"Oil drilling in our Amazon has brought contamination, disease, deforestation, destruction of our cultures, and the colonization of our territories. It is an existential threat for us and violates our fundamental rights as Indigenous peoples."
– Nemo Andy Guiquita

June 6 marked the beginning of the Summit of the Americas in downtown Los Angeles, hosted by U.S. President Biden. Among its attendees were the presidents of multiple nations across the Americas, including Ecuador's Lasso and Bolsonaro of Brazil. Our team, allies, and partners were there to make sure the issues of protecting the Amazon and advancing Indigenous rights were heard inside and outside the conference.

As Amazon Watch has done since its founding, we accompanied an Indigenous delegation from the Amazon rainforest. Like many global events where politicians make decisions that will affect our future and our climate, Indigenous peoples were not invited. Nonetheless we were able to secure accreditation for some delegates to the Civil Society Forum, and hosted simultaneous events, including actions, rallies, vigils, and more to amplify the visibility of the delegates and their priorities.

They arrived with key messages calling on global leaders to commit to protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025, demanding (once again) that Biden not make any deals with Bolsonaro, exposing the crude impact of Amazon oil by calling on Newsom to end California’s outsized consumption, and bringing to light Lasso’s plan to sell millions of hectares of Indigenous land for oil.