PERU: Indigenous groups in Peru call for insurgency after a month-long protest over development in the Amazon

Record ID: 187093

  • Title: PERU: Indigenous groups in Peru call for insurgency after a month-long protest over development in the Amazon
  • Date: 17th May 2009
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (MAY 15, 2009) (REUTERS) PRESIDENT OF THE INTERETHNIC ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERUVIAN JUNGLE (AIDESEP) ALBERTO PIZANGO ARRIVES TO NEWS CONFERENCE TO MAKE STATEMENTS CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE INTERETHNIC ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERUVIAN JUNGLE (AIDESEP), ALBERTO PIZANGO, SAYING: "The national committee for the struggle appointed by all of you has decided by expressed mandate to prepare itself to declare our (indigenous) communities as an insurgency against the government of Mr. Alan Garcia Perez." CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PIZANGO SAYING: "They've already killed an indigenous girl, and that can't simply be forgotten. And so the government must understand that if this continues, only it will be held responsible, and we are ready." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PIZANGO SAYING: "Revocation or not, they are going to kill us. Well bring it on." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PIZANGO SAYING: "Insurgency means disobeying the government because of the mistreatment. They abuse us. They are killing our communities."
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Peru
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6HF7QPKP0W5SPF8TQSYIPEFC
  • Story Text: Peruvian indigenous protesters called on Friday (May 15) for an insurgency in response to a set of laws that would privative oil and natural gas resources in the Amazon.
    The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle (AIDESEP) said they want to intensify protests that began on April 9 over a batch of nine decrees known as the "Water Laws."
    The measures were passed into law on March 1 and open up natural resource sectors like gas, lumber and oil to private investors.
    The indigenous want to replace the laws with their own ancestral laws, local press was reporting.
    Indigenous communities have been blocking roads and waterways for weeks to get the government to revoke the decrees meant to align Peruvian law with a free-trade deal with the United States. The activists feel the deal, which went into effect on February 1, makes it easier for companies to take control of their lands.
    A private-sector source told Reuters that as many as 41 vessels serving various energy companies are stuck along jungle rivers, unable to move because of the protests.
    Earlier this week, Peru 's environment minister said protesters had blocked two of Petroperu's pumping stations. Similar demonstrations last year forced the company to shut its northern pipeline for more than a week.
    International press was also reporting that Peru's only crude oil pipeline, which carries 30,000 barrel per day in the Amazon, has been shut since around April 24 because of the protests.
    The uproar has caused the government of Alan Garcia to declare a state of emergency in the affected Amazon areas including Loreto, Uyacali and Cusco, many of which are located in the Amazon region where oil discoveries are made.
    In response, the president of AIDESEP announced his group's willingness to also up the ante.
    "The national committee for the struggle appointed by all of you has decided by expressed mandate to prepare itself to declare our (indigenous) communities as an insurgency against the government of Mr. Alan Garcia Perez," AIDESEP President Alberto Pizango said during a news conference in Lima.
    Pizango said the stakes are high.
    "They've already killed an indigenous girl, and that can't simply be forgotten. And so the government must understand that if this continues, only it will be held responsible, and we are ready," he said.
    "Revocation or not, they are going to kill us. Well bring it on," he added, referring to the nine decrees.
    "Insurgency means disobeying the government because of the mistreatment. They abuse us. They are killing our communities," he also said.
    The declaration of a state of emergency stipulates the handing of local authority to military leaders in the affected areas.
    Among the oil firms operating in the Peruvian jungle include Argentina's Pluspetrol, France's Perenco, and Spain's Repsol-YPF among other international firms working alongside the state-run energy company Petroperu.
    Peru, which has auctioned off mining and energy concessions throughout most of the country, has drawn fierce criticism from environmental and human rights groups that say development threatens to damage the environment and risks exposing remote tribes to new and deadly diseases.
    The government is encouraging investment in hopes of turning the country into a net oil exporter from a net importer.
    Lima formally signed in April 13 contracts for exploration and exploitation of oil and gas corresponding to agreements made in 2008, and this year are expecting to auction off at least 12 more lots.
    The country's prime minister also noted in public remarks on Friday that Peru will take the "appropriate measures to restore the order," and that any negotiations have ground to a halt because of the by the protesters walking "away from the negotiating table."
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