[LINK] "Amerindians in Guyana Leery of Emerging Oil Economy"

[rfmcdonald]

Marginal Rervolution's Tyler Cowen just noted Neil Anthony Giardino's article at Intercontinental Cry, noting the concern of indigenous peoples in Guyana that they will be cut out of their country's impending oïl boom. (Marginal Revolution's discussion concentrâtes on the implications for the wider country.)

This September Lenox Shuman and fellow Arawak Amerindians marched to the Prime Minister’s office in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, wearing war paint and clutching bows and arrows. It was a display of cultural identity that ended in a pledge to defend the country against neighboring Venezuela, who has laid claim to more than half of this small South American nation for more than a century.

The territorial feud intensified this May after Exxon Mobil, under contract from the Guyanese government, announced the discovery of vast amounts of oil in the disputed Essequibo region. The finding could be worth more than 10 times Guyana’s current economic output. But Amerindian communities in the country, often the casualties of extractive industries like logging and mining, are less optimistic about an emerging oil economy.

Shuman, who is Toshao, or chief, of a village called St. Cuthbert’s Mission, a small village in the country’s interior, is doubtful the oil will be a boon for Guyana’s indigenous population.

“I would be surprised if this oil discovery actually has any indigenous element or interest in it, because historically [politicians] have never looked at us as beneficiaries to any of their policies,” says Shuman, who nevertheless stands by Guyana’s territorial integrity.