Political violence in Peru
June 8, 2009 9:08 PM Subscribe
On the morning of 5 June, Peruvian police forces opened fire on indigenous protesters near
Bagua, Amazonas.
Amazonwatch has an excellent audio report (about 8 mins) from Gregor Maclennan.
The majority of the protesters were from the
Awajún/Aguaruna and
Wampís/Huambisa tribes of the northwestern Peruvian Amazon, and were armed only with traditional wooden spears. Indigenous leaders say that dozens of protesters were killed and their bodies secretly disposed of; the official toll is
nine indigenous deaths and over 20 police deaths (In Spanish). A blog providing
political information relevant to the Wampís (in Spanish) gives details of indigenous arrests, injuries and deaths.
The ultimate source of the conflict is a Free Trade Agreement that
President García signed with the USA, which included new laws making oil and lumber extraction from tribal lands by foreign companies much easier. Peru's main indigenous organisation
AIDESEP claims that these laws are unconstitutional as they were passed by presidential decree with no consultation. The president of AIDESEP, Alberto Pizango, is facing 35 years prison for inciting the violence, and has
taken refuge in the Embassy of Nicaragua (in Spanish). Meanwhile García makes it clear that he considers natives to be a
separate class of citizens from "Peruvians".
Indigenous people have been protesting these laws for nearly two months now throughout the Peruvian Amazon, although the main focus has been in the area around Bagua. Here is a
youtube link to video of the removal of Awajún and Wampís protesters from the bridge at
Corral Quemado on 10 May 2009.
serious shit
posted by criticalbill at 6:14 AM on June 9, 2009