Photo Essay: Demonstration in Solidarity with Peru’s Indigenous People
On Wednesday and Thursday, people in 20 cities around the world–including Denver, Miami, Helsinki, Paris, Madrid, Torino, Stockholm, Ottawa, and Melbourne–gathered to express their solidarity with Peruvian protesters who were attacked by federal special forces in the remote region of Bagua last week.
My husband, Francisco Collazo, was at the New York City demonstration to document the diverse group of people who showed up at the Consulate of Peru in photographs:
1. A homemade sign expresses a protester’s beliefs.
After posting some of the photos on our blog, a commenter remarked: “Some people actually solve problems, others just make signs and pretend to make a difference.”
The comment rankled and I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon.
It’s easy–and important, too–to question the privilege that we have as protesters responding to an episode as serious as the attacks on the indigenous communities in Bagua from a distance. We’re not at any real risk.
Maybe this guy got arrested on a civil disobedience misdemeanor…
2. This man chained himself to a door.
but that’s hardly akin to putting one’s life on the line in a remote area of Peru. And granted, it’s not comparable to the work that Gregor MacLennan is doing in Bagua, gathering testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses to the attack and informing the international media of what’s happening on the ground there.
Still, I think the anonymous commenter is cynical.
We can’t all be on the front lines gathering testimonies and providing direct aid. We have jobs and families and obligations that keep us tied to where we are. But we can gather together in our own communities with people who share a deep concern for fellow human beings experiencing crisis and injustice to let them know that their tragedy is being witnessed and that we won’t be silent. We can bring our signs and get together to say “We haven’t forgotten you” and to tell perpetrators of injustice “We hold you accountable.”
We can chain ourselves to the doors of our elected and appointed representatives to draw attention to world problems and say, “We expect you to intervene.”
And you know what, Mr. Cynical? Holding signs and chanting “El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido” (”The people, united, will never be divided”) doesn’t just make us feel better.
Today, just 24 hours after it launched an online petition calling the president of Peru to protect and uphold indigenous rights, the activist group Avaaz had collected over 113,000 signatures. In response to this action and the worldwide pressure put on President Alan Garcia by all these crazy protesters with their signs, the Peruvian legislature announced that it has temporarily suspended two of the free trade decrees that provoked the people of Bagua to protest and precipitated the full-on attack by Peruvian Special Forces.
Just look at what a few homemade signs can do.
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12 Comments... join the discussion!
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Solid response to cynicism. It’s worth pointing out that it’s far easier to write a dismissive comment on a blog than go chain yourself to a door.
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Agree. Who can make the difference are the legislators and not everybody can make laws. “Pointless protests” are actually “civil society” and we are all part of it, both nationally and internationally. We create our social capital and world leaders, put there for and by us, cannot simply ignore our protests and demands.
PS: The Peru petition has reached almost 124,000 signatures
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When someone says something like:
“Some people actually solve problems, others just make signs and pretend to make a difference.”
It makes me wonder if they fit into either description. What problems has he/she solved? Are they making a difference?
I am not trying to be snotty – I would really like to know. Maybe they have done a lot, and just get frustrated with people who do less.
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Yeah!! Julie, nice rebuttal, you rocked this issue! Hal, love your comment. Anybody who has gone to a demonstration and held “a sign and pretended to make a difference” knows that solidarity is important, raising your voice is important, raising awareness is important, and raising a ruckus is important. Social change requires all sorts of the methods and strategies–demonstrations, direct actions, letters, petitions, media, education, lobbying legislatures, etc.–yes, and sometimes even homemade signs.
Like Ben Harper sings in Better Way, “what good is a cynic with no better plan?”
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YES
Thank you for this post and THANK YOU FRANSISCO FOR THE PHOTOS!
I am often struck by how many people my age are completely cynical about their involvement in world and community affairs.
Apathy will only encourage injustice.
Thoughts of uplifting strength to all int he struggle for human rights!↵ -
I mean Francisco…how embarrassing!
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They can ignore your signs and they will. You are asking the government to help? It’s the government doing the killing. Would you ask the bully in the playground to stop taking your lunch money? Do you think he would reconsider? I think he’d bloody your nose for your trouble.
If you want to end senseless killing and war – end the state.
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Thanks for this Julie. That commentor is also most likely enjoying the fruits of protestors at one point or another. It’s so easy to mock and laugh at protestors (or get mad at them for holding up traffic), but this is where it all starts and if it weren’t for the “little guys” standing up for what they believe in (and what lots believe in but for some reason or another don’t/can’t participate), we wouldn’t be enjoying a lot of the things we take for granted.
I was just at a climate change rally today in Melbourne, walking down the street with the mob. I saw and heard a lot of bystanders snickering or making supid frat-boy comments.
I wish I knew about the Peru rally in Melbourne though! I would have caught some coverage here for sure.
Way to keep this story going too. It’s so easy to forget and move on to the next news item.
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The guy who doesn’t thnk protests matter must be young. If he had lived through the 60’s like I did, he would know how powerful they can be. Protesters can die too – remember civil rights, the Vietnam war, and Tianamen Square.
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Thanks for this well-written response to a comment… all too often people take comments personally but you really stepped outside of that and presented good information to prove your point
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