Indigenous tribes unite to overcome environmental rape in Peru
Peru's investment-friendly government is under intense pressure from Amazonian indigenous communities, whose protests over new land rights laws have curtailed oil and gas production, blocked roads and ports and interrupted train services to the Macchu Picchu Incan ruins.
Mass protests by indigenous communities have been sustained for two months, and during the last few weeks and have spread throughout Peru. The protests, which have involved more than 10,000 men, many of them in war paint and armed with bows and arrows, have forced Peru's two largest oil companies to halt oil pumping operations. They are being coordinated by the Peruvian Rainforest Inter-Ethnic Development Association (AIDESEP), an umbrella group that represents most of the country's approximately 50 Amazonian indigenous ethnicities.
AIDESEP's leaders are demanding the repeal of nine legislative decrees issued last year that they claim will facilitate the deforestation and privatization of their traditional lands and natural resources. AIDESEP vice president Daysi Zapata calls the protests "a struggle to defend our rainforest, to defend our natural resources, to defend the territory we live in."
The laws that AIDESEP objects to were part of a package of more than 100 decrees that President Alan García signed last year, under special powers awarded to him by Congress, ostensibly to comply with the Free Trade Agreement with the US. One of the most controversial decrees, Legislative Decree 1090, removes some 175,000 square miles, or roughly 60%, of Peru's jungles from the country's Forestry Heritage protection system.
The Garcia Administration maintains that repealing the decrees would endanger the agreement, but Roger Najar, an indigenous representative in the Peruvian Congress, argues that that is simply an excuse to open the country's Amazon region to large-scale foreign exploitation.
Mr. Garcia has gone so far as to claim, according to the British Guardian, that some of these groups don't even exist.
Following indigenous protests in August 2008, the Congress repealed two decrees, and in December issued a report recommending that the remaining decrees be repealed. Congressman Najar said that the decrees eliminate indigenous communities' rights to be consulted about oil and forestry concessions and other development in their traditional lands, as well as their right to negotiate directly with with oil companies. But Congress has made little progress, while the Garcia Administration has signed agreements with foreign investors relinquishing vast swaths of indigenous lands. The December report found Decree 1090 to be unconstitutional, yet the Congressional vote on repealing the decree is still pending. Mr. Najar accused the Garcia Administration of blocking Congressional efforts to address the indigenous demands. "The President is only interested in getting major investment in the Amazon region. He is facilitating deforestation and the sacking of its natural resources by a handful of transnational companies," said Najar. In Lima, thousands of workers marched on Congress demanding the annulment of the decrees. In the Amazonian city of Iquitos, 11 construction workers were injured by rubber bullets and 20 arrested in clashes with police. The protests also called for a general increase in wages and pensions, arguing "the rich should pay for the economic crisis, not the people". They also demanded the repeal of anti-democratic measures introduced by the government that criminalize political protest. President Garcia has largely ignored the protesters, leaving it to his chief of staff and ministers to defend the decrees. He dismissed their demands in a May 16 statement declaring that "the Amazonian lands belong to the entire nation, not to a small group that lives there." Eastern Peru comprises about 16 percent of the Amazon rainforest–one of its most biologically diverse regions–and is home to more than 350,000 indigenous people from some 50 ethnic groups. Mr. Garcia has gone so far as to claim, according to the British Guardian, that some of these groups don't even exist.
"We are fighting for our children. We want peace. We don't want to fight. But we all have the right to defend our territory, where we live."
Peru's right-wing private media has also largely ignored the protests. Carlos Reyna, writing in the centre-left daily La Republica on May 25, said: "The basic reason is the enormous legitimacy of their protest … and the credibility and respect they inspire in the rest of the country." Reyna explains that this is why Peruvian lawmakers are increasingly demanding repeal of the decrees, among them members of former president Alberto Fujimori's party and even some members of Garcia's APRA party. Protesters from the Ashanika tribe who occupied an airstrip and took over oil company boats near the Amazonian town of Atalaya claimed that Garcia neither understands, nor is interested in their views. They complained about logging concessions near their villages and water pollution caused by oil companies, citing a major fish kill on the Urubamba River in December of 2007. One of those protesters, Luis Cushi, a farmer from the town of Unini on the Urubamba River, said he was protesting to defend the region's forests and the rivers. "We are fighting for our children," he said. "We want peace. We don't want to fight. But we all have the right to defend our territory, where we live." The Garcia government has finally begun to negotiate with the indigenous leadership, but at the same time has begun to crack down on the protestors. Early last month, the Administration declared a state of emergency in the country's Amazon provinces, issued a decree allowing the military to help the national police maintain order there, and charged the protest's leaders with crimes against the state. On May 8, helicopters, warships, teargas and rubber bullets were deployed against Awajun and Huambis demonstrators armed with only bows and arrows. Last week the government used military and police forces to retake the Camisea valves, which control the flow of all of Peru's crude oil, and had been captured by the indigenous forces. At the same time, Garcia signed 13 oil and gas concessions with foreign companies, including Reliance of India. At least a dozen more concessions are to be auctioned this month. Perenco of France recently announced it would invest $1 Billion in oil drilling in one of the contested areas, where Garcia denies the existence of any indigenous communities. Yehude Simon, Peru's prime minister, is leading negotiations with the indigenous groups. He says that "the government is prepared to treat the Amazon question as state policy, because the region has been ignored for 200 years," adding that "it would be good if they could end the blockades, as the government has shown a will for dialogue." Two days before negotiations began, Alberto Pizango, president of AIDESAP, was charged with sedition, rebellion and conspiracy. Mr Simon has promised a softening of the decrees and an end to the protests within the week, but there is little sign of progress.
Following indigenous protests in August 2008, the Congress repealed two decrees, and in December issued a report recommending that the remaining decrees be repealed. Congressman Najar said that the decrees eliminate indigenous communities' rights to be consulted about oil and forestry concessions and other development in their traditional lands, as well as their right to negotiate directly with with oil companies. But Congress has made little progress, while the Garcia Administration has signed agreements with foreign investors relinquishing vast swaths of indigenous lands. The December report found Decree 1090 to be unconstitutional, yet the Congressional vote on repealing the decree is still pending. Mr. Najar accused the Garcia Administration of blocking Congressional efforts to address the indigenous demands. "The President is only interested in getting major investment in the Amazon region. He is facilitating deforestation and the sacking of its natural resources by a handful of transnational companies," said Najar. In Lima, thousands of workers marched on Congress demanding the annulment of the decrees. In the Amazonian city of Iquitos, 11 construction workers were injured by rubber bullets and 20 arrested in clashes with police. The protests also called for a general increase in wages and pensions, arguing "the rich should pay for the economic crisis, not the people". They also demanded the repeal of anti-democratic measures introduced by the government that criminalize political protest. President Garcia has largely ignored the protesters, leaving it to his chief of staff and ministers to defend the decrees. He dismissed their demands in a May 16 statement declaring that "the Amazonian lands belong to the entire nation, not to a small group that lives there." Eastern Peru comprises about 16 percent of the Amazon rainforest–one of its most biologically diverse regions–and is home to more than 350,000 indigenous people from some 50 ethnic groups. Mr. Garcia has gone so far as to claim, according to the British Guardian, that some of these groups don't even exist.
Peru's right-wing private media has also largely ignored the protests. Carlos Reyna, writing in the centre-left daily La Republica on May 25, said: "The basic reason is the enormous legitimacy of their protest … and the credibility and respect they inspire in the rest of the country." Reyna explains that this is why Peruvian lawmakers are increasingly demanding repeal of the decrees, among them members of former president Alberto Fujimori's party and even some members of Garcia's APRA party. Protesters from the Ashanika tribe who occupied an airstrip and took over oil company boats near the Amazonian town of Atalaya claimed that Garcia neither understands, nor is interested in their views. They complained about logging concessions near their villages and water pollution caused by oil companies, citing a major fish kill on the Urubamba River in December of 2007. One of those protesters, Luis Cushi, a farmer from the town of Unini on the Urubamba River, said he was protesting to defend the region's forests and the rivers. "We are fighting for our children," he said. "We want peace. We don't want to fight. But we all have the right to defend our territory, where we live." The Garcia government has finally begun to negotiate with the indigenous leadership, but at the same time has begun to crack down on the protestors. Early last month, the Administration declared a state of emergency in the country's Amazon provinces, issued a decree allowing the military to help the national police maintain order there, and charged the protest's leaders with crimes against the state. On May 8, helicopters, warships, teargas and rubber bullets were deployed against Awajun and Huambis demonstrators armed with only bows and arrows. Last week the government used military and police forces to retake the Camisea valves, which control the flow of all of Peru's crude oil, and had been captured by the indigenous forces. At the same time, Garcia signed 13 oil and gas concessions with foreign companies, including Reliance of India. At least a dozen more concessions are to be auctioned this month. Perenco of France recently announced it would invest $1 Billion in oil drilling in one of the contested areas, where Garcia denies the existence of any indigenous communities. Yehude Simon, Peru's prime minister, is leading negotiations with the indigenous groups. He says that "the government is prepared to treat the Amazon question as state policy, because the region has been ignored for 200 years," adding that "it would be good if they could end the blockades, as the government has shown a will for dialogue." Two days before negotiations began, Alberto Pizango, president of AIDESAP, was charged with sedition, rebellion and conspiracy. Mr Simon has promised a softening of the decrees and an end to the protests within the week, but there is little sign of progress.