by MARISOI FORNONI
Peru’s Congress has recently passed a law that states that indigenous people have a right to prior consultation regarding any plans that influence their collective rights. This includes their cultural identity, livelihoods and physical existence. On paper this law is revolutionary, but in reality many questions remain about the way this law will be enforced and the impact it will have on indigenous communities.
Latin America, a continent whose history consists of systematically killing indigenous people and erasing them from their national history, has only recently started carving out rights for indigenous people. In many Latin American countries indigenous groups are subjected to a type of racism- also known as racism without race.
This type of racism has its roots in Spanish and Portuguese colonialism and defines race according to cultural features, instead of any supposed physical characteristics. Hence, social hierarchies in many Latin American countries, like Peru, manifest themselves regionally, through a binary that places ‘civilized’ urban classes on the one end and ‘traditional’ rural dwellers on the other. These colonial social remnants remain visible today and have led to the rise of Peru’s current president Humala, who promises to finally give indigenous groups a voice in government.
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