The Organization of Indigenous Nations (ONO) brings together indigenous communities from different continents and proposes a clear political identity: they are nations pre-existing modern states, with the right to territorial, cultural, and linguistic self-determination.
An international articulation space
The organization functions as a global articulation space to defend rights, share diagnoses, and build joint positions on common problems.
Ayala argues that the planet operates under a Eurocentric civilizational model of a colonialist, militaristic, and fundamentalist nature, which imposes an economic logic centered on material accumulation and private property, at the expense of land and community life. According to his vision, this matrix leads to environmental degradation, social fragmentation, and loss of community ties.
From Cusco to Guatemala: the path of the ONO
Although formalization came at the World Assembly in Cusco in 2024, the ONO began to take shape in 2022, when the Council of the Nation of Tawantinsuyu (Conatagua) promoted an initial meeting with delegations from 14 countries across the three Americas.
After a year of work, the initiative expanded to Africa and led to the first World Assembly in Cusco (2024), followed by the second in Guatemala (2025). Mexico has already been chosen as the venue for the 2026 meeting.
The structure combines coordination with horizontality, led by Ayala and supported by an international council with an operational headquarters in Lima.
Central agenda: territories, culture, and rights
The ONO addresses a wide range of issues, with an emphasis on the defense of ancestral territories and cultural preservation.
Ayala denounces that states are controlled by companies that dictate the roadmap and criminalize community authorities and environmental defenders. The ONO seeks to make these practices visible through declarations, international observation, and continental support networks.
The organization maintains that any economic activity in indigenous territories must be conducted with prior consultation, strict environmental standards, and full respect for intercultural diversity.
“We do not oppose economic development, but it must be subordinated to synergy with social development,” Ayala proposes.
Nation vs. people: a political and linguistic debate
One of the central debates is the difference between “indigenous peoples” and “indigenous nations”. For Ayala, the term nation expresses territorial continuity and its own identity, while people was imposed by colonial traditions to designate subordinate groups without land or political recognition.
“We are indigenous with our own identity of a territory constituted by a nation,” he explains.
Communication and cultural memory
The communication dispute occupies a key place in the ONO. Karina Krenn (Salvia Azul), an international human rights advocate, points out that the goal is to dismantle Eurocentric narratives rooted in education and the media.
“It is extremely difficult not to find an indigenous presence in the DNA of each of us,” she states, citing studies by CONICET that found lineages over 8,500 years old still present in the current population.
The ONO encourages communities to speak directly: “Enough of having intermediaries. The proposal is to unite and elevate our own voices,” says Krenn.
Technology and contemporary resistance
Colonization continues under new normative, economic, and media forms. In response, the ONO bets on technology as a tool of resistance. Social networks like Instagram, Facebook, or X allow communities to narrate their experiences, document violence, and sustain cultural continuity in a hyperconnected world.
Towards a global fraternity
With two assemblies held and a third on the way, the ONO is consolidating as an emerging actor on the international stage. Its challenge is to transform historical principles —territorial autonomy, identity recognition, environmental defense, and the paradigm of Buen Vivir— into a concrete political agenda beyond state borders.
Ayala summarizes the organization’s horizon: to build “the great global fraternity of peaceful coexistence and leave a healthy, just, and dignified world for future generations.”
