16 October 2016

Our guide through the Pongo de Manseriche: Washurú (señor Merino Trigoso Pinedo)




Washurú. Here we were halfway through the Pongo de Manseriche.


Washurú (Merino Trigoso Pinedo)
When driving over the Eje Vial Binacional no.4 from Jaen to Bagua on February 19th 2010, we had forgotten about the uprising by Awajún indigenous people the year before. We drove over the bridge "Puente 24 Julio" at Coral Quemado, where the protest ended in bloodshed on June 5th 2009 at Devil's Bend ("Curve de Diablo").
A few days later, our guide from Loja, Eduardo T., contacted Washurú (señor Merino Trigoso Pinedo, born in 1955 in Santa Maria de Nieva; ex-mayor) an Awajún indian, who was willing to lead us through the Pongo de Manseriche and on to Sarameriza.



On our way from Jaen to Bagua in 2010 we crossed the bridge at Coral Quemado. Insert shows the Marañon river looking south. The beautiful  "Complejo Rentema" is at the junction of three rivers: Rio Chinchipe, Rio Marañon and Rio Utcubamba.


"Eje Vial Binacional no. 4"
The project "Eje Vial Binacional no. 4", represents a road from Loja (Ecuador) to Sarameriza (Peru). Eventually, this road will be part of a connection between the Pacific and Antlantic oceans. It seems to be a logical road over a lower part of the Andes since La Condamine already took the same route in 1743 (See blog).
The planning is that the last part, the 197 km from Durán to Sarameriza, will be finished in the coming year.
 
 



Eje Vial Binacional no.4. In 2010, we took the road to Santa Maria de Nieva and the boat through the Pongo de Manseriche to Sarameriza. Probably, one can soon take the road directly to Sarameriza, from where boats can take you to the Atlantic Ocean.


Accusations and acquittance
In January 2009, the Free Trade Agreement ("Tratada de Libre Comercio") with the United States was implemented. All over Peru there were protests, but the one in Bagua that erupted on June 5th 2009, was the most serious.
On January 21rst 2010, one month before we met him, Washurú appeared for an Investigating Committee in the parish of Santa Maria de Nieva. Here he was questioned under oath about his responsibility for the events on June 5th, that left 34 people killed (22 indigenas and 12 policemen).
Washurú tells the committee that he was at the head of a group of his people that were only armed with spears as used for ceremonies or hunting; that there were helicopters firing tear gas bombs at the about 5000 protesters and that he saw how many of them were injured and some killed by bulltes. He also tells how a group of his people, that had been fully trained in the Peruvian army, had overtaken some policemen that were shooting at short distance on the protesters from an ambush. Eleven policemen were disarmed and shot.
At a session in Chachapoya on May 16th 2016, 52 accused indigenas were heard about the events that occurred at the "Curva del Diabolo", near Bagua. The prosecutor accused señor Trigoso Pinedo of being an instigator of the protest  and asked 35 years of prison. For two others he asked life imprisonment. His defender, the lawyer Quispe, asked for acquittance because the accusations were based on subjectivities and not on proven facts.
Newspapers called it "a court of shame", because nobody of the administration, responsible for the behavior of the police, had been summoned and questioned about the death of 22 indigenas.
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March 2014. "Los inculpados", the accused. Washurú at a session where he is wearing his crown of feathers, belonging to his status as an Awajun leader or "Apu".

On September 22nd 2016 the 52 protesters, accused for the death of policemen, were acquitted by the Criminal Chamber of Bagua. This process (called "Baguanza") is an example of how politicians take decisions without informing and respecting enough the local people. The process is well imaged in the recent movie "When two worlds collide" or "El Choque de dos Mundos".


Washurú in 2010
In Sarameriza, Washurú helped us to buy hammocks (hamacas), he brought us to César, owner of a cargo vessel, the "lancha Monica Imena", that would depart the next day to Iquitos. See this blog of25 February 2010. He organized a good room for us in the only hotel of town, "Hostel Aiku", where we had dinner and where he told us about the difficult situation of the "politicos indigenas"; about discrimination and lack of money. I cannot remember whether he was against the construction of Eje Vial #4, which will open up Sarameriza: the music was too loud and my spanish not good enough.  
The next morning, February 21rst 2010, on our way to the lancha, he brought us to the bakery, where we bought little buns (24 for $1.00). We are very much indebted to him. When Eje Vial no.4 is finished, it should be not too difficult to visit him again.


 

The bakery in Sarameriza, where we could buy our buns for the coming days.


25 January 2013

Journey to Suriname


From January 27 to February 18, 2012, we travelled through Surinam as a group of rowers from “Roeiclub Naarden”. 


"The historic disunity of Suriname". President Desi Bouterse on the cover of a dutch History Magazine (September 2012, no. 6) 



Is it allowed to visit such a “vicious country”, where on 8 December 1982 fifteen opponents were killed under supervision of Desi Bouterse, where in 2007 a trial was started against him and 24 other suspects and where in 2010 Desi Bouterse was elected as president? Although the Suriname parliament accepted in April 2012 a controversial amnesty law that would plead the president and the other suspects free, the court-martial will not halt the trial, because the amnesty law interferes with an ongoing proces and this is unconstitutional. So, for Bouterse the struggle is going on, but so far no statement has been made by the public prosecutor. 

Why was he elected, especially as it appeared, by the younger generation and the mostly poor, Creole part of the population? According to Hans Buddingh', journalist and writer of the book "History of Suriname" (note the strange comma behind his name), the explanation lies in the deeply fragmented society. The country is organized along ethnical groups and its communities have never learned to support common goals. The people who voted for Bouterse didn't care that he had a bad reputation in the Netherlands, where he even is convicted because of drug trafficking. Many chose him also because his party, the NDP (Nationale Democratische Partij), is a multi-ethnic party. 

During our past journeys in 2005, 2007 and 2010 we talked with our host and many other people in Suriname and observed their struggle with the "December-killings". What would I have done, what political opinion would I have adopted if I had lived in Suriname? 

A few weeks ago we saw the stage play "Bouta", in which three actors tried to give an answer to the question who Desi Bouterse is and how he came to these killings for which he has accepted to be politically responsible. They interviewed classmates from the boarding school "Bonifacius" south of Paramaribo, giving interesting information about his youth and breeding. The three actors, Anouk Nuyens, Marjolijn van Heemskerk and Tjon Rockon, each treated the problem from their own perspective. While giving no answer they passed no judgment. Will Suriname be able to organize a truth and reconciliation commission, like in South Africa? With half of the Suriname population living in the Netherlands, including the relatives of the murdered people, this will be difficult. 


Left: Anouk Nuyens, Marjolijn van Heemstra and Tjon Rockon in their play "Bouta". Seen in Amersfoort on January 10th, 2013. Right: The basketball team of Desi Bouterse (upper right) at the boarding school Bonifacius south of Paramaribo. 



Various vicious countries

In the Netherlands, many of my aquaintances judge that one is not allowed to travel to countries like Israel, Iran or Suriname. Jet, in the past two years I visited all three countries. 

Regarding Israel, it is remarkable how the opinion of many people has shifted "to the right". But not as much as Netanyahu had hoped for. After all, Meretz, the most leftist large party popular in kibbutz HaZorea, more than doubled its seats. For the near future, a "practical solution" for the two populations does not seem to be the ambition for either party. "Practical", in this respect, means to look for a solution that is not infiltrated by religious or rather messianic notions that God has given the Land to either party. 

Regarding Iran, I ended my last blog with a prediction that did not come out. Although attacks on Iran have so far been postponed the saber-rattling continues. This may be less innocent than it sounds: In her column for the Online journal "Strategic Culture Foundation", Elena Ponomareva discusses an interview with Kissinger, who stated: <... To the extent that Iran shows willingness to conduct itself as a nation-state, rather than a revolutionary religious cause, (i.e. to fulfill all U.S. conditions and give up its sovereignty. – E.P) and accepts enforceable verification, elements of Iranian security concerns should be taken seriously, including gradual easing of sanctions as strict limits on enrichment are implemented and enforced....>. The question is how far the West will go in stirring-up a situation in which Iran is provoked to take measures that justify a military response from the U.S. 

Here, in the Netherlands, our governement has not been able to accept the responsibility for the slaughter of 7000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. Relatives of the murdered people have accused the dutch commander. But, already for some time, the public prosecutor has postponed the indictment, because "it is such a difficult case". I agree, because I don't want the commander to be the scapegoat. The religious and left-winged politicians should take the responsibility for sending dutch soldiers without sufficient arms to Srebrenica, to a foreign country, where they had not to be. 

So, in the beginning of 2012, we travelled again to Suriname. 



A group of pale rowers departs on January 27, 2012 from Schiphol airport (Amsterdam) 


Boattrip from Nieuw Nickerie to Amatopo: 300 km up the Corantine river and down again

A few days after our arrival at Camp David, we travelled for the second time by boat over the Corantine river, the border between Guyana and Suriname. The first time was in 2005 (December), when we reached the Wonotobo falls. This time we went further upstream to Amatopo. Again it was Paul de Boer who guided us on this 10-day trip. 

Being tourists, we thought we would enjoy the beautiful nature and experience something of the way of life of the local people living there. But from whom is the land we enter when leaving the boat? Is it no-man's-land? Who are those people and how do they survive here? 





January 29 to February 8, 2012: Overview of our Corentine-trip to Amatopo with Paul de Boer and his helpers, Dave Hope, Sike Rapu and Tyson Watiri. 


From the moment we stepped in the boat we looked at the continuously changing shores, their green walls of trees, we looked at the birds flying with us or crossing the river, we looked at each other, at the beautiful clouds, sometimes transforming in curtaines of warm rain. How did we enjoy this magnificent trip! We hardly thought about the above questions! 

But we got some impression of the life of the Trio's in Amatopo. When we arrived there it appeared that they were out of fuel for their boats. So, Paul de Boer offered his help. His aluminum boat was lifted on a large Trio-korjaal packed also with empty tanks, which they could refill in Apoera. 

Another highlight of our trip on the way back was the observation at Wonotobo of some 5 fishing, screaming and whistling Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). They were shy, but we could follow them upstream for some time. 




Dennis CaF and Paul de Boer with the aluminum boat in the Trio-korjaal. 


At home again, I found that, regarding Western Suriname, questions about landownership had also been asked by the anthropology student Koen Alefs of the University of Amsterdam (Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences – Department of Sociology and Anthropology). 

In 2004 he performed an ethnographical study in Western Suriname called “the Bushmasters”. In his master thesis (written in dutch with English summary) he describes how the indigenous population (some 1500 Amerindians of Arawak, Warau and Carib descent) provide for their livelihood by fishing, hunting and trading bushmeat. There are no land titles or territorial divisions allowing all members of the communities to use the communal forests. But they require special skills like knowledge of the rivers and woods and of how to track game and how to shoot with their Russian shotguns. Their traditional way of living is threatened by land-exploitation grants given by the government to mining and logging companies. In a movie of a hunting party, Koen Alefs shows that these people need their communal forests if they want to continue to live like their ancestors. 

When I talked with him at Science Park of the University of Amsterdam he also showed me his project on the Kaburi creek, a proposed nature reserve just north of Apoera. Apparently, there was no additional funding to continue this project. What a pity! 


Our further adventures were described in my Dutch Blog "Roeien en Reizen" (rowing and travelling): 



23 May 2011

After Iran: Visit to New York and Vermont - May 7-23, 2011




Driving through the "green" states of New York and Vermont, the deserts and towns of Iran seem far away. However, the discussions, comments and newspapers here kept reminding me of my Iranian experience.


Travels through Iran: from Teheran to Zanjan and back by car; from Teheran to Shiraz and Isfahan by plane and from Isfahan to Teheran again by car. Shatt al-Arab, the region disputed between Iraq and Iran.

The most prominent differences between the city of Teheran (9 million) and the city of New York (8 millon) are, first, the huge and overwhelming advertisements on the New York skyscrapers and, second, the heterogeneity of the people in the New York streets. This heterogeneity and the fact that all those different people can speak freely about politics represents the real force of the "Imperialistic West" for which al Quaeda must be afraid and against which  bin Laden has been trying to install hatred.



After the modest billboards in Teheran, the advertisements in New York were overwhelming.

The threat of al Quaeda has brought more police and security officers to the streets of New York than I ever saw in Teheran, Shiraz or Isfahan. Reading about bin Laden's death in the New York newspapers, the eruptions of hate among young moslims remind me of the words of Hans Keilson, who was rediscovered here by Francine Prose (New York Times, Sunday Book Review; August 5, 2010):
"B (i.e. Hitler) needed the Jews to project onto them what he dislikes in himself." Is it comparable? Will the hatred towards the West inspired by al Quaeda lead to the self-destruction of bin Laden's dream of creating a Sunnitic Caliphate?



 
Wall St., NY: the diversity of freely walking and talking people seems to me the real power of the West.


Ground Zero represented to me another aspect of power and strength: an impressing activity of rebuilding 4 new towers next to the two sites of the remnants of the Twin Towers that will stay as a monument. In his Mideast Speech of May 19, 2011, Obama reminded us that al Quaeda is losing "its struggle for relevance" and that "the people of the Middle East and North Africa had taken their future into their own hands." 



Building activities at Ground Zero, May 2011 

He also mentions Iran: "So far, Syria has followed its Iranian ally, seeking assistance from Tehran in the tactics of suppression. And this speaks to the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime, which says it stand for the rights of protesters abroad, yet represses its own people at home." ....and..... "The image of a young woman dying in the streets is still seared in our memory. And we will continue to insist that the Iranian people deserve their universal rights, and a government that does not smother their aspirations."

I was also reminded by an Israeli friend how the US did not side Iran when Iraq attacked Iran in a dispute over the Shatt el-Arab region (the confluence of the Euphrat and the Tigris) starting the war from 1980 to 1988.
In his comment (May 23, 2011) he reminded me how Iran blew up in Buenos Aires first the Israeli Embassy on March 17, 1992 (killing 29 and wounding over 250 people) and then the Jewish Community Center on June 18, 1994 (killing 87 and wounding over 100 people). All this happened well before the arrival of the present holocaust-denier Ahmadinejad!
So, have I been naive regarding Iran? Perhaps , but in his comment on the death of bin Laden ("Bad Bargains"; May 11, 2011), Thomas Friedman (The New York Times) concludes that the main threat of Taliban and al Quaeda lies in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It wouldn't surprise me if in the coming years the relation between Iran and Israel-USA would relax.



12 May 2011

Impressions of my visit to Iran: 29 April to 5 May



"My guide" and sister in the beautiful garden of the Golestan Palace in Teheran.

I could not testify.....that this country is governed by a "terror regime" as written in our newspapers. During my short stay, I always had the feeling that I could walk freely around. The security at the airports was as relaxed as in, for instance, Brazil. The people I met on the street were very kind, also to my female guide. They laugh, but seem a little shy; in the basars they did not "attack" a sightseer like me; they resembled the people I met in Israel, but did not display their self-assurance; they could wait patiently, except in the traffic. If these people are suppressed, they in any case do not discharge their anger in loud music in restaurants and cars like the Brazilians do and we, perhaps, too. At the university and in the streets, we talked freely about our interests, about religious habits, western movies or Persian culture, but ... nót about politics.



My guide, checking slides before her presentation for the thesis defense session at the Institute in Zanjan


Smoking a waterpipe after dinner at the old Bathhouse-restaurant in the basar of Zanjan. Difficult exercise for my knees....

I did not know that....10000 Rials is 1$ and that the Iranian banknotes show us a story of development from Islamic fundamentalism to Iranian nationalism. The old 2000 bill still shows the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The newer 20000 bill shows the beautiful Imam Square in Esfahan, where cheerful and hilarious schoolgirls asked me: "From where do you come, Sir?", "How do you like the country?" and "Are you an Imam?". On the last 50000 bill the map of Iran shows the Persian Gulf and the symbol of an atom emphasizing the importance of science with the saying: "If knowledge will be in the sky (in the Pleiades) Persians cértainly will catch it". But how can this be reconciled with Islamic teaching (4-5 h a week in primary school) where children are taught biology without reference to evolution? They still learn how to consider the wonders of nature as La Condamine did in the 18th century: all is created by God to be enjoyed and admired by us, Humans.



Surrounded by cheerful schoolgirls, wearing an easy-to-wear  "maghnaéh" instead of a headscarf, on the large Imam Square in Esfahan.


Rial-banknotes showing a development from Islamic fundamentalism to Iranian nationalism.

I did not know that.... Iran has about 77 million inhabitants of which more than 3 million are university students. About half of them is female. After the revolution in 1979 the governement (i.e. Khomeini) stimulated women to go to school and university, but forced them also to wear the chador (loose-fitting coat) and the headscarf.
In this Islamic country I had expected to hear every 5 hours the loudspeakers on mosques or minarets, just like in Indonesia. Fact is that I only heard them once (at 4:50 am) in Teheran and sometimes, shortly, in the airports. This then is one of the superficial differences between Shi'a and Sunni.


Teheran: everywhere in the streets images of Ayatollah Khomeini (left) and his successor, the Supreme Leader Khamenei (right). They command you "to behave decently" and in return they offer you "peace of mind".

A more profound difference is the use of "prayer stones": small tablets of clay that were often decorated with some simple inscriptions or figures, on which the forehead is placed when stretching to earth during prayer. Sunni's do not use that!

I did not know that....  the Iranians disike Arabs and do not want to speak arabic. After the Islamic conquest (in ~650) the rulers tried to introduce arabic. But thanks to poets like Ferdowsi (a large statue in Teheran honors him), the Persians kept their language. Another famous poet (1195–1226) is remembered on the 100000 Rials banknote: Saadi.


بنى آدم اعضای يك پیکرند
که در آفرينش ز یک گوهرند
چو عضوى به درد آورد روزگار
دگر عضوها را نماند قرار
تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

The poem of Saadi on the 100000 banknote is translated by M. Aryanpoor as:

Human being are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you've no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain!

I did not know that....there is more democracy in Iranian governement than Salman Rushdie suggested in an interview when he compared the Iranian Ayatollah's with Nazi-dictators. But the way Imam's get their power is complicated and based on a long tradition in a country that has been ruled by kings for millenia until 1979.
I uderstood from my student-guide that clerics of the Shi'a ("followers of Ali" - the cousin of Mohamed) earn their money and power because, as commanded in religious texts, the people háve to give money to the poor. As this can be a difficult task Imam's come to help and you can now give your money to an Imam that you trust. (Don't we do something similar when a tsunami has occurred and television programs allow us to give our money to get "peace of mind"?).
The Imam has to write theses about new religious subjects (e.g. how should an astronaut pray in space?); he usually has a website and an office. If an Imam gets a lot of money, i.e. when many people trust him, and if he can convince other Imam's that his theses are correct, he can become an Ayatollah and as such a member of the Assembly of Experts: 86 clerics that choose the Supreme Leader. At this moment Rafsanjani is head of the Assembly and the Supreme Leader is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But this story is much more complicated and requires additional reading. Also, I think you have to be a catholic to understand all these beliefs and devotions, not a protestant who thinks he is "non-believing".
  

The Jameh Moesque of Isfahan from 771 and rebuilt in the 11th century, decorated with glazed tilework (insert).


Prayer stones used by Shi'a.


In 1971... the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire was celebrated by the Shah. I still remember that the concert was broadcasted on dutch television or radio. The expensive and extravagant feast, of which we still saw remnants of deliberately neglected tribunes, paved the way for the return of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.


Persepolis

I do not know... whether I have seen the poor people in Iran where 45% of the urban population lives "under the poverty line". What I did see was that, compared to Teheran and Zanjan, the towns of Shiraz and Esfahan looked rather rich and remarkably clean! Not like the poverty and filth of South-American cities.


In the bazar of Shiraz a carpet is cleaned by scraping it with a long knife (not visible).

What I did understand is how the war against Iraq (1980-1988) traumatized the entire country. My guide (as a girl of about 8) still remembered seeing the photographs of the war when her father took her to the airport in Shiraz. At this moment it was this town that commemorated for one month the many casualties of the war: throughout town huge posters with photographs had been placed.


Poster in Shiraz to commemorate the war against Iraq (1980-1988)


Breakfast with my guide in the magnificent Hotel Abbasi*****

When passing Natanz on our way from Esfahan to Teheran I saw on the electric wires along the well-maintained 6-lane highway, the beautiful Roller ("Scharrelaar"; Coracias garrulus). Not many other birds except for some swallows and huge Hooded Crows ("Bonte Kraaien").


Passing Natanz we saw the Roller or "Scharrelaar";
picture from: http://www.dutchbirding.nl/news.php?id=274

The death of Osama bin Laden appeared in the Iran News on May 3rd. On May 2nd a taxi driver still told us that it could all be a lie. But travellers at the airport had already heard the news via illegal satellite disks...
Did I see signs of the former opposition? No, but I heard about reformists and the "Green movement" and I got the impression that people were awaiting the outcome of the power struggle between the President and the Supreme Leader. They felt that they were "further" than the Sunni-Arabs revolting in the North-African countries and Syria.



On many balconies in town curtains hide the satellite disks giving access to western TV-programs.

The traffic in Teheran is amazing. It is as if nobody will allow the other car to pass while, without much hassle, a car gets through smoothly whether coming from the right or the left. But my female driver warned me: when they see that you wear a headscarf you have to push harder and be more persevering. If we would drive like this in the Netherlands, with a distance of 20 to 200 cm between the cars depending on velocity, there would be less traffic jams. As there are no traffic lights for pedestrians and zebra crossings seem not to be recognized, I was glad not to have to cross a busy street.


My "female driver" in Teheran traffic, more resolute and faster than most taxi drivers!


10 May 2011

Journey to Iran: preparations


Alea jacta est. On January 16, while traveling through the US, I received an invitation from the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Science in Zanjan, Iran, to participate in the thesis defense session of a former student.
Going to Iran? Some people advised me not to go to that "vicious country"; others said that it would be an interesting experience... But in that time, the Iranian-Dutch woman Zahra Bahrani (45), was sentenced to death; she was hanged in Tehran on January 29, while we were enjoying a trip to the Monterey Aquarium (see previous Blog). The Dutch governement froze all official contacts with Iran’s “barbaric regime”. Should I go?

In what country was I travelling? Since April 2008, the US carried out 1,099 executions; 3,283 inmates (half of them white) are “on death row” and almost 70% of the people are in favour of the death penalty, although alternative sentences are getting more in favor...
After reading that, I decided to accept the invitation.



With this picture of the late Iranian-dutch Zahra Bahrami, I want to commemorate the more than three thousand people on death row in the US and the people executed in Iran on the occasion of their new year (86 according to Amnesty International).

Visa. When calling the Iranian Enbassy in The Hague I thought the voice was talking a familiar language: hebrew! Later, in the office where women have to wear headscarfs, I heard the greeting "Sálom", resembling the Israeli "Shalóm" (and not the Arabic "Salam").
From where does the Iranian hatred against Israel come? I know that some European historians and Arab leaders and movements (eg. Hamas) deny the Holocaust. But how can a president of a large country as Iran join them? Is it just a helpless act of bullying Israel?

I have many more questions about Iran:
From where does the strong devotion to God come? I know it is not a secular state like ours, where politics and religion are separated, and where we still maintain a "Queen, by the grace of God"....
Why, after chasing the Shah in 1979, did most people accept from Ayatollah Khomeini that there would be an Islamic Republic based on the rules of "one God"? An acceptation that may again occur after the present revolts in the Arabic countries. There were many dissidents that left Iran or were imprisoned after 1979: Will I still be able to see signs of this former opposition? Will I meet people that regret to have accepted the political involvement of the Ayatollah's?
We will see.