Extractivism in Iquitos: From Rubber to Ayahuasca Literature
Mapping the Amazon June 1, 2021 Amanda M. Smith
César Calvo's autobiographical novel *Las tres mitades de Ino Moxo y otros brujos de la Amazonía* uses shamanic consciousness to recount a personal adventure and a critical history of violence by outsiders seeking enterprise in the Peruvian Amazon. The book presents ayahuasca as a means to escape colonial ideology and forge a different future for the region. However, this chapter argues that Calvo replicates some of the maneuvers he criticizes, turning his critique of material extraction into a form of spiritual extraction. The analysis draws connections between the novel and the ayahuasca tourism industry in the Iquitos region.