At the end of June 2009, British production company Quicksilver Media called us seeking support in the arrangement of logistics for the production of a documentary involving the areas of Bagua and Santa Maria de Nieva, northern Peru – Amazonas. The purpose was to coordinate meetings and interviews with informants and witnesses of what happened at la Curva del Diablo on June 5th of the current year.
Despite political tension and the refusal of the indigenous organizations to allow the entry of foreigners without their authorization following those sad events, we faced the challenge and succeeded in helping two Quicksilver Media reporters get into the Awajun and Wampis territories. This was an assignment for the TV special UNREPORTED WORLD of channel 4 produced by Quicksilver Media. They sent reporter Ramita Navai and producer Alex Nott to work not only in this project, but also in the first part of another documentary in the Rio Corrientes area with the Ashuar Indigenous group.
The result: a 30 minutes documentary that reveals the most crude and devastating testimonies about the fight of the Ashuar people in preventing their territories from being polluted by the oil companies. Also in the documentary is their fierce demand to the Peruvian government to protect and respect their Awajun and Wampis territories, demand that has been overlooked: almost half of the Ichigkat Muja � Cordillera del Condor National Park Proposal has been cut to give in concession to foreign mine companies, threatening the health and integrity of their forest.
Our dearest gratitude to our Awajun friend: Ermeto Tuesta, who was our local contact and translator. Without him, it would be almost impossible to enter this area and to achieve the documentary. We also want to thank our friends and leaders of the indigenous organizations of the area, with whom we are totally identified and eternally thankful.