Alberto Pizango Chota (born August 31, 1964) is the current president of

AIDESEP The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (, AIDESEP) is a Peruvian national Indigenous rights organization. A National Board of Directors is elected by nine regional organizations every five years. The organiz ...

, the premier

indigenous rights Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the Indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the rights over their land (includ ...

organization in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. He is part of the Shawi people. Pizango has been actively resisting the

government of Peru , border = Central , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Peru , date = 1990 , state = Peru , address = Government Palace , leader_title = President of PeruWhile there is ...

's selling of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

concessions to foreign companies on lands legally titled to

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Biography

In August 2008, Pizango supported protests by indigenous Amazonians in which the tribal groups seized control of two energy installations—a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

field being developed in southern Peru by the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

company Pluspetrol, and a petroleum pipeline in northern Peru owned by

Petroperú Petróleos del Perú (Petroperú) ( en, Petroleum of Peru), is a Peruvian state-owned company and private law dedicated to the transportation, refining, distribution and commercialization of fuels and other petroleum products. This company belong ...

. During the protests, the natives took two police officers hostage. In response, the government declared a state of emergency in the departments of

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

, Loreto and Amazonas, a move that gave it the power to send in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

to forcibly remove and arrest the protesters. Tensions peaked when Pizango responded to the government's threat to send in troops by stating that "Indigenous people are defending themselves against government aggression." The standoff ended when Pizango and his AIDESEP organization persuaded

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

to repeal two land laws aimed at opening up Amazonian tribal areas to petroleum companies, which had originally led to the protests by the indigenous tribes. On Friday, September 6, 2008, Congress repealed the laws created by President

Alan García Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru The president of Peru ( es, link=no, presidente del Perú), officially called the president of the Republic of ...

, who had created the laws by special presidential decree. Pizango stated that his victory was "A new dawn for the country's indigenous peoples." After his planned arrest was announced in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

he sought

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

without success, and was then granted asylum by

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. In May 2010, he was arrested on arrival to Peru's capital city, Lima, after 11 months of political asylum in Nicaragua. Pizango arrived together with AIDESEP's vice-president Daysi Zapata Fasabi and Q’orianka Kilcher, an actress of indigenous Peruvian descent who played the role of Pocahontas in the film "

The New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

". He was arrested immediately. Pizango's trial result was announced in 2016 when the Sala Penal de Apelaciones y Liquidadora Transitoria de Bagua acquitted 53 people, mostly natives of the Awajún and Wampis ethnic groups, all of whom were being prosecuted for the death of 12 police officers during the violent protests that occurred around June 5, 2009 in the area called "Curva del Diablo", better known as ' Baguazo'. In its decision, the Chamber considered that the Public Ministry could not demonstrate the responsibility of the accused nor clearly identify any of them as part of the crowd that participated in the actions that led to the deaths of the police. Pizango is prominently featured in the 2016 documentary ''When Two Worlds Collide''.When Two Worlds Collide
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References

*http://www.peru.com/cyberperiodista/cyberperiodista/sgi/portada/2011/01/11/detalle10103.aspx *https://web.archive.org/web/20110826010337/http://reporterow.com/detalle.php?nid=8024

External links

AIDESEP
- Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizango, Alberto 1964 births Indigenous activists of the Americas Peruvian activists Peruvian exiles Living people Peruvian people of indigenous peoples descent

Biography

See also

References

External links