INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE - COMMITTEE OF CONCERNED GALAPAGOS CITIZENS
Santa Cruz, Galapagos November 21, 2000It is inconceivable that at the beginning of a new millennium, in such a special place as the Galapagos World Heritage Site, the terrorist actions that have occurred since Monday the 13th of November, can still happen. The violence climaxed on Thursday with the senseless destruction on Isabela Island. How can a small group of illegal outsiders, posing as Galapagos fishermen, commit all kinds of criminal acts for years ,without any retribution?
Almost five years ago a group of fishermen took hostage several people including some authorities from Isabela and San Cristobal. These vigilantes demanded the heads of the captain and crew members of the Guadalupe River, the National Parks Patrol Boat. The victims spent a night utterly terrorized until morning arrived and the instigators went into hiding. Not long after that incident, a park ranger was shot by one of the same leaders of the hostage scare and his life was only saved through sheer luck.
A year ago, the National Park and Research Station Offices were seized and Giant Tortoises from the Isabela rearing center were taken hostage. In these days, we have seen the most senseless destruction of public and private property, people even had to run for their lives. Some of the uninhabited islands were also taken by fishermen and tourists were prevented from landing.
We, the inhabitants of the archipelago who follow the rules and abide by the established laws are sick and tired of this senseless game, abetted by local politicians, which is destroying the image of the peaceful tourist paradise that we have had for many years.
We demand that the government take exemplary action against these terrorists who in the former cases have already been identified. We also demand the establishment of judicial power in Santa Cruz Island with the appointment of honest and determined judges to try all these cases; men and women who have the courage to send these criminals to jail and banish them from the islands forever.
We ask the International Conservation Community to exert pressure on the Ecuadorian Government so that they will treat this issue seriously and take immediate action.
I strongly believe that keeping all the serious events that have occurred in Galapagos hidden, for fear that tourism might decrease, will in the end cause more damage.
If we denounce the problems openly something will be done, and that will be a guarantee for visitors that we the people of Galapagos are determined to protect our home environment.
Rodrigo Jacome Speck,
President, Committee of Concerned Galapagos Citizens
Telephones: +593-5-526335 and +593-5-527375 (evenings only, local time)
THANKS TO Voyagers International for sending this report