This time it was the indigenous leaders of the South of Rupununi, from the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC), who received the delegation of the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), an organization that has been working for 55 years in defense of the life and rights of indigenous peoples. The meeting took place this Friday (17), in Guyana.
The exchange of experiences, dialogues on territorial surveillance and protection, indigenous rights and the strengthening of institutional articulations have been taking place for some time and have advanced more and more.
The delegation included Amarildo Macuxi, General Tuxaua of the CIR, Kelliane Wapichana, General Tuxaua of the Indigenous Movement, Sineia do Vale, coordinator of the Department of Territorial, Environmental Management and Climate Change (DGTAMC), Edinho Macuxi of the department of monitoring and territorial protection, legal advisors Fernanda Wapichana, Junior Nicacio and photojournalist Maciel Macuxi, Helena Leocádio, press officer and translator João Farias.
"We have come to strengthen the work that relatives here in Guyana already do on the issue of territorial protection and monitoring, youth, women and now on the issue of indigenous brigades and we are going to consolidate our struggle to guarantee the territorial right of indigenous peoples,"explained Amarildo Macuxi, General Tuxaua of the CIR.
Junior Nicácio, coordinator of the Legal Department of the CIR, was responsible for articulating the meeting on the Brazil/Guyana border, Junior Nicácio, coordinator of the Legal Department of the CIR, highlighted the importance of maintaining dialogue between indigenous organizations from the countries that border Brazil.
"Our idea was to resume this dialogue built for a long time, and the goal is to continue strengthening the struggle of the Indigenous peoples along the border, each with their different ways of life, but with the objective of protecting the territories", said Nicácio.
At the meeting, the support of the Indigenous Council of Roraima was aligned, in the areas of territorial protection, construction of the Territorial and Environmental Management Plan and other projects. Sineia do Vale, coordinator of the DGTA, spoke about the Territorial and Environmental Management Plans, community indigenous brigades, monitoring and territorial protection with the use of technologies in indigenous communities.
"This exchange is important because we talked about common things that we do in our territory, and other projects that we intend to implement and strengthen what they already do in their communities, we talked about the bilateral monitoring map, the situation room, the indigenous brigades, because these are demands that they have with the CIR,"said Sineia.
The leaders of Rupununi presented the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC), officially recognized in 2017 that works in the areas of women's empowerment, youth and territorial protection in the 21 communities inhabited by the Macuxi, Wapichana and Wai Wai peoples.
The challenges facing territorial protection against mining, which is constantly expanding, were shared by the leader Timothy Williams, Tauchaua Aishalton, who spoke about the importance of partnering with the CIR.
"This meeting marks the partnership between the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) and the Indigenous Council of Roraima, strengthens indigenous rights and territory and I hope this will continue for a long time", expressed Timothy.
The collective construction of the integrated territorial protection plan, exchange between indigenous women from Guyana and Brazil in June, training for indigenous brigades, situation room and training of people to help in the construction of the Territorial and Environmental Management Plan (PGTA) were deliberated.
The leaders were invited to participate in the I Integrated Meeting of Territorial Protection and Monitoring Actors, which will be held in July in Roraima.