As Peruvian Indigenous leader Miguel Guimaraes finishes his historic speech at the U.N., the room is silent for a moment – until the audience erupts in applause. In just three minutes, he captured the brutal reality of criminal economies ravaging the Amazon and its peoples.

Earlier that day, Herlín Odicio, a leader of the Kakataibo people of Peru, outlined what threatened Indigenous communities need from the international community.

“The Kakataibo have lost six leaders to assassinations in recent years – part of a broader pattern where over 36 Amazonian leaders have been killed in Peru alone,” Odicio said. “Governments fail to prevent violence despite prolonged threats, leaving us vulnerable.”

COP12 is one of the most crucial venues to coordinate an international response to the growing impact of organized crime across the Amazon and the world. To Guimaraes and Odicio, its devastating impact is deeply personal. Their communities have been directly targeted by criminal groups, forcing them to flee and lose their traditional ways of life.