Coordinating Body for the Indigenous Peoples' Organisations of the Amazon Basin

Coordinating Body for the Indigenous Peoples' Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) was founded in 1985 to "defend territorial rights, the free determination of indigenous peoples and the continuity of their unique cultures". The organisation represents 400 indigenous groups from the Amazon Basin, or approximately 1.5 million people.

The Association of Sarayaku Indigenous Centres, of the central- eastern Ecuadorian province of Pastaza, denounced that, since 1998, representatives from major oil companies have been making offers to indigenous leaders in efforts to divide them and convince them to back down from their refusal to allow oil exploration in their ancestral lands.

The coalition of native groups is working to prevent Plan Colombia from "increasing the militarisation of the Amazon Basin," which would harm the local communities and turn the area into a "no-man's land". 

Contact details
Headquartered in Quito, Ecuador Web: http://www2.truman.edu/~marc/webpages/nativesp99/grito/weblinkCOICA.html

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