A law requiring the government to consult indigenous communities about development projects and measures affecting their land is raising questions in Peru. Among these is a very basic one: In a country in which many people are descended from pre-conquest inhabitants of the Andes and Amazon, exactly who is entitled to prior consultation? Such questions—and the complexity of the process outlined in the legislation—have slowed implementation of the Prior Consultation Law, which was drafted in response to violent protests in 2009 that left more than 30 people dead. (See “Amazon violence prompts Peruvian repeals”—EcoAméricas, June ’09.) President Ollanta Humala signed the measure into law in 2011. (See “Praise, and some queries, for Peru’s prior-consultation law”—EcoAméricas, Oct. ’11.) The first... [Log in to read more]
