External interference and its active participation within indigenous communities is increasingly evident, and its effects are harmful to Latin American nation-states.
These effects will be detailed below. One of the effects or consequences of this Anglo-American interference within the structures of indigenous organizations is the positioning of a secessionist discourse in the most extreme cases, or at least, invoking the self-determination of peoples, protected by international law and other instruments of the normative framework, both national and international, seeking to undermine the notion of the Unitary State, harming one of its basic principles, such as the indivisibility of its sovereign territory and the capacity to exercise absolute control, administration, and force within its territorial jurisdiction.
It’s also worth mentioning that Latin America is home to the greatest biodiversity on the planet, meaning vast and enormous territories rich in valuable natural resources.
This explains the interest of governments outside the region, which, through various organizations, foundations, and other NGOs, seek to interfere within Indigenous communities, seizing control from within through funding, assistance, and cooperation.
This is how they become indirectly involved in decision-making and, consequently, in the structures of Indigenous organizations. Indoctrination, masked by education, is how they train Indigenous leaders who are functional and loyal to their causes, to the national interests of foreign powers, but not to the national interests of the states to which they belong. Based on historical grievances, they seek division, polarization, and even separatism, as is the case, to some extent, with a large portion of the Mapuche people in Patagonia, both in Chile and Argentina.
Not only does it affect the unity of nation-states, but they also fulfill another function, another mission. Through these external agents interfering within Indigenous Communities, they also seek to sabotage the efforts of various minorities, social sectors that collectively unite the popular majorities of Latin American countries and that oppose traditional power models and structures—that is, the establishment, the elites that have held the reins and destinies of our nations since independence in the 19th century. Latin American elites have historically been very submissive and subservient to Anglo-American power; therefore, the established power does not want the traditional status quo to be questioned or shaken even a bit.
To safeguard this order, they are supported by the northern power, which, with its Monroe Doctrine concept, views the region as its backyard, as its property. Therefore, allowing such an important sector of Latin American society as the various indigenous communities to establish themselves as a solid and decisive actor contesting power is an existential threat to the Latin American powers and to Anglo-American dominance. That is why training, sponsoring, and supporting supposed “indigenous leaders” is part of their plan.
Can honest Indigenous people themselves dismantle the imperialist plan?
Of course it is possible, but it is not an easy task, because, as already mentioned, there are structures deeply permeated by the sabotaging practices of foreign entities disguised as cooperation. The way forward is to challenge the spaces of power and leadership within the same organizations, with highly trained Indigenous leaders, who will expose and expose the trap, deception, and manipulation of which they are victims, and who will reclaim and seize leadership positions to begin dismantling these structures. Another strategy is to seek an alliance, a well-established popular unity—Indigenous, mestizo, Black, and white—that encompasses broad sectors of the population.
It’s illustrative to briefly mention the case of Ecuador, a country with a significant Indigenous presence, whose strength has begun to be felt since the 1990s, overthrowing presidents and influencing political agendas and decision-making. But since then, false Indigenous leaders, facing the largest Indigenous organization in Ecuador, CONAIE (National Confederation of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Ecuador), have repeatedly tried to distort their strength and their struggle, becoming functional to the establishment and receiving minimal concessions of power, while their peoples remain marginalized and forgotten to this day.
The voices of discontent and rejection of his leadership came primarily from other traditional indigenous leaders, who divided support and played into the hands of the Ecuadorian right, represented by the de facto powers. The failure to forge a timely alliance with other popular sectors was also a serious strategic error.
Dismantling imperialist plans from within Indigenous communities is possible, but not easy to execute. A resurgence of consciousness within Indigenous communities is crucial, as is contesting power from within with new, young leaders. It is necessary to cleanse and purge their ranks, redefining the causes of struggle, always taking into account the sense of belonging to the nation-state and its national interests for the benefit of all its people, of the popular majority.
