Tabea Casique Coronado

Tabea Casique Coronado, an Indigenous leader of the Asheninka people, was born into a large family in the Yarina Cocha district of Ucayali, Peru, during a turbulent time in the country. The Peruvian state was under military rule, a new constitution was about to be promulgated in 1979, and Peru's most violent subversive group, the Shining Path, was beginning to form.

Because of this, Tabea grew up amidst murders, forced recruitment, forced displacement, and sexual violence that often targeted Indigenous Peoples. Although the fall of Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán occurred in 1992, it wasn't until 1999 that the confrontation between the armed forces and the remaining members of the guerrilla group finally ended. This hostile context didn't stop Tabea from actively working to improve her community.

She currently serves as national secretary of the Board of Directors of the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP), having held positions at all levels—local, national, and international—of the organization.