Cuts to USAID severed longstanding American support for Indigenous people around the world
By GRAHAM LEE BREWER NEW YORK AP Miguel Guimaraes Vasquez fought for years to protect his homeland in the Peruvian Amazon from deforestation related to the cocaine contract even laboring under death threats from drug traffickers A leader in an Indigenous rights group Vasquez announced such efforts were long supported by financial assistance from the U S Agency for International Growth which spent billions of dollars starting in the s to help farmers in Peru shift from growing coca for cocaine production to legal crops such as coffee and cacao for chocolate The agency funded economic and agricultural training and system and helped farmers gain access to international markets But the Trump administration s contemporary sweeping cuts to the agency have thrown that tradition of U S assistance into doubt and Indigenous people in the Amazon worry that without American assistance there will be a resurgence of the cocaine area increased threats to their land and potentially violent challenges to their human rights We don t have the U S establishment with us anymore So it can get really dangerous revealed V squez who belongs to the Shipibo-Konibo people and is vice president of the Interethnic Association for the Growth of the Peruvian Rainforest We think the situation is going to get worse Several Indigenous human rights defenders have been killed trying to protect their land Vasquez noted and in several of those cases U S foreign aid provided money to help prosecute the slayings We really needed those tools he mentioned Sweeping cuts began in January When Elon Musk s Department of Cabinet Efficiency or DOGE began dismantling USAID shortly after President Donald Trump began his second term it all but eliminated U S foreign aid spending including decades of assistance to Indigenous peoples around the world USAID s work with Indigenous peoples sought to address a variety of global issues affecting the U S according to former employees Its economic rise efforts created jobs in South America easing the need for people to work in illicit drug markets and reducing the likelihood they would migrate to America seeking jobs and safety And its sponsorship for the rights of Indigenous peoples to steward their own land offered opportunities to mitigate atmosphere change That included V squez s organization which was about to receive a four-year million grant to continue fighting illicit activity that affects Indigenous people in the region V squez revealed that grant was rescinded by the new administration Related Articles Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law a federal inquiry finds Trump tax bill will add trillion to the deficit and leave million more uninsured CBO says Iran s supreme leader criticizes US proposal in nuclear talks but doesn t reject the idea of a deal US and Europe agreement negotiators say progress but no breakthroughs on tariff talks in Paris Howie Carr ICE doing the job Democrats failed to do In January DOGE launched a sweeping effort empowered by Trump to fire establishment workers and cut trillions in authorities spending USAID which managed about billion in appropriations in fiscal year was one of his prime targets Critics say the aid programs are wasteful and promote a liberal agenda Trump Musk and Republicans in Congress have accused the agency of advancing liberal social programs Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests protect our borders and strengthen our partnerships with key allies Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained in a message in March Unfortunately USAID strayed from its original mission long ago As a effect the gains were too minimal and the costs were too high Musk last week stated his departure from the Trump administration marking the end of a turbulent chapter that included thousands of layoffs and reams of litigation Former USAID employees announced political pressure from the U S often kept foreign governments from violating particular Indigenous rights In the three months since thousands of foreign aid workers were fired and aid contracts canceled the Peruvian leadership has moved promptly to strip Indigenous people of their land rights and to tighten controls on international organizations that document human rights abuses It s now a serious offense for a nonprofit to provide assistance to anyone working to bring lawsuits against the administration The National Commission for Improvement and a Drug-Free Lifestyle the country s agency that fights drug trafficking did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press The impact was really really strong and we felt it really swiftly when the Trump administration changed its stance about USAID V squez explained The U S spends less than of its budget on foreign assistance Tim Rieser a senior foreign approach aide in the Senate who works for Democratic Vermont Sen Peter Welch called DOGE s cuts to USAID a mindless setback to years of work The White House did not respond to a request for comment Agency reached Indigenous communities worldwide USAID s work reached Indigenous communities around the world It sought to mitigate the effects of human rights abuses in South America created programs in Africa to enable Indigenous people to manage their own communities and led the global U S effort to fight hunger One of the the majority fresh additions to USAID s work was incorporating international concepts of Indigenous rights into agenda Rieser for instance was responsible for crafting statute that created an adviser within USAID to protect the rights and address the requirements of Indigenous peoples The adviser advocated for Indigenous rights in foreign assistance programs including actions by the World Bank That provided Indigenous people everywhere with a way to be heard here in Washington Rieser revealed That has now been silenced That adviser position remains unfilled In this photo provided by Vy Lam shows Lam a former adviser on Indigenous peoples at the U S Agency for International Rise on the floor of the United Nations during Sec of the Interior Deb Haaland s speech at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on April in New York Vy Lam via AP Vy Lam USAID s adviser on Indigenous peoples who commented he was fired in March as part of the DOGE downsizing revealed the idea of Indigenous rights and the mandate to recognize them in foreign operations was new to USAID But it gained momentum under President Joe Biden s administration He commented concepts such as free prior and informed consent the right of Indigenous people to give or withhold approval for any action that would affect their lands or rights were slowly being implemented in American foreign program One of the methods that happened Lam explained came in the form of U S political pressure on foreign governments or private industry to negotiate mutually beneficial agreements between Indigenous peoples and their governments For instance if an American company required to build a hotel in an area that could affect an Indigenous region the U S could push for the deal to require Indigenous approval or at least consultation We had that convening power and that is the thing that I grieve the majority Lam reported U S foreign aid workers were also able to facilitate the reporting of specific human rights violations such as when a human rights or environmental defender is jailed without charges or Indigenous peoples are forced off their land for the establishment of a protected area Money supported attendance at international meetings In certain cases USAID supported advance to the United Nations where Indigenous leaders and advocates could receive training to deal with international bodies and document abuses Last year under the Biden administration USAID awarded a five-year grant to endorsement Indigenous LGBTQIA people through the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous People an agency that offers financial backing to Indigenous peoples to participate in the U N At per year it was the largest grant from any member state in the U N fund Secretary Morse Flores explained The money would have paid for attendance at the U N and other international bodies to account human rights abuses and to testify on foreign program In February the fund received notice that the grant would be terminated The State Department does not plan to fulfill its pledge to fund the remaining four years of the grant In greater part cases people receiving assistance to attend major meetings are actual casualties of human rights violations Flores noted For someone who s unable to come and speak up I mean it s really just an injustice This story was published in partnership with Grist a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to reporting on setting change
