Santiago Manuin Valera (1 January 1957 – 1 July 2020) was a Peruvian human rights activist and indigenous leader. He was born in Condorcanqui Province, Peru. He was a key leader of the

Aguaruna people The Aguaruna (or Awajún, their endonym) are an indigenous people of the Peruvian jungle. They live primarily on the Marañón River in northern Peru near the border with Ecuador and several of the Marañón's tributaries, the rivers Santiago, N ...

in Peru. He was President of the Committee for the Struggle for Respect for Indigenous Peoples of Condorcanqui. He was a critic of the

Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement ( es, Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru, abbreviated MRTA) was a Peruvian Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group which started in the early 1980s. Their self-declared g ...

. During a police crackdown on dissenters in 2009, he was shot, but survived the encounter. He and other activists were blocking a road to protest the

destruction of the Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering an area of 3,000,000 km2 (2,316,612.95 square miles). It represents over half of the planet's rainforests and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropi ...

. Several dozen people were killed during the conflict with the police. Manuin Valera died on 1 July 2020 from COVID-19 during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Peru The COVID-19 pandemic in Peru has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus spread to Peru on 6 March 2020, when a 25-year-old man who had travelled to Spain, France, and the Czech Republic tested positive. On 15 March 20 ...

in Chiclayo, Peru at the age of 63.Fallece líder awajún Santiago Manuin a causa de la COVID-19 en Chiclayo

References

1957 births 2020 deaths Peruvian politicians Peruvian human rights activists Peruvian people of indigenous peoples descent People from Condorcanqui Province Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru {{Peru-bio-stub