ABSTRACT
In June 2009, the town of Bagua in the Peruvian Amazon was the scene of one of the most important political events in recent Peruvian history. Amazonian Indigenous Peoples blocked the Curva del Diablo highway for two months, protesting against a governmental package of decrees approved by President Garcia which favoured the exploitation of natural resources in the Amazon. This chapter argues that the Prior Consultation Law is embedded in 'coloniality' because it does not properly recognise Indigenous Peoples' self-determination. The chapter analyses the meaning of self-determination as an essential concept to understand the potential and limitations of the right to prior consultation and its differences from the right to provide free prior and informed consent. It then reviews the legal and political foundations of this right and its relation to coloniality, and unpack the Prior Consultation Law in order to show its dark side. The chapter explains the tensions between Indigenous territorial rights, self-determination and the 'national interest'.
