Indigenous Leader's Death Sparks Call for Justice in Peru’s Amazon

The Indigenous Kakataibo people of Peru's Amazon are demanding justice after their leader, Mariano Isacama, was found dead. Isacama, who had faced threats from drug traffickers, was shot and his body discovered by a river. The Kakataibo warn they might take justice into their own hands if authorities fail to act.

An Indigenous group in Peru's Amazon is urging immediate action after its leader, Mariano Isacama, was found dead earlier this week.

Mariano Isacama, leader of the Kakataibo Indigenous people, had been missing for weeks before his body washed up on the riverbank in central Aguaytia on Sunday. Representatives from the Kakataibo stated that Isacama had been shot. His disappearance prompted an official investigation, but the Kakataibo warn they may seek their own justice.

"If they do not do their part, we have our Indigenous guard, we have arrows and spears," said Marcelo Odicio, a Kakataibo member, at a press conference on Wednesday. Odicio emphasized that the authorities need to expel the "outsiders". "We're suffering from the encroachment of drug trafficking into our ancestral territories and around our reserves," Odicio added.

Isacama, aged 35, had been constantly threatened by drug traffickers growing coca leaves in the area, said Odicio. He explained that traffickers offer money to Indigenous groups to operate in their territories. When offers are refused, threats follow, according to Odicio.

Over the last four years, six Kakataibo leaders have been murdered, and nearly three dozen Indigenous leaders in the region have been killed in the past decade. Although coca cultivation is legal in Peru for traditional use, around 90% of the crop is used for cocaine production. Last year, coca plantations in the Aguaytia region increased by 3%.

Odicio noted that the Kakataibo have discovered cocaine labs and hidden airstrips on their land. In response to Isacama's death, a coalition of Indigenous groups has called for a meeting to develop a self-defense strategy. "We find ourselves obligated to exercise our right to defense and use the same methods that are used against us," the coalition stated.

(With inputs from agencies.)