ConflictBarometer_2015

THE AMERICAS
In various countries, indigenous groups continued to protest social marginalization, resource policies, land distribution, and
lack of security. Amidst nationwide anti-government protests in Ecuador, indigenous groups also continued to demonstrate
against mining and oil drilling projects on their land. Some of these protests turned violent as, for example, the Shuar
and Achuar communities attacked government officials and policemen in Morona Santiago province in late August. In
Peru, indigenous communities joined the nationwide mining protests demanding compensation for environmental damages
resulting primarily from land exploitation and oil contamination. The Achuar community was involved in the January
occupation of 14 oil wells run by the company Pluspetrol. In Colombia, protests escalated in early 2015 as indigenous
activists, who had been occupying haciendas in Cauca department, clashed with special police forces. Protesters demanded
integral reparation for massacres committed against indigenous communities.
Americas remained the region with the most conflicts over drugs as a resource. Apart from Mexico and Colombia, drugs also
played a major role in Honduras and Peru, among others.
In Honduras, the conflict between drug trafficking organizations and organized crime groups, on the one hand, and the
government, on the other, remained violent. As in previous years, the government continued to focus on the capture of drug
''kingpins and drug cartel members. The government's efforts showed achievements in 2015 as, for example, the decree to
shoot down unidentified airplanes effectively impeded aerial narcotrafficking. Overall, the amount of drugs being trafficked
through Honduras dropped significantly by 72 percent compared to 2014.
In Peru, the government continued their fight against drug traffickers and the cooperating rebel group Shining Path in VRAEM,
the main coca growing region in the country. The shooting down of small planes suspected of smuggling narcotics and the
eradication of about 35,000 hectares of coca crops conducted by anti-drug authorities proved to be successful as recent
surveys by the United Nations indicated that Colombia had surpassed Peru as the world's number one producer of cocaine
in 2015.
101