Parillada

The term parillada refers to a form of bribery and corruption in Lowland South America. It is used among Indigenous Peoples mostly to refer to outsiders, particularly NGO workers, tourism entrepreneurs, oil companies, and other local entrepreneurs who specifically aim to enlist indigenous community members to sign an agreement that, in turn, would allow these outside agents to gain access to or rights in the community. Such rights of access could include the building a lodge, creating a development project, agreeing to an oil concession and so forth. The legal bribe itself operates as part of the informal economy that lays the groundwork, or underbelly for the typically exploitative formal economy that it will serve (Peluso 2018). When indigenous community members are coaxed into making a hasty decision through temptation or when they speak of others being coaxed through enticement or distraction, they say that they have experienced a parillada. Although it literally means barbecue – something that smells and looks delicious and is a special much desired treat, especially for people who live in a hand-to-mouth economy - it is best translated here as a distracting bribe.