Political violence in Peru

nomis — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:08:25 -0800

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.

By: criticalbill

criticalbill — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:14:03 -0800

thanks for posting this serious shit

By: mattoxic

mattoxic — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:31:48 -0800

Some images here (http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1896/1/), not for the faint of heart - via kos

By: tellurian

tellurian — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:01:32 -0800

Decree suspended

Comments on: Political violence in Peru

Political violence in Peru

By: criticalbill

By: mattoxic

By: tellurian