Indigenous Peoples from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia join call for suspension of oil exploration in the Brazilian Amazon

Lea en español | Leia em português

By Lays Ushirobira, Amazonia Communications Manager at Stand.earth

Less than six months before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), Brazil, the country hosting the event, continues to signal its interest in exploring oil on the Equatorial Margin in the Amazon. In a historic demonstration, more than 60 chiefs of the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples Karipuna, Galibi Marworno, Galibi Kali’na and Palikur Arukwayene, who live in the region, released a letter on May 28 demanding the immediate suspension of the licensing process for block FZA-M-59, concessioned to state oil company Petrobras, and all blocks that will be offered in an auction scheduled for 6/17.

The leaders, who make up the Council of Chiefs of the Indigenous Peoples of Oiapoque (CCPIO), highlighted that they did not give their consent and that the authorities did not carry out any consultation process about oil exploration in the region, as required by ILO Convention 169 and the Brazilian Constitution. 

Indigenous leaders from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, who have been facing the impacts of oil on their territories for decades, met with the CCPIO on May 27-28, and joined the call for an end to oil expansion in the Amazon. The delegation—which comprised Olivia Bisa (Chapra nation, Peru), Abigail Gualinga (Sarayaku people, Ecuador), and Juan Carlos Cunda (Nasa people, Colombia)—also underlined the importance of respecting the rights to self-determination and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). The delegation’s visit was accompanied by Stand.earth and Mocicc, with support from Avaaz and ClimaInfo.

From left to right: Juan Carlos Cunda (Colombia), Olivia Bisa (Peru) e Abigail Gualinga (Ecuador) | Photograph: Lays Ushirobira / Stand.earth

Oil has never brought development to the Amazonia

Oil exploration changes locations and operators, but the result for the Amazonia is always the same: in addition to violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities, and irreversible environmental impacts, the activity has only exacerbated inequality and infringed on climate policies. 

Olivia Bisa, president of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation in Peru, shared that since oil exploration began in the country 50 years ago, 1,435 spills have been recorded in Peru, from which hundreds have occurred in Indigenous territories. In none of the cases have the companies been held responsible.

“In the beginning, the oil companies came saying that oil was going to bring development, improve education, health and the economy. I can tell you: for 50 years, in my territory and that of several other Indigenous nations [in Peru], we haven’t had drinking water. The population can no longer farm, fish or hunt because oil has contaminated everything. For us, what they [the oil companies] call development means extreme poverty,” she denounced during the meeting. 

Olivia Bisa | Photograph: Lays Ushirobira / Stand.earth

For Juan Carlos Cunda, representative of the Nasa people who live in Putumayo, Colombia, the expansion of the oil industry goes against the Indigenous communities’ right to be and to exist. “We’ve been living in the midst of oil exploration for over 35 years. It has been a very negative experience with all the pollution that the industry causes in the territories, especially in the water, flora and fauna,” he said. 

Cunda also warned of the serious social impacts. “We’ve had to limit our practices in the spiritual, cultural and cosmovision spheres. The expansion of oil in our territories goes against the international rights of Indigenous Peoples, because when we demand FPIC and defend our self-determination, companies and investors impose their interests. When we claim our rights, the repression is immediate,” Cunda said.

Juan Carlos Cunda | Photograph: Lays Ushirobira / Stand.earth

Indigenous resistance for the life of the forest and the planet

The resistance of the Indigenous Peoples for the protection of the Amazonia is also for all life: the rainforest provides vital ecological services for the planet, and its destruction affects the whole world. In this context, the delegation emphasized the importance of unity to protect the Amazonia and its defenders.

Abigail Gualinga, representative of the Sarayaku people in Ecuador, grew up in the midst of the oil boom in her territory. She says that in 1996, when she was born, the government concessioned 60% of the territory to Argentinian energy companies CGC and Petrolera Argentina San Jorge. In 2002, the oil companies and the Ecuadorian Armed Forces entered the Sarayaku’s territory without permission. “We paralyzed the whole village for six months. We went into the forest and set up peace camps on the beaches,” she recalls.

The Sarayaku’s history of resistance has set a global precedent for the protection of Indigenous rights. After a long time defending the protection of the forest against oil in Ecuador’s national courts without results, in 2003 the Sarayaku took their case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In 2012, the Inter-American Court ordered the Ecuadorian state to carry out FPIC before starting oil exploration in the territory and, in 2023, faced with the government’s failure to comply with the ruling, the court reaffirmed its decision.

“We have always been in resistance. We have also taken to the national government a proposal for life that we call ‘Kawsak Sacha, living forest’. The proposal is to recognize our territories as living beings, subjects of rights, so that we can be sure that no government in power will exploit them. This is the only way to further protect these territories,” said Gualinga.

Abigail Gualinga | Photograph: Lays Ushirobira / Stand.earth

The Chapra Nation is also a great example of resistance to the extractive industry. In addition to articulation at a territorial level and advocating at the IACHR, the Chapra have been advocating with major financiers of oil exploration in the Amazonia.

In Peru, the case of Block 64 is proof of the economic unviability of oil. The Peruvian State has invested more than $5.3 billion dollars to expand the operating capacity of Petroperú’s Talara Refinery to produce up to 95,000 barrels of refined oil per day. Beyond all the socio-environmental impacts, which include at least 831 spills between 1997 and 2023, this has generated a huge debt forcing the Peruvian government and the company to continue producing more oil, entering a cycle in which the debt and the demand for fossil fuels only grow. In May 2025, the Chapra with other Indigenous Peoples and local communities celebrated that Petroperú was unable to attract any bids to develop an oil field that overlaps with Indigenous territories.

“We all talk about how climate change is becoming more and more chaotic, that soon the Earth will be destroyed. But if we don’t unite to save it, no politician, oil company, bank, Indigenous People—no one will survive. When Mother Nature can no longer resist, the money of oil entrepreneurs and the laws of our governments will not save us,” Bisa warned. “That’s why we’ve come together to say: yes to life, no to oil.”