Note: This testimonial was written by A.M. a woman who was a "patient" of Alberto Jose Varela (aka Antonio Maino) for nearly one year.  Due to their vulnerable condition people who seek healing are often easy to manipulate. It is therefore essential that therapists maintain impeccable ethical standards in their work. Unfortunately for A.M. she crossed paths with Varela and his collaborator, the psychologist Oscar Gomez. Their behavior was not only incompatible with the respectful use of ayahuasca, it shows no professional ethics, or respect for the integrity and dignity of other people.

We encourage others to anonymously share their experiences with this group that goes by the name ‘Ayahuasca International’ or ‘Inner Mastery’ by writing to conoci.a.varela@hushmail.com


"My name is A.M. It is not easy for me to write this letter, it requires courage and a lot of strength. But I will do it, to bring closure to this cycle. I hope what I write will open doors for others and point all of us towards the truth, putting everyone in their place.

To make a business out of other people's suffering is a great irresponsibility that may also have a detrimental effect on those suffering. When this is accomplished by manipulating a sacred plant, the impact can be even greater.

Alberto José Varela uses ayahuasca to abuse and to take advantage of the human suffering and sooner or later, this misguided energy, will return to put everything back in its right place.

Perhaps some people, who have lived through a similar experience with Alberto, have been able to see it as a lesson on their spiritual path but this human experience, the one of which I now speak of - every action has a reaction, and now it is time for the truth to come out.

FIRST CONTACT

In 2012 I was not feeling well and during an search for the internal reasons behind my suffering and discomfort I was put in touch with a therapist whose name I cannot mention. After attempting to treat me this therapist gave me the phone number of Varela, saying that he was the best in Spain in administrating a therapeutic plant called Ayahuasca and that this is exactly what I need right now.

Only now I can see with clarity that even this pseudo-therapist just wanted to get rid of me quickly, but not before making his own profit out of my condition - just another super therapist on the spiritual market.

My internal estate of anguish and great discomfort was increasing and so I decided open myself up, to make an effort and to trust. I felt I had no choice at the time. I needed to see some light where there was only darkness.  I decided to listen to the advice of that therapist and so I contacted Varela.

I got in touch with Varela and after he explained that he does many different kinds of ayahuasca sessions (with groups of people as well as individual sessions) he gave me an appointment for a specific day and told me he will try to get more people for the session.

On the day of the appointment, no other people arrive. Varela proceeded to give the Ayahuasca to me. I say give because that's what he did, he gave it to me as if he was a waiter (with all due respect to this profession) - as if he was serving me a beer, following no therapeutic norms, without preparing, advising or warning me of any possible aftermaths and without even asking me whether I was taking any medication. He just gave me the ayahuasca.

The session took place in a restaurant he owns in Madrid, called ‘Yatiri’, which according to him was under renovation since the building did not meet certain legal requirements and thus had to close. I know now that this man is a liar, who gives false names when opening different businesses in order to not to have any legal responsibilities for them - truly mocking the law. He had countless complaints and legal claims against him from former employees and people he owes money to - all immigrants who he exploited, threatening to throw them onto the street if they did not do what he said. At their complaints he laughed.

In that restaurant he gave me my first ayahuasca.  He did not come alone, but with his 5 year old daughter called Amélis. There were blankets and a mattress on the floor. Varela told me about his experiences in the jungle and of the year he spent in jail and everything that he learned there. He then asked why I took ayahuasca and I told him that I was not doing well, that I felt very lost. Alberto told me that the plant shows you the truth about everything and that it cures even the most severe cases of illness.

I drunk the plant and had my experience, but before entering into that state, I noticed that Alberto was coming in and out of the room, often leaving me alone with is daughter. According to him his daughter was ready for that.

I started to sing and dance under the effect of ayahuasca and throughout the session I felt that people were coming in and out the room, as if it was a show. Paula, his girlfriend, the whole family, was there for an afternoon of drinking a bit of ayahuasca, as if having a beer with your buddies while watching a show.

After the experience he asked me about it. He said that I had a wonderful voice but that I did not let it come out out. According to him this created my frustration, he said he saw many blockages in me; many problems due to sexual repression. He said that I was very repressed and frustrated, according to him I had to liberate myself.  After hearing that I felt even more confused and more fragile.  He spoke to me about a possible therapeutic process for me, working with a psychologist who specialized in ayahuasca, while he (Varela) could give me homeopathic doses of ayahuasca that were prepared by a doctor.  He said to keep an eye on my internal states and to keep him posted.  He charged me 120 euros for the ayahuasca session, giving me a “special price” according to him, as he charged everyone something different.

THE SECOND SESSION

I left feeling very strange, as if out of place. I was crying a lot. The following day Alberto sent me a text message which read: “How’s the Frustrated Singer?” I was feeling very bad and mentally confused. I couldn't think straight. I decided to call him and tell him these things. He told me there was another ayahuasca session that week.  He told me that there was a group of people coming for that session so that it would be cheaper for me. I had done my first session on a Tuesday and he was proposing I do another one that Friday.  According to him it was pefectly OK, one could have many more sessions than that in a single week.

I waited for that day but was feeling very bad, too bad to drink again. When the day arrived, just before drinking, everyone was asked to share what he or she wanted to get from this experience and that was it, Varela decided to give a different dose to each of us, according to what he believed we needed.

That night I sang and danced under the influence of ayahuasca. According to Varela it was spectacular and I was helping others with my voice. The morning after we all shared our experience with each other and went to have breakfast. Before we sat I asked to talk to Varela privately, I told him that I needed to talk with him, as I was still feeling very bad. He said no problem but instead he left quickly after breakfast saying he had to pick up his son at the airport. 

I felt horrible and I wasn't able to talk to him at all. I went to my house feeling terrible. I would cry and then I sleep, it was ias if I was in shock. I called him that evening, many times, but he wouldn't answer the phone. I got through the night as best as I could and the next morning I managed to contact him, I wanted to talk to him because I was getting worse and worse. I felt more and more confused; I needed to know what was happening to me. I was willing to talk about it on the phone.

But when he finally answered he said “There is a couple who came from Italy specifically to drink ayahuasca with me, why don’t you come over this afternoon and while I give them ayahuasca we can discuss your case, what do you think?” Feeling desperate, I agreed.

THIRD SESSION: INCREASED DISCOMFORT

I arrived at the restaurant ‘Yatiri’, where the previous sessions had taken place.

Varela was not there but when he finally arrived he proposed to me to take ayahuasca again that night, with the Italian couple, and that I should sing for them, to help them in their process and that this would be good for me too. He said that this session was free for me. According to him, everything is a show.  After that I was even more confused, more desperate, and with an immense anguish and without having had the chance to speak with him, which was the sole reason I'd gone there.

It was a Sunday - in a single week I had taken ayahuasca on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. In amounts he judged to be right, without any criteria, guidance or direction.

The following Monday I was clearly in danger – I wanted to die, I was driving and I was tempted to crash my car, I wanted to kill myself. I was desperate, literally helpless. I just cried and cried wondering what to do and where to go.

On Tuesday I decided to call Varela again and told him how terrible I felt and that I had suicidal thoughts. He replied "A.M. why did you wait so long to tell me?" and that he would call the "psychologist" he works with, Oscar Gomez Odeja (a man who simply does not deserves this title. ) Varela said “we will call you and arrange an appointment for today to start a therapeutic process especially for you, tailored to your needs, with everything you need.”

I agreed, since I saw no other option.

I met Varela that same Tuesday and he begun to explain to me about my needs, what was the plan and how I would have to pay for the treatment. He would give me ayahuasca once a month, homeopathic doses of ayahuasca every day and I would be seeing the 'psychologist' Oscar Gomez Ojeda once a week, all, according to Varela, for the modest price of 240-250 Euros per month, for at least 3 months. Three months of ‘therapy’ that never truly ended.

That same Tuesday the "psychologist" was there to assist me. Varela had organized it all very quickly, telling me that Gomez would help me to integrate the whole experience with Ayahuasca, that he was very experienced in the matter and that it was him who I had to pay for this therapy.

SEXUAL LIBERATION?

And so I was trapped and wrapped in a very dangerous process that hurt me more than it helped me, much, much, more and almost made me lose my mind.

The process started. Alberto began every group ayahuasca session sharing many experiences he had had with ayahuasca.  He was particularly keep on sexual matters, saying it was normal to undress during the sessions and that many women had found sexual liberation by masturbating in front of him and Oscar while taking ayahuasca. He specifically spoke to me and told me, literally, that to solve my blockages I would have to fuck anything that moved. He said I had to: "become a whore for a while, be a whore." (with all my respect for those engaged in that profession)

With time, as the sessions were taking place I began to notice many things that Varela was not respecting - he'd suddenly disappear for a period, missing all the scheduled sessions, while I kept paying money for a process that was bearing no results.  Then he'd say that he was out of ayahuasca, but that there was more ayahuasca coming soon from Colombia where it was prepared exclusively for him.  He said that in order to bring it to Spain he had use the services of specialized drug traffickers in order to skip customs. He said it was very complicated.

DISAGREEMENTS ON THE DIAGNOSIS

Seeing that I was paying for a process that wasn't happening. I proposed to Oscar to pay him for teh sessions we had, instead of a flat fee.  Alberto made a big fuss about it and said that I was not respecting the process and if I wanted I could leave at once because he did not work in that way.

Oscar behaved as if he was Varela's puppet, first by giving me opinions about my process that were different from Varela's, then the two would argue about my process and about what was best for me. Varela was saying that I had to start fucking anything that moved and Oscar was saying that I should take my time, that it should not be as aggressive as Varela put it.

They kept arguing up the point where Varela said that it should be me the one doing therapy on Oscar, that Oscar was the one who had problems.

I though I was going to lose my mind.

For Alberto it was all about my sexual repression, he would say "A.M. liberate yourself.  When will you let go of your repression? Don’t think about it, just fuck anyone who comes over to you.”  

One night he gave me a significant amount of medicine and I undressed during the session, I was naked, in front of everyone, even his daughter who Alberto regularly took to the sessions. I danced naked and sang. I was half conscious and could not stop moving my body. Varela was applauding me.

Both Varela and Gomez were saying I was progressing in my liberation. But I did not see such a breakthrough. The focus of both, more or less aggressively, was to do with my sexual liberation, they keept on saying that I was a sexually frustrated woman, a prisoner of myself.

Many ayahuasca sessions were taking place in his house after the restaurant reopened; the location was never fixed, while the consultations with Gomez took place in his home.

BEING INCITED TO SEX

One night, after taking ayahuasca, I felt very ill and stayed over after everyone else left the place. I remember Alberto saying to one attendant, a boy "I gave you a dose big enough to kill a horse."

I was feeling very bad after drinking and so Varela decided to stay with me until I was well enough to leave. I was in a state of confusion and was saying to Varela that I did not understand what love was, to which he answered me: "You do not need to understand love, become a whore, forget about love and start to fuck.”

And then said, “you know what you should know do now: masturbate in front of me.”

He continued “I can serve you, I can be a witness of your liberation, offering my presence as a man. Don't think too much about it or you will never do it and you will never be free and you will continue to live a blocked life and feel miserable. Do you think you can be strong enough to do it in front of me? It will be good for you. But I can't force you; you have to do it yourself. I will support you. Take your time, I will observe you. Now or never, this is the time.”

I closed my eyes and did what he asked while he watched. I saw nothing more, I felt that it would be good for me and that after that I would be OK with myself - somehow it was as if I had lost my own power. I lost my voice and had to obey him in order to feel good about myself, in order to succeed in my healing process and feel better again.

He congratulated me and told me that I was on the right track. I could not see, think or feel anything; I just followed his orders.

Now I wonder if Varela was mixing the brew with other substances because he told us that he made a different mix every time.

THE PRESSURE INCREASES

During the next ayahuasca session Varela told me that I had to come with him to Alicante for a session and that it was important for me to relate to people.

After the session I was in a car with Varela, his wife Paula and his daughter Amelis, driving to Alicante. Alberto and Paula started talking about my process and my sexual blocks and Paula encouraged me to go to a “swinger’s” bar, for sexual encounters, and to fuck with anyone who was there. Varela praised and supported her idea and told me to go with another patient of his which he said also was sexually repressed and needed to fuck. He said that we should go that very day, and that I must let myself go and fuck anyone I meet there. He said to call this guy immediately and that he (Varela) will later call me to see how it went.

I simply could not think straight, I could not feel anything and my state of mind was getting worse, I was increasingly desperate and lost, I could only see darkness.

I agreed with everything that Varela asked me to do. I called that guy and told him everything and suggested to go together to that bar. He agreed.

Before leaving my house I had complete meltdown, I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to go and on the other hand I felt that if I didn't I would never overcome my frustration and that I will be miserable for the rest of my life.

Confused and desperate I called the psychologist Gomez and told him what Varela and Paula proposed to me.  To my surprise, Gomez' exact words were “put on your shortest skirt, your most provocative cleavage and walk out the door now, no turning back, go to fuck and enjoy yourself”.
Following these orders I met with this guy, who had spent years drinking ayahuasca with Varela. Once we arrived at the swinger’s bar I started to shake, literally, I went white and pale. The guy told me "A.M. you don't have to do anything, relax, let's just talk."

We went into a room where supposedly no one could enter. I was paralyzed and scared to death until we left.

Varela said I had taken another step forward, but that I did not break my chains.

NEW DISPUTES

More ayahuasca sessions, homeopathic ayahuasca doses and sessions with Gomez - I did not know where I was; I just knew that I was feeling worse. According to the "psychologist" I was not advancing because I was not willing to see things. I was taking one step forward and two steps back.

The "psychologist" also spoke badly about Varela's work behind his back, while Varela was saying the same about Gomez's work, saying that Gomez wasn't direct and was only interested in detaining me as long as possible by not making me see the truth.

I was truly losing my mind.

During one of the many ayahuasca sessions we did, Varela told me that I had to come with him on a trip to the Colombian jungle with a group he was organizing. He said that in this trip I would meet with Shamans who would take me into a deep therapeutic process that would fully heal me.

TRIP TO THE JUNGLE

With my increasingly run-down psychological state I paid my plane ticket to Colombia and a deposit of 650 Euros to Varela, who said it was necessary to secure my place.

The trip would have taken place in February 2014. I continued my therapeutic process with Varela and Gomez beyond the original 3 months, there was no end in sight, and then, apparently it was for life.

One day Varela calls me the day before my therapy session with Gomez and tells me that if I want to heal I have to stop seeing Gomez, that I must not attend his next session, to stop seeing him without giving him any notice, to forget him.  I was at the edge of madness and agreed to do so and planned not to show up for the appointment.

Gomez called me half an hour before the appointment and told me that he had to cancel our session. I no longer had any idea what was going on.

Varela then called me and said, "Just as I said to you to not show up at the session and without giving any notice, I said to Gomez to do the same. However, he could not resist and had called you – he did not pass the test. A.M. you have passed the test, now you could be your own psychologist. Gomez does not want you to heal, he is holding you back.  From now on I want you to collaborate with me as a therapist."

I was beyond confused I spoke with Gomez explaining the situation and he criticized Varela's aggressive methods. Yet Gomez the "psychologist" was like a puppet in Varela's hands.

The situation left me in bad state, after a few days I called Gomez and told him I wanted to stop the sessions with him. He asked me why and I said because I did not trust him.

I was reaching my limit; I was very, very ill and had no idea what to do regarding the trip to Colombia. At that time I was taking a voice course with a singing teacher, who Varela said was a friend of his.

THE EXIT

One day the singing teacher noticed that I was in such a bad state and he asked me if I was OK - I began to cry and he asked me whether I wanted to talk with him after the class and I agreed. I told him everything and he said that he was not a friend of Varela, that he used to work with him years ago, but he left because of all the unethical things he witnessed Varela doing.

The teacher said to me that I really should not to go to Colombia with Varela. He said he had friends who went with on that trip before and Varela had abandoned them in the middle of the jungle. He cannot be trusted, he does his "job" very poorly, and abuses people.  He strongly advised me not to go to the jungle.

For me that was like beginning to see the light and starting a long journey to get back my sense of self, a process in which I still am in, also to get back the money for my plane ticket to Colombia, which I already paid for.

After one year of appeals, using medical and legal proof of psychological and sexual abuse by Varela, the airline decided to listen to me and reimbursed the money for my ticket.

Then I started my struggle to recover the money I paid to Varela to reserve my trip to Colombia.  At first I called him and said I was not feeling well and that I decided I could not go with him to the trip. He answered “Uyyyyy, A.M., you're sabotaging yourself not to face yourself”.

“uy uy uy” he kept on saying – “I'm not going to pay you back sorry”.

That was the last time he answered my phone calls. He disappeared, as if swallowed by the earth. At that point I started a judicial process to sue Varela, starting a long legal process to recover my money, my dignity as a woman, as a being, and as a human.

REPORTING TO THE POLICE AND TRIAL

There was a trial, Varela did not show up and I won. He seemed to disappear from the face of the earth.

I showed a huge amount of documents and proof of what had happened to me but still until today Varela is legally registered unemployed and thus unable to pay - I did not get my money back and it looks like the court is paralyzed.

I also denounced him with the "WOMEN ATTENTION SERVICE" (‘SERVICIO DE ATENCIÓN A MUJERES (S.A.M.)’ and with the police for sexual abuse, although they claimed that if penetration did not occur – it is not considered abuse. I was in shock - a person can be sexually abused in so many ways and to reduce the legal consequences of this tragedy to such bureaucratic limitation seems simply inhuman; surely a woman could not have designed this policy.

I was suggested to go to a Police station where I gave long and extensive claim and testimony. At 6pm I went to S.A.M’s offices and left at 4am from the Police Station. That was the beginning of an investigation that was soon abandoned, since according to the police there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

Shortly after making my first police report, and I say first because I then reported Varela two other times afterwards, a journalist from a renowned newspaper called me and asked me to speak with me about my story.

I was shocked and called the police and asked how was it possible that this information came out and became available to a journalist. They assured me that it had nothing to do with them, but I did not believe them. Thankfully, this never came to anything and the story was never published.

In July 2015 I filed a second complaint expanding further the information given for the first and second complaint, providing more relevant data to reveal the truth about Varela, his abusive work with ayahuasca and his exploitative business enterprise.

More testimonials! This is what it is needed. This testimonial of mine aims to inspire others, to encourage anyone who wants to share and express their destructive experience with Varela, from simple money issues to abuse received by his or his team at ‘Ayahuasca International’.

I encourage you to talk and to express what happened to you for your own well-being and for the well-being of others. By putting together our intentions we can find the strength to reclaim what was ours and was taken away from us.

I hope that this text brings clarity, as a testimony of my recovery process, the recovery of what is mine - my dignity as woman, for me and for many more like me.

I truly hope this testimonial can facilitate the coming out of all the women and men who have survived similar experiences. This is the moment to bring it to all to light. This is the moment of truth."


A.M

MADRID 26th DECEMBER 2015.




¿DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL?

If you have been with Ayahuasca international and you want to anonymously share your story (no hearsay, only first-hand experiences, please) please contact us by writing to conoci.a.varela@hushmail.com

Note: The following testimony comes form T. a person who spent almost a year working with Ayahuasca International (aka Inner Mastery) and went though a number of cycles in the European Ayahuasca School. We encourage others to share their own testimonies by contacting us at conoci.a.varela@hushmail.com

THE EUROPEAN AYAHUASCA SCHOOL

The email I received with an invitation from Alberto Varela decía "PRIVATE ENCOUNTER OF THE AYAHUASCA INTERNACIONAL TEAM" he loves to write thinsg using caps. I wan't a part of said team, but that's how he loves to communicate, everything they say is a contradiction and it is through these contradicitons that they manipulate people. The only one who also has the truth is Alberto Varela. The rest, constantly confused by the constant contradicitions, are never sure of what to say or what to do. From a psychological point of view it's a fascinating process to witness. One either joins the group blindly accepting everything Varela says o one has to leave.

The name itself is a contradiction, what is taught is not ayahuasca, but a marketing strategy, how to use deceptive communication in social networks, to capture people who are genuinely interested in using ayahuasca and to convert them first into customers and second into distributors for Ayahuasca International.

They elaborated a curriculum for the school that -in my case- was never followed. It was all a constant improvisation y they taught that was funny as hell. I didn't learn anything good in the Ayahuasca School. The only positive aspect was that I met some people that, like me, were on a personal search, people that became my friends and to thsi day remain my friends.

In the various times that I went to the [facilitators'] school, I never learned and was taught nothing about the use of ayahuasca. As they didn't drink ayahuasca, they saw no need to learn anything about it. What they taught was how to manipulate human groups....

In one of the formation cycles I volunteered to help with teh organization. That's where I began to see the group from the inside, the essence of what they do. Their main objective is the sale of ayahuasca (or whatever, selling is what is important) If there is a positive effect for the client is of secondary importance (and is used to make publicity)   What they really teach in the Ayahuasca School were only two things: number one was to sell, number two was to create others who will sell, new distributors of Varela's ayahuasca in other cities.

It's all about preparing people who will help Ayahuasca International (aka Inner Mastery) expand worldwide though ayahuasca distribution, within a pyramidal scheme, based on a chain of commissions, with Alberto Varela sitting on top of the pyramid, selling the ayahuasca to everyone and getting paid a commission for everything, while at the same time claiming (most likely advised by his lawyers) that he doesn't charge or ask for money, that's all donations.

H. explained to me that he received a percentage of all the sales that happened on "his" country as well as the group that speak his language, as he was to one to set up the group. H. himself explained to me how they bough 7000 likes in Facebook and how they bough Facebook's ayahuasca page (which belonged to somebody else and already had hundreds of thousands of likes).

They used this new platform to launch all their marketing campaigns, spending large amounts of money every month on Facebook publicity (Facebook ads, event boosting) in order to capture thousands of people who -in good faith- are looking for info on ayahuasca.

European School Session. Source: Ayahuasca International

CULT-LIKE STRUCTURE

Once you are in the circle of Ayahuasca International they begin to try to bring you inside, they promise you jungle trips, meetings with indigenous friends of theirs, and a salary of 2000 euros per month if you will become a distributor.

SEPARATION OF MEMBERS FROM THEIR FAMILIES

They told me constantly that I must separate from my wife and begin "a new path." They told me that being with them was that new path. I have never shown any intention of divorcing my wife, whom I love deeply, and their insistence made me laugh.

But I met people who did divorce and later paired up with members of the group, leaving themselves very exposed. They also gave much money to Alberto Varela, as "loans" or "investments" in the business. The result was that they were without work, without their partner, and without savings, leaving themselves totally exposed at the mercy of Varela. From this point, leaving Ayahuasca International becomes very difficult.

TAKING MONEY FROM MEMBERS

Another person who confessed -in front of a large group of us- her desire to leave Ayahausca International was L. But she'd already invested 20000 euros in the Hotel in Mocoa, Colombia, and leaving the group would mean losing the money. She's caught up in trouble much larger than herself, and being twenty thousand in the hole, she'd not coming out. I still worry for her, because she was weak, I fera they will drage her down with them, and I am sorry for her. 

There are many people working with Ayahuasca International right now who now all this I am telling you. They want to leave as well, but they are trapped.

It's incredible this organization is not persecuted by the law

AYAHUASCA SESSIONS WITHOUT ADEQUATE SUPERVISION

I sincerely hope that other people will follow my example and have the strength to talk about their experiences, in order to prevent others and stop this from ending up with someone dead or killing themselves. In their ayahuasca sessions, there is no one who can help a person who enters into a profound process.

I saw this with my own eyes on two occasions. When I saw two people enter into very difficult processes, the supposed "professionals" of Ayahuasca International didn't know what to do. The people were left completely adrift. I wasn't participating that night, but afterward I spoke with these people, who were totally traumatized. Afterwards when I commented to the team that it seemed dangerous, and what would happen to the people who had left the house in this state of confusion, they shrugged their shoulders and replied,

"Once they leave, it's their problem."



¿DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL?

If you have been with Ayahuasca international and you want to anonymously share your story (no hearsay, only first-hand experiences, please) please contact us by writing to conoci.a.varela@hushmail.com

The publication of the letter from Cofán authorities, denouncing Alberto Varela and his organization Ayahuasca International / Inner Mastery was followed by a letter of support signed by the world's top 100 ayahuasca experts and academics, which was published in one of Colombia's most prestigious newspapers.

Varela answered the letter by deflecting attention. "A small part of the scientific community" he said, had attacked him "out of envy and resentment". 

In fact 100 people is not a minority of the reduced world of ayahuasca studies. Among the signatories of the letter are la crème de la crème of ayahuasca researchers. Varela likes to say "all publicity is good publicity" he must be happy to know minds of the category of  Michael Taussig (Columbia Univ) Stephen Hugh Jones (Cambridge Univ) y Jean Jackson (MIT), scientists like Charles Grob and Michael Winkelman, as well as the top Colombian academics such as Carlos A. Uribe y Juan Alvaro Echeverri know of Varela's existence and categorically disaprove of his practices, and the practices of his organizations Ayahuasca International and Inner Mastery.







The Letter

• Mr. Varela’s organization markets Yajé ceremonies by fraudulently alluding to supposed permission or approval from the indigenous Yajé-using authorities of Colombia;
• His organization has turned the Yajé medicine into a lucrative business, posing a serious threat to the health and life of those who participate in these ceremonies.

• This business model employs aggressive marketing techniques, including significant investments in advertising and social media, with the goal of turning Yajé into a commodity of mass consumption, generating artificial demand for this medicine and taking advantage of the ignorance and vulnerability of many people;
  
  
• In an irresponsible effort to expand the business, facilitators are given superficial courses through the “European Ayahuasca School,” such that people with minimal experience and training can conduct Yajé ceremonies;
  
  
• In a likewise irresponsible manner, this medicine is advertised and sold directly over the Internet through the company “Ayahuasca Planet” to anyone, without any control;
  
  
• As a result of this improper, disrespectful, and irresponsible use of the Yajé medicine, a growing number of people have described reprehensible practices, contrary to the principles laid out in the ethics codes and best-practice guidelines proposed by diverse organizations working to defend appropriate uses of Ayahuasca.

We hereby manifest our support for the representatives of the Cofán people who signed a public denunciation against Mr. Alberto José Varela and his commercial activities involving Yajé. 

The undersigned manifest our concern over the proliferation, in Colombia and many other countries, of a business model in which Yajé (also known as Ayahuasca) is used solely in the interest of making a profit; disrespecting the plant, its proper management, and the sacred character bestowed upon it by native peoples and mestizo populations of Southeastern Colombia.

The activities of Mr. Alberto José Varela are especially worrisome because he claims to have been “initiated” in 2001 by Taita Domingo Males Miticanoy, calling himself “the first Westerner authorized to use the ayahuasca of Taita Querubín in Europe,”  and referring to his organization, Ayahuasca International as “the first multinational corporation dedicated to Ayahuasca.”


In 2007, Mr. Varela founded the Putumayo Association for the Assistance of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon, which he uses to organize trips from Spain to the Dept. of Putumayo, Colombia, and through which he collects money with the supposed aim of giving economic aid to indigenous peoples of southern Colombia and providing “needy communities with materials such as clothes, shoes, toys, and books.” The Putumayo Association also seeks to purchase land in the Colombian rainforest to allegedly collaborate with indigenous peoples in restoring it by “planting traditional crops and elaborating shamanic medicines which are the basis of their medical culture and their means of sustenance.” By 2008 the Putumayo Association had purchased five hectares of land in the Colombian Amazon.

Mr. Varela was arrested in Spain in December of 2008, after a police investigation initiated by complaints filed by family members of participants and neighbors over the disorderly conduct generated by the Yajé ceremonies he conducted. After fourteen months in prison, he was absolved in April 2011 of any crime against the public health because, as noted in the court’s sentence, it was not possible to quantify the DMT content of the Yajé confiscated by police. According to news reports, 40 kg of Yajé were found at his home.

In 2013, Mr. Varela resumed the same kind of Yajé activities he had carried out prior to his imprisonment, now using aggressive marketing strategies and investing significant amounts of money in advertising and social media.

In order to legitimize his activities, he named various Taitas who were supposedly part of his organization, including Víctor Queta, Taita Querubín Queta, Taita Juan Jamioy, Taita Alfonso Males Jamioy, Taita Juan Males Jamioy, Taita Biron Piajuaje and Taita Humberto. 

• We express our support for the Cofán people and their authorities, and we denounce Mr. Alberto José Varela for improper and fraudulent use of the name and traditions of Colombian native peoples, especially the Cofán, to legitimize his business activities;

• We denounce the use of aggressive marketing tactics and social networks to publicize and commercialize Yajé ceremonies, and condemn the direct sale of this medicine over the internet to anyone without any controls whatsoever;

• We denounce the irresponsible use Mr. Varela makes of the Yajé medicine, employing people without the necessary experience and training to conduct Yajé ceremonies; moreover, we note that these facilitators do not consume the medicine during ceremonies, contrary to the manner in which Ayahuasca is used in diverse contexts around the world;

• While some people might benefit from the use of the Yajé medicine in sessions organized by Ayahuasca International, we warn prospective clients that participating in sessions run by this organization could result in grave risks to mental and physical well-being;

• In this context, we note that a growing number of witnesses who have participated in Yajé sessions organized by Ayahuasca International have reported reprehensible practices, contrary to the principles enumerated in various ethics codes and guides to best practice, such as those developed by Brazilian Ayahuasca religious groups, ICEERS, and PDA;

• We denounce the commercialization of Yajé as if it were an ordinary product or service, generating an artificial demand based on crass manipulation of what it means to consume the Yajé medicine, and taking advantage of the ignorance, credulity, good faith, and vulnerability of many people;

We the undersigned are not opposed to the expansion and spread of Yajé usage per se. Instead, we affirm that the diffusion of these practices should always be based on knowledge, respect, and ethics. The activities of Mr. Albert José Varela represent a danger not only to those who take part in his organization’s ceremonies, but also more generally to the expansion and consolidation of these practices beyond their region of origin.


SIGNED BY (100):

ALHENA CAICEDO-FERNÁNDEZ
Profesora Asistente
Departamento de Antropología
Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

CARLOS ALBERTO URIBE
Profesor de Antropología
Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

JOAQUIN CARRIZOSA PhD
School of Anthropology and Conservation
University of Kent, U.K.

JUAN ÁLVARO ECHEVERRI
Profesor titular
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Amazonia, Colombia

MARGARITA CHAVES
Investigadora
Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia, ICANH, Colombia

SALIMA CURE
Antropóloga
Coordinadora Museo Etnográfico del Banco de la República
Leticia, Colombia

JORGE RONDEROS VALDERRAMA
Presidente Corporación Prodiversitas Colombia
Profesor Titular Departamento de Antropología y Sociología
Director Grupo linea de investigación y revista Cultura y Droga
Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia

FRANCO EUGENIO JIMENEZ ACOSTA
Medico Cirujano especialista en Medicina Biológica
Biorigen – Arte de la Medicina Integrativa Personalizada
Yachay Investigaciones de Medicina Ancestral Americana, Colombia

MAITE YIE GARZON
Profesora Asistente
Departamento Antropología
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia

JULIO ARIAS VANEGAS
PhD (c) Antropología
The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, U.S.A.

LEONARDO RODRIGUEZ (PhD)
Experto en Pueblos Indígenas – Colombia
Representante ante la ONU de Maloca Internacional (MAIN), Colombia

MICHAEL TAUSSIG
Professor
Columbia University
New York, U.S.A.

BIA LABATE
PhD Antropologia Unicamp
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

CHARLES S. GROB, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics
UCLA School of Medicine
U.S.A.

JESSE HUDSON
Juris Doctor, Tulane University Law School, New Orleans
Masters of Science in International Development, Payson Program, Tulane University Law School, New Orleans
Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, U.S.A.

BRIAN T. ANDERSON, MD, MSc
Resident Physician
Department of Psychiatry
University of California San Francisco, U.S.A.

GILLIAN WATT
Masters, Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge, UK
Masters, Department of Study of Religions, University College Cork, Ireland

JEAN E. JACKSON
Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A.

CHRISTIAN FRENOPOULO
Professor substituto
Universidade Federal do Acre, Brasil

MICHAEL WINKELMAN, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Retired
School of Human Evolution and Social Change
Arizona State University, U.S.A.

MARTIN TERRY, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology
Department of Biology, Geology, and Physical Sciences
Sul Ross State University
Alpine, Texas, U.S.A.

MARCELO S. MERCANTE
Programa de Pós Graduação em Saúde Coletiva
Unisinos, Brasil

STEPHEN HUGH-JONES, PhD
Emeritus Research Associate
Department of Social Anthropology
University of Cambridge, U.K.

PEDRO MUSALEM NAZAR, PhD (c) Antropologia
Máster Salud Pública
Instituto Brasil Plural, UFSC – Brasil

GLAUBER LOURES DE ASSIS
Doutorando em Sociologia
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

JOSE ELIEZER MIKOSZ
Artista Interartes (Arte e Estados Não Ordinários de Consciência)
Professor Adjunto da UNESPAR/EMBAP
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

AFRÂNIO PATROCÍNIO DE ANDRADE
Doutor em Ciências da Religião e doutor em Direito.
Pós-doutor em Teologia pela Escola Superior de Teologia, bolsista da CAPES/PNPG, Brasil

DIEGO RODOLFO VIEGAS
Profesor Titular de las cátedras “Etnografía del Conocimiento” y “Antropología de la Conciencia”
Escuela de Antropología. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes
Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina

MATIAS MENDEZ
Master(c) en Psicología Clínica de Adultos
Profesor de Psicología
Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago de Chile

DAN ROSENGREN
Associate Professor
School of Global Studies
University of Gothenburg, Sweden

HENRIQUE RESSEL
Mestre em Antropologia
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

BRUNO RAMOS GOMES
Psicólogo, Mestre em Saúde Pública pela Faculdade de Saúde Pública-USP
Coordenador Centro de Convivência É de Lei – Redução de Danos, SP – Brasil

JOSÉ ARTURO COSTA ESCOBAR
Dr em Psicologia Cognitiva
Pós-doutorando no Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Vice-líder do Grupo de Estudos sobre Alcool e outras Drogas/UFPE
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

PATRICIA PAULA LIMA
Doutoranda em Etnomusicologia – INET-MD
Universidade de Aveiro – Portugal
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

ALBERTO GROISMAN, PhD
Professor do Departamento de Antropologia UFSC
Coordenador do Grupo de Ativismo Espistemológico-UFSC, Brasil

PEDRO FERNANDES LEITE DA LUZ
Antropólogo e Etnobotânico.
​Professor na UNIASSELVI, Brasil

ISIDRO MARÍN GUTIÉRREZ
Ph.D. en Antropología Social por la Universidad de Granada
Docente Investigador del Departamento de Comunicación
Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Ecuador

SANDRA LUCIA GOULART
Brasileira, Antropóloga, Doutora em Ciências Sociais pela Unicamp
Professora da Faculdade Cásper Líbero (São Paulo)
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

WALTER MOURE
Doctor en Psicología Clínica, Universidad de São Paulo, Brasil.
Investigador en Filosofia Intercultural de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Investigador en Psicología Clínica de la Universidad de São Paulo, Brasil

WAGNER LINS LIRA
Antropólogo, Mestre e doutorando em Antropologia pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco – UFPE
Membro do Grupo de Estudos sobre Álcool e outras Drogas (GEAD-UFPE) e do Núcleo de Estudos das Religiosidades Populares (NERP-UFPE), Brasil

PATRICIA PAULA LIMA
Doutoranda em Etnomusicologia – INET-MD
Universidade de Aveiro – Portugal
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

ROBIN M WRIGHT, Ph.D.
Religion & Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Latin American Studies
American Indian & Indigenous Studies Program Coordinator
University of Florida Gainesville, U.S.A.

JUAN GONZALEZ, PhD
Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, México

Dr. PILAR M VALENZUELA
Associate Professor
Department of World Languages & Cultures
Chapman University (California), U.S.A.

SIDARTA RIBEIRO, Ph.D.
Professor de Neurociências
Instituto do Cérebro
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

Profa. MARIA DE LOURDES DA SILVA
Faculdade de Educação
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

SANDRO EDUARDO RODRIGUES
Doutor em Psicologia pela UFF
Professor da Universidade Ceuma-MA
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

ISABEL SANTANA DE ROSE
Pesquisadora em nível de pós doutorado (bolsista do CNPq)
Programa de Pós Graduação em Antropologia / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil

FELIPE SILVA ARAUJO
Antropólogo e Linguista
GERTS/UFS, Brasil

JONATHAN D. HILL
Professor of Anthropology, SIUC
Coordinator, Latin@ and Latin American Studies minor
President, Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America (SALSA)
Visiting Professor, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania

GABOR MATE, M.D.
Author and speaker
Canada

DANIELA PELUSO
Anthropologist (Amazonian specialist)
University of Kent, U.K.

EGLEE L. ZENT
Lab Ecologia Humana
IVIC, Venezuela

G. WILLIAM BARNARD
Professor of Religious Studies
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, U.S.A.

MAURO WILLIAM BARBOSA DE ALMEIDA (Ph.D. Cantab, 1993)
Professor – Colaborador
Universidade Estadual de Campinas (State University of Campinas), São Paulo, Brasil

ANJA LOIZAGA-VELDER
Investigadora Postdoctoral
Posgrado en Ciencias Medicas y de la Salud
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México

BERND BRABEC DE MORI
Senior Scientist
Instituto de Etnomusicología
Universidad de Música y Artes Dramáticas Graz, Austria

KATHLEEN HARRISON, M.A.
Ethnobotanist
Botanical Dimensions
Occidental, California, U.S.A.

CLANCY CAVNAR, PsyD
Psychologist at Healthright360
Walden House Residential Drug Treatment
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

Dr. BRIAN RUSH
Professor
Depts. of Psychiatry‎ and Public Health Sciences
University of Toronto, Canada

TANIA GONZALEZ RIVADENEIRA
Maestrante
Estudios Mesoamericanos
UNAM, México

KENNETH TUPPER
Adjunct Professor
School of Population and Public Health
University of British Columbia, Canada

Dr. HUGO LAVAZZA
Antropólogo.
Sección de Etnología y Etnografía – Instituto de Ciencias Antropológicas
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras – UBA
INMeT – Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical. Puerto Iguazú. Misiones, Argentina

JUAN SCURO
Doctorando en Antropología Social
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

ANNE MARIE LOSONCZY
Antropóloga
Directora de estudios, EPHE, Paris, Francia

ELI ODA SHEINER
McGill University
Research Assistant
Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry
Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Canada

Prof. Dr. MARÍA SUSANA CIPOLLETTI (en retiro)
Departamento de Antropología de las Américas
Universidad de Bonn, Alemania

MARIA CLARA REBEL ARAÚJO
Doutora em psicologia social
Coordenadora do curso de Psicologia- Universidade Estácio de Sá, Campus Friburgo, Brasil

WALTER DIAS Jr.
Mestre em Antropologia – PUC-SP
Professor Adjunto I – UNIP/ SJC – SP – Brasil

CHRISTINE L. HOLMAN, PhD
Justice and Social Inquiry
School of Social Transformation
Arizona State University, U.S.A.

RALPH METZNER, Ph.D.
Psychologist, author,
Professor Emeritus, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, U.S.A.

JONATAS C.DE CARVALHO
Mestre em História (UERJ)
Pesquisador em Extensão No País – CNPq
Projeto Espaço Darwin – Fazenda Campos Novos – Cabo Frio, Brasil

NEAL M. GOLDSMITH, Ph.D.
Psychotherapist and author, Psychedelic Healing
Licensed Mental Health Counselor, U.S.A.

ERIC MICHAEL KELLEY
Lecturer
Department of Anthropology
UMass Boston, U.S.A.

PABLO ORNELAS ROSA
Doutor em Ciências Sociais PUC/SP
Professor nos Programas de Mestrado em Sociologia Política e em Segurança Pública
Coordenador do Grupo em Pesquisa Poder, Subjetividade e Resistências
Universidade Vila Velha – UVV, Brasil

ALEX K. GEARIN
University of Queensland
PhD Candidate, Anthropology
Australia

CLARA NOVAES
PhD Psicologia, Psiquiatria Transcultural, Sorbonne, Paris
Membro da Associaçao Internacional de Etnopsicanalise
Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP), Brasil

STEVE McDONALD
Association Secretary
Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine
Australia

CHARLOTTE WALSH, LLB (Hons), MPhil
Lecturer in Law, School of Law, University of Leicester, U.K.

GERALD THOMAS, PhD
Collaborating Scientist
Centre for Addictions Research of BC
University of Victoria, Canada

JEAN-PIERRE CHAUMEIL
Directeur de Recherche émérite au CNRS
Laboratoire d’Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative, France

JUSTIN PANNECK, PhD
Associate Professor
Colorado Technical University, U.S.A.

CELINA M. DE LEON
School of Public Health, MPH (cand)
U.C. Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

DRAULIO BARROS DE ARAUJO
Professor at the Brain Institute (UFRN), Brasil

JOSHUA HOMAN
PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas
Research Associate, Museo Regional, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Peru

PHILIPPE LUCAS
Research Affiliate – Centre for Addictions Research of BC, Canada

IVAN SERGIO FELONIUK
Abogado, investigador y magister en Bioetica
Miembro del equipo organizador del Foro Social Mundial
Presidente de Prodiversitas, Brasil

SEBASTIEN BAUD (PhD)
Research Associate
Institut of Ethnology, University of Neuchâtel (UniNE), Switzerland
French Institute for Andean Studies (IFEA), Lima, Peru

ISMAEL APUD
Docente Asistente
Facultad de Psicología
Universidad de la República, Uruguay

DAVID NICKLES
Researcher & Moderator
DMT-Nexus, U.S.A.

EDUARDO GASTELUMENDI
President
Peru Psychoanalytic Society, Peru

HEINER DÖRFLER
Medical Doctor
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
University of Zurich, Switzerland

MATTHEW CONRAD
PhD Candidate, Anthropology
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

JAN WEINHOLD
Ph.D., Heidelberg University
Germany

ANA ELDA MAQUEDA
Departamento de Farmacología Clínica
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, España

EVGENIA FOTIOU
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Kent State University, Kent, OH, U.S.A.

SANTIAGO LÓPEZ-PAVILLARD
Antropólogo, candidato a doctor
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España

MARCELO CAMURÇA
Antropólogo, docente e pesquisador no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Religião
Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora- Minas Gerais, Brasil

ALEJANDRO CAMINO D.C.
Director
Museo de Plantas Sagradas, Mágicas y Medicinales
Cusco, Perú

DANNY NEMU
Psychedelic Press, U.K.

MANUEL ALMENDRO, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Member of European Federation of Psychology Associations. EFPA
European Certificate in Psychology and Psychotherapy- EuroPsy
Director of Oxigeme, Center for a Psychology of Consciousness, España

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This is the letter that started it all: Ayahuasca International (AI) spent years showing two letters of permission signed by Cofán indigenous authorities.  AI claimed the letters gave them permission to work work with ayahuasca.  Recently the same indigenous authorities wrote a new letter (below) claiming those two letters were forgeries and denying Varela and his organization Ayahuasca International, had not received Cofán permission to work with ayahuasca.

The scandal made it to radio, TV, and Colombiás main newspapers and blogs, and concluded with a follow up letter of support signed by a 100 of the top ayahuasca academics and researchers.

As usual Alberto Varela reacted by deflecting attention.  He claimed the indgineous shamans were trying to blackmail him, he claimed the indians wanted to keep ayahuasca for themselves.  But this is not the question. What Varela needs to explain is whether or not the indigenous authorization to serve ayahuasca has any value to him and to Ayahuasca International.

If is is legitimate. What are they going to do now they they no longer have that permission?

And if for AI the indigenous authorization has no value, why did they spend 7 years showing everybody their permission letters as a source of legitimacy for their work?




Ver fuente del video


Representatives of the Cofán people have just published a statement about Alberto Varela and his organization: “Ayahuasca International.”

For a number of years Varela had claimed to be the recipient of an authorization by the highest traditional authority of the Cofán people: Taita Querubín Queta Alvarado.

The 4 page long text exposes how the private organization Ayahuasca International has illegitimately used the name of the Cofán taitas (shamans) from Colombia in order to gain credibility for their ayahuasca business activities, as shown in the following excerpt:

“Mister Alberto José Varela has NEVER been given any instructions or training in the knowledge of the Sacred Medicine of Yage, neither has he EVER been authorised to carry it or use it in his international tours. This makes what is said in his alleged “authorisation” ABSOLUTELY FALSE.”

Click here and download the original file in Spanish
Click here to download the translation to english done by a certified legal translator

——————–

Translation of the letter:



The undersigned governor of the indigenous reservation Ukumari Kankhe, in use of his legal faculties given and protected by the article 7 of the Colombian Political Constitution.

Public communication about Mr Alberto José Varela, the organization “Ayahuasca International” of which he is president and the alleged “authorization” he claims to have received from the highest traditional authority of the Cofán people Querubín Queta Alvarado and the Cofán Indigenous Reservation Ukumari Kankhe.

1. Mr Alberto José Varela, Argentinian national with passport No 13925297, has founded a lucrative enterprise with which he carries out international tours around European cities, offering the Yagé cure in a devious way claiming a supposed authorisation or endorsement by the yagé indigenous authorities in Colombia. He also takes foreigners on excursions to the city of Mocoa in Putumayo.
2. The organization called AYAHUASCA INTERNATIONAL, legally known as Inner Mastery International S.L., organizes gatherings to offer the yagé cure, charging plenty to it’s participants and thus establishing a lucrative business which contradicts and breaks the principles and values of the Cofán people endangering their traditions and uses of the Ancestral Medicine of Yagé as well as the lives and health of those who attend such events.
3. In order to portray his enterprise as legitimate, Mr Alberto José Varela publicly shows a supposed authorization granted by the Mayor Taita Querubín Queta Alvarado and the Cofán Indigenous Reservation Ukumari Kankhe in which he is authorised to carry and use the traditional medicine Yagé during his tours with the above mentioned organization. This document also allegedly certifies the “Instruction and training” he supposedly received in the use of our Ancestral Medicine.
4. Mr Alberto José Varela publicly claims to invest financially in benefit of the Cofán community in order to preserve the culture and tradition. Therefore the Cofán community declares the absolute falsehood of the supposed contributions mentioned by Mr Varela.
5. Given this concerning situation we, as indigenous authorities of the Cofán people (A’l), publicly express ourselves in order to defend our Ancestral Tradition, the responsible use of our Traditional Medicine, the authority of our Taitas and Elders and the safekeeping of our people. Also we wish to protect the lives and health of those people who put themselves at serious risk when being induced by people who lack the recognition of our traditional authorities and instruction in the ways of our traditional medicine, resorting to fraudulent and dishonest acts like those of Mr Alberto José Varela. This person deserves to be investigated by the local authorities in each country where he misrepresents and replaces our authority and the good name of the indigenous ancestral medicine for his own benefit and his lucrative business instead of serving the common good like we have done for millennia. He is thus acting in prejudice of our immaterial patrimony and so going against international treatises which protect the indigenous and tribal people, their customs and traditions as well as trespassing the international recognition we have as guardians of Yagé, understanding it as nucleus and bastion of our indigenous traditional medicine.Invoking the law of Origin and Own Right of the Cofán (A’l) People, the Life Plan and Safeguarding Plan of the Cofán (A’l) People, protected by the Law 21 from 1991 (Agreement 169 of the OIT) and the Decree 004 of the Constitutional Court from January 2009, as well as the wisdom of the Taitas and Elders that guides our people we declare that:

1. In the tradition and customs of the Cofán (A’l) People, NONE of the people who are part of AYAHUSACA INTERNATIONAL HAVE BEEN TAUGHT, TRAINED OR INSTRUCTED BY US in the uses and practices of the Yagé cure. Given the fact that this is a science of much responsibility and care we keep the teaching within our community and directed only by our Traditional Authorities.Mr Alberto José Varela was never given any training in the knowledge and use of this Sacred Medicine and was NEVER authorized to carry it or use it in his international tours. What is said in the supposed authorization is ABSOLUTELY FALSE.
2. The people who arrive to the Cofián community from outside to take the Yagé cure are given the remedy in order to cure various illnesses but they are NEVER instructed on how to give the Remedy under any circumstances, and we never teach to do so in the conditions and with the format of the EUROPEAN AYAHUASCA SCHOOL founded by ALBERTO JOSE VARELA which he promotes through AYAHUASCA INTERNATIONAL.
3. The COFAN INDIGENOUS RESERVATION UKUMARI KANKHE absolutely doesn’t know Mr Alberto José Varela or the members and facilitators of the organization AYAHUASCA INTERNATIONAL because they have NEVER been within our territory and they have NEVER received any instruction from our community or the Taita Mayor Querubín Queta Alvarado.
4. The signature that Mr Alberto José Albarado managed to get can be dismissed as absolutely false as he obtained it using fraudulent procedures and TAITA MAYOR QUERUBIN QUETA ALAVARADO affirms he never issued any authorisation for the above mentioned individual or his organization to administer the Yagé Remedy in their international tours, and even less so to provide home delivery of doses through AYAHUASCA PLANET.
5. Our Elders and Taitas DO NOT authorise anyone outside the Cofán community to offer or carry the Yagé remedy.
6. Yagé ceremonies are absolutely sacred for our people and we perform them with a very demanding level of responsibility because our interest is to take care for the complete health and the life of our patients. This is why we declare that the organization AYAHUASCA INTERNATIONAL and its founder ALBERTO JOSE VARELA are absolute impostors and do not know the science of Yagé or have been instructed in our customs and practices from the Cofán Tradition.
7. To the people who attend their meetings as patients and other people who may wish to take part in the Yagé ceremonies we urgently advise that the Yageé Remedy and the Ancestral Tradition are exclusive of indigenous people, guardians of those traditions. Therefore resorting to organizations outside the indigenous people is an irresponsibility and puts the lives and health of those assisting at risk.
8. Mr Alberto José Varela and his company Inner Matery S.L. Have never made any kind of investment or donation toward the Cofán community. Quite the opposite, they attack our tradition and culture by promoting a use of this Sacred Remedy that is improper, disrespectful and irresponsible.
9. Therefore we encourage the national and international communities to ignore and disbelieve anything published in websites and social networks of AYAHUASCA INTERNATIONAL or by ALBERTO JOSE VARELA, for they are impostors who do not know and haven’t been instructed in the traditional practices of the Yagé Remedy. Whoever attends the meetings of the mentioned organization does so at their own risk and they are at serious risk.
10. The Cofán (A’l) people, Highest Taita Querubín Queta Alvarado, the Indigenous Reservation Cofán Ukumari Kankhe and it’s Governor José Lorenzo Morales, DECREE the absolute FALSEHOOD, of the supposed “authorisation” obtained by Mr Alberto José Varela.
11. Neither the Cofán (A’l) people nor our Taitas will be responsible for any illness, damage or decease of any person as result of the bad practice of these irresponsible people.
12. This reservation will initiate the procedures, legal, penal and of responsibility against this man who has usurped the name of our Taita Querubin Queta Alvarado and we request the governments of the world to NOT authorise these practices from this company and by Mr Alberto José Varela as well as their supposed facilitators.

Let this be published and spread.
Yours Sincerely,
Signed by:

Any queries please please phone (57) 3122620569

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