The Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! Latin America Front stands in solidarity with the demands of the Indigenous Ecuadorian organizations from the Kichwa Nationalities of Napo and Pastaza, the Quijos Nationality, and the Waorani Nationality who are defending the Tzawata Ila Chukapi community, which is experiencing an ongoing violent invasion and attempted dispossession of their land by the private company Terraturismo.

The Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! Latin America Front is an international coalition for anti-colonial free speech comprising Africans living in the United States, in continental Africa and around the world, and other anti-colonial organizations and individuals from around the globe, including Latin America and the Caribbean.  We have been fighting back against a colonial attack on the African community in the U.S., in particular, the case of the “Uhuru 3,” for nearly four years.

We understand that our fight for self-determination and the struggle of the Kichwa, Quijo and Waorani peoples are the same. It is a fight against the imposition of colonialism on our peoples. 

Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! won against the U.S. government’s politically motivated and fabricated charges of acting as unregistered foreign agents of Russia. They received no jail time or fine for the unjust secondary conviction of conspiring to do what they were cleared of doing.  They were granted early release from probation.

The attorneys for the Uhuru 3 are in the process of executing an appeal to reverse this wrongful conviction. In an unusual move, the Uhuru 3 have been granted oral arguments on the appeal in July of 2026. These wins against the U.S. Department of Justice, that was intent on assassinating or jailing the leader of the African People’s Socialist Party, Chairman Omali Yeshitela, and strangling the reparations work led by solidarity forces, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, were only possible because of the power of a united anti-colonial fightback of all colonized people.  The D.O.J. failed completely!

This unified effort is another firsthand experience, of the importance of the unity of all colonized people, in a worldwide anti-colonial fightback.

Therefore, we stand in solidarity with the demands of this permanent territorial defense commission.  We understand that within the structure of the Ecuadorian Indigenous movement, the assembly is the highest authority and the highest body for collective decision-making.  Its resolutions are mandatory and binding, based on the collective rights stipulated in the Constitution of Ecuador. We stand in solidarity with these demands:

1. To ratify the full recognition of the Tzawata Ila Chukapi community as part of the historical territories of the Amazonian Indigenous peoples, whose rights must be respected and guaranteed. To declare the Tzawata Ila Chukapi community a symbol of resistance and defense of the territory against colonial and corporate dispossession of Indigenous territories.
2. We declare a state of emergency, permanent mobilization, and territorial resistance in defense of Tzawata Ila Chukapi through the Permanent Territorial Assembly, which will meet continuously as long as the threats against the community persist.
3. We demand that the Ecuadorian State recognize the collective land title of the ancestral community of Tzawata Ila Chukapi based on its ancestral possession and remedy the damages caused to the community. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries (MAGAP) must cancel the deed issued to the company Terraturismo, which we declare persona non grata in the territories of Indigenous peoples and nationalities due to its hostile and violent behavior.
4. We demand the immediate and voluntary withdrawal of the company Terraturismo and all its infrastructure, machinery, and contracted personnel.  Otherwise, this assembly will act in accordance with the regulations of Indigenous peoples.
5. We support the community authorities and leaders of the Tzawata Ila Chukapi community who are facing criminalization for exercising the legitimate defense of their territory.
6. Request that the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), human rights organizations and agencies provide ongoing support for the Tzawata Ila Chukapi case.
7. Establish a permanent territorial defense commission composed of the participating organizations in order to protect Tzawata Ila Chukapi.

We, the Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! Latin America Front, understand that worldwide unity is required in the anti-colonial fightback for the freedom and self-determination of all colonized peoples. Together, we win!

To: The permanent territorial defense commission of the Kichwas of Pastaza and Napo, the Quijos and the Waoranis.

From: Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! Latin America Front 

We respectfully submit this letter declaring our solidarity with your anti-colonial fightback.

We salute your determination and empathize with your struggle.  We recognize your sovereignty.  We are with you.

Uhuru! (“Freedom” in Swahili)

HandsOffUhuru.org 

Mwezi Odom, Chair
Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! Latin America Front

Read the Spanish version of this statement >