Secrets from Putamayo.
This is a documentary about Roger Casement (1864-1916) and his work as a British Foreign office diplomat to expose human rights abuses in the rubber industry in South America. His efforts to exposed human rights injustices in the Congo and Brazil, and later when he joined the Irish revolutionary movement makes him one of the most extraordinary revolutionaries of the period.
In 1910, the British Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, Roger Casement, undertook an investigation into allegations of crimes against indigenous communities committed by the British-registered Peruvian Amazon Company.
Secrets from Putumayo tells of the barbaric treatment of the native peoples in Peru and Brazil which he discovered there and which he exposed to a shocked public. Basically, cruel slave labor conditions were an ongoing feature of the rubber industry in the Amazon rainforest, it was “a real green hell.” Shocked by his discoveries, and despite a heavy personal toll, Casement was determined to bring awareness to the British of their own colonial atrocities by revealing the appalling human cost of the rubber industry.
This documentary is narrated by Stephen Rea who reads disturbing excerpts from his journal, while archival images leave a lasting impression on a viewer. Listening to the stories of the native people whose ancestors suffered at the hands of these savage colonial corporations who plundered the resources on the lands of indigenous tribes makes one question how much the operations of some multinationals and governments have changed in over a hundred years.
Today the exploitation continues as these modern companies exploit the rare metals, resources, environment and fish of native peoples across the world as we stand by. Roger Casement was like a canary in the mine of human rights. His reports exposing the treatment of indigenous people deserve a wider audience. Secrets from Putamayo will go a long way to achieving this recognition for an extraordinary man. .
After 1913, Casement’s efforts on behalf of the new independence movement in Ireland are reasonably well known. He abandoned the British empire after his retirement to help the Irish Revolution. However he paid the ultimate price when the British government ensured his execution for treason against the empire on the 3rd August 1916 some three months after the 1916 leaders were executed.
Our thanks to everyone who has made the showing of this film possible at the Spirit of Mother Jones festival.
Entry is free. No booking. First come, first seated.
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