Peru, indigenous leader Olivia Arévalo assassinated
Environment — di Lorenzo Brenna
The elderly woman, who fought for the rights of the Shipibo Konibo people of the Peruvian Amazon, was shot and killed near her home.
Peru, indigenous leader Olivia Arévalo assassinated
The elderly woman, who fought for the rights of the Shipibo Konibo people of the Peruvian Amazon, was shot and killed near her home.
The murders of indigenous rights and environmental defenders follow one another at a staggering pace and seem to barely make the news any more. The violence with which the voices of champions of the marginalised and of the forests are silenced knows no limits, and this time it was visited upon an elderly woman. Olivia Arévalo Lomas was 81 years old, a healer and leader of the Shipibo Konibo ethnic group, which brings together several native communities of the Peruvian Amazon. She was actively dedicated to the defence of her people's rights and the protection of their ancestral lands. On 19 April, Olivia Arévalo was assassinated with several gunshots to the chest, a short distance from her home in the district of Yarinacocha, in the province of Coronel Portillo, Peru.
The search for the perpetrator
The identity of the killers remains unknown and investigations are under way; law enforcement is said to be considering several hypotheses. According to witnesses, the shots were fired by a man who then fled on a motorcycle.
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Who was Olivia Arévalo
For her people, Olivia Arévalo was a maraya — that is, a wise woman — and she held ancient knowledge connected to the traditional medicine of the Shipibo Konibo and to their sacred songs, which were declared cultural heritage in 2016 by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture on the grounds that they "constitute a transversal element of Shipibo Konibo ethnic culture and are an expression of their intimate and harmonious relationship with nature," as stated in the declaration. Despite prolonged contact with Europeans and the forced conversion of many tribes to Christianity, the Shipibo Konibo have maintained a strong tribal identity — an identity that Arévalo defended throughout her life.
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Indigenous people call for protection
The Federation of Native Communities of Ucayali and Affluentes (Feconau) and the Consejo Shipibo Konibo Xetebo-Coshikox strongly condemned the murder of the woman and called on the state to protect indigenous peoples and their leaders, who are subjected to constant threats. "Every time an indigenous leader is killed for defending their territory and their culture, the case goes unsolved. We must not allow this to happen with Olivia Arévalo too," wrote Veronika Mendoza, leader of the progressive political party Nuevo Perú, on Twitter.
Debemos trabajar para garantizar que los pueblos indígenas vivan en libertad, paz y seguridad. La protección de los territorios indígenas y la defensa de sus conocimientos ancestrales son derechos fundamentales que debemos asegurar. #SomosIndígenas #SomosOlivia
Suspected perpetrator lynched
A few days after the murder, on 21 April, police found a body buried in a shallow grave approximately one kilometre from Arévalo's home. The body belonged to Sebastian Woodroffe, a 41-year-old Canadian, and, according to police, he is believed to have been beaten to death by local residents who considered him responsible for the murder of the elderly healer. The man lived in the region and is believed to have been one of the woman's patients. Police suspect, according to reports in the Guardian, that Arévalo's son was in debt to the Canadian. Whatever the causes, the death of Olivia Arévalo represents an irreparable loss: she was the custodian of ancient knowledge and one of the foremost figures of Shipibo Konibo culture. The countless murders of indigenous leaders across Latin America, from Brazil to Colombia, carry the bitter taste of ethnic cleansing and can no longer be ignored.