new topic. Historically, there was first a long period of resistance to the state’s policies to homogenize them culturally and physically. Their “resistance to colonialism, economic exploitation, and political oppression” was internationalized by the early 1970s (Varese 1996:62; Stavenhagen 1996; Urban 2001), and these new voices of contestation have built national, continental, and global social movements in the last two decades, most notably since the 1990s (Selverston-Scher 2001:1; Garcia & Lucero 2004:159). With the return of democratic regimes in most Latin America states, both Amazonian and Andean indigenous peoples have led a visible national and international movement to demand new collective rights summarized in the 1 international right of self-determination. Hence, the end of the twentieth century marks a period when indigenous peoples made historical progress—one could say a ‘dent’—as they attempted to break the iron gates of exclusion by states. Internationally, momentum has built in support of the concept of self- determination. In September of 2007, the long-debated draft of indigenous rights at the United Nations (UN) was approved, and discussion of similar rights for the Americas is currently being held