Members of an indigenous tribe who live deep in Peru’s Amazon rainforest and avoid contact with outsiders have been reported entering a neighboring village in what rights groups consider an alarming sign that the group is under stress from development.
The sightings of members of the Mashco Piro group come as a logging company is building a bridge that could give outsiders easier access to the group’s territory, a move that could raise the risk of disease and conflict, said Survival International, which advocates for indigenous rights.
The Mashco Piro are among the world’s largest uncontacted groups, living without regular interaction with outside society to protect their culture and health. Even a simple cold can be deadly to the group because it lacks immunity to common diseases.
Photo: AP
Loggers who encroached on the group’s lands have previously been killed.
Enrique Anez, president of the nearby Yine community, another indigenous group, said in a statement on Tuesday that Mashco Piro members had been seen around the Yine village of Nueva Oceania.
“It is very worrying; they are in danger,” Anez said.
Anez said heavy machinery near Nueva Oceania is cutting paths through the jungle and across rivers into the Mashco Piro territory. The village sits at a key access point to the Mashco Piro’s territory, making it one of the few places where members of the group have occasionally been seen.
Survival International last year released photos showing dozens of Mashco Piro close to active logging zones. The group said that contact with outsiders could spread disease or lead to violent conflict — risks that have previously wiped out other isolated groups in the Amazon.
Last year, two loggers were killed in bow-and-arrow attacks after entering Mashco Piro territory.
“Exactly one year after the encounters and the deaths, nothing has changed in terms of land protection, and the Yine are now reporting to have seen both the Mashco Piro and the loggers exactly in the same space almost at the same time,” Survival International researcher Teresa Mayo said.
The Peruvian Ministry of Culture — tasked with promoting cultural identity and overseeing Indigenous rights — said that it is reviewing Survival International’s report.
Asked about what measures the government is taking to protect groups like the Mashco Piro, it said it has created eight reserves for indigenous peoples in isolation, has five more pending and operates 19 control posts with 59 protection agents.
More than 440 patrols have been carried out this year, it said, adding that its budget for protecting isolated communities more than doubled this year.
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