IBERIA

Iberia is a district in the province of Tahuamanu situated in the region of Madre de Dios, Peru. For centuries it was inhabited by the indigenous peoples who lived on the banks of the Tahuamanu River. In the second half of the 19th century, Bolivian colonizers led by the Suárez brothers expelled the natives and began the exploitation of caucho or shiringa (Hevea brasiliensis) for the extraction of rubber and latex. In 1903, 38-year-old Asturian rubber worker Máximo Rodríguez Gonzales and his brother Baldomero came to the region in search of shiringa.

In the beginning of 2019 Aleix Plademunt travels to Iberia and discovers a natural paradise with endless hectares of Amazon rainforest of incalculable wealth, currently persecuted and attacked by politicians and private companies on duty. It is cyclical story. The book introduces the origin of the name of the town of Iberia, as well as some of the consequences of Maximiliano Rodríguez’s arrival in the region: displacement of native peoples and indiscriminate exploitation of raw material for export.