History and Violence: Murders of Indigenous Leaders Guardians from Environment in Latin America, 2016-2019

Abstract

The article raises a reflection about the indigenous ancestral wisdom of wise women and men with deep knowledge of the natural world who have recently been murdered in Latin America. The theoretical documentary analysis seeks to understand the attempt to usurp ancestral wisdom in the most violent way that can occur in the contemporary world: the murder of indigenous spiritual masters in Latin America. The method is qualitative with descriptive scope and corresponds to a systematic and synthetic review of the murders of true environmental defenders., The murders that will be studied of Cristina Bautista (Neehwe’s ancestral authority, Colombia); Paulo Paulino (guardian of the forest of the Guajajara people, Brazil); Domingo Choc Ché (Q'eqchi 'community, Guatemala); Macarena Valdés (Mapuche environmental activist); Olivia Arévalo Lomas (Olivia Arévalo Lomas, Shipibo-Konibo teacher, Peru) and Mark Silva Lacayo (youth Yatama, Nicaragua) ). The results can contribute to promote interest in studying the leaderships of the native peoples and, at the same time, challenges the academic and political community regarding the different murders of indigenous leaders in various territories of South America. Also, it contributes to the visibility, recognition and dissemination of the intangible cultural heritage of the diversity present in our Indigenous America.