Massacre of Indigineous Amazonians in Peru - 25 dead and counting

by Dunk Sat Jun 06, 2009 14:02

Barcelona in Transicions film night about OIL AGE, problems, resistance, movement etc
http://bcnentransicion.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/pelis-p...mama/

Film about previous communities in Peru who died due to Oil exploration:
Una Muerte en Sion - A death in Sion (North West Peru, near to yesterdays massacre)
http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=1789624491349502624

Film about similar story, to lesser extent in Rossport Ireland, where nobody has died, YET, but many have been beaten.
The Plunder
http://politube.org/show/957

Film about the fullness of the impact of THE OIL AGE, including the Chernobyl of the Amazon, next door to yesterdays massacre in Equador:
Crude Impact
web - http://www.crudeimpact.com/show.asp?content_id=9665
trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwyAA2Zt8CI
Crude Impact: Oil Companies and the Environment - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLzelMyjBOw

Transition movement - the viral growth of communities learning about peak oil and organising to face the shock:
The definitive TRANSITION INITIAVE film (so far) - The Powerdown Show - Episode 8, Transition Towns and Energy Descent Pathways
(from irish communities in transition, convergence and some top music)
http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/video/the-powerd...ode-8
part of the POWERDOWN dvd set, featured on transition culture
http://transitionculture.org/shop/the-powerdown-show/

The transition handbook, how to move from petroleum dependance to local resiliance, also talks much about HOPE and VISION
http://uniteddiversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/t...k.pdf

other transition movement links
http://bcnentransicion.wordpress.com/links/

"This government disregards the indigenous people.” - Miguel Palacin

"I hold the government of President Alan Garcia responsible for ordering the genocide," indigenous leader Alberto Pizango

Why Indigenous took to the streets - too many of them have already been killed by OIL exploration

CRUDE IMPACT - Critical film about full impact of OIL AGE, including CHERNOBYL OF THE AMAZON

The Indigenous are organising, building resistance and seek global support

by dunk - from - climate camp networks lists Sat Jun 06, 2009 14:12

URGENT SUPPORT needed for indigenous people in Peruvian
Amazon

A bloody World Environment Day in the Peruvian Amazon
Indigenous organizations call for support from the international
community

On April 9, local communities began what they call an "indefinite strike"
throughout the Peruvian Amazon region to protest the Peruvian
Congress' failure to review six government decrees that endanger the
rights of indigenous peoples. These decrees were issued by the
Presidency in the framework of the implementation of the Free Trade
Agreement signed with the United States, and pave the way to opening
up the Amazon region to socially and environmentally destructive
industries such as mining and oil exploitation.

In the early morning hours today (June 5) the Alan García government
unleashed a violent wave of repression in the Peruvian Amazon.
Reports from the area are conflicting and there are no official figures
available, but it appears that there have been between 10 and 20
deaths so far in Bagua, in the area around Corral Quemado and Curva
del Diablo.

The Andean Coordinating Body for Indigenous Organizations (CAOI),
which includes indigenous organizations from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru,
Colombia, Chile and Argentina, describes the situation as follows:
"Once again they are trying to impose death over life, massacre over
dialogue. This is the dictatorial response after 56 days of peaceful
indigenous struggle and supposed dialogue and negotiation, which
ended with bullets as always, the same bullets of more than 500 years
of oppression."

The violent crackdown began only hours after the Peruvian Congress
decided once again to postpone debate on the repeal of the decrees
which would permit the invasion of indigenous territories. This close
timing clearly suggests collusion between the Congress and the
Presidency.

The CAOI is calling on "indigenous organizations, social movements
and human rights organizations around the world to take concrete
action, by writing letters to the Peruvian government, the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, Amnesty
International, Survival International, the Nobel Peace Prize Foundation,
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the
International Labour Organisation (Convention 169), urging them to
send missions to Peru immediately to stop the violence and demand
respect for indigenous rights." The CAOI is also calling for "sit-ins in
front of Peruvian embassies in every country of the world until the
bloodbath is stopped and the legislative decrees for the Free Trade
Agreement with the United States are repealed."

The CAOI adds that "UN agencies should speak out firmly and join in
the demands made by the chair of the UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, to lift the state of emergency,
cease the use of repression, and fulfil international commitments that
guarantee the exercise of indigenous rights."

The World Rainforest Movement joins in this call for support for the
peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, whose lives, cultures and means of
survival are in grave danger.

Please send letters to the Peruvian embassy in your country,
demanding an immediate end to the current wave of repression and
full respect for the rights of indigenous peoples. Contact information for
Peruvian embassies worldwide is available at:

http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Peru

For more information:
Norma Aguilar Alvarado
Communications office
Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas/Andean
Coordinating Body for Indigenous Organizations (CAOI)
Fax: 0051-1-2651061
Mobile: 980129692
Website: http://www3.minkandina.org/

Please disseminate this information as widely as possible

by dunk Sat Jun 06, 2009 16:23

2 events from yesterday, firstly yesterday at about 4pm, participating in the free global stereo screening that happened in many places around our little planet. Secondly, later finding out that while I was watching it, people were being picked out by sniper viewfinders and being shot dead in Peru. The irony is profound, and I really hope that this erupts into something far deeper than just another unfortunate killing in a poor place far far away from the safety of Ireland and Europe.

What is happening in Peru, affects all of us.

HOME, the film, is a carbon neutral project and 88,000 people participated in its making. It poined out, beautifully, how strange our world is, but how due to our (humankind) destruction of our precious HOME, we might be destroying things beyond repair that could end life here for us, and failing that will cause huge damage and change to life as we know it. There are solutions but we must act, NOW!

WATER, AIR, SOIL are the main things which sustain us. The Amazon is one of the main green lungs of the planet, it is being hacked to bits daily, this has to stop. The FTA deal done between the Peruvian government (of which there are much cries of corruption etc) and the US allows multi nationals to enter the indigenous area and to do as they please, which going by past records means destroy, destroy, destroy. So you can understand why the people have stood up to resist. After a bit of hunting, I found from BBC´s summary of Peru:

His (Garcia´s) government has come under fire from environmental and human rights campaigners over plans to auction off swathes of the Amazon to oil and gas companies. They say the amount of Peruvian Amazon territory now open to oil exploration has risen from 13 to 70% in two years.

Explore the planet and join the cause

HOME is a feature film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand shot from above in more that 50 countries. HOME addresses our impact on the planet and sets out our current situation but keeps the faith that a solution exists. More than a movie, HOME will be a major event all over the globe. On June 5th, World Environment Day, HOME will be released in over 50 countries and on every format : movie theatre, TV, DVD and Internet.

On June 5th we all have a date with the planet !
http://www.home-2009.com/us/index.html

An exception event for exceptional times: HOME the movie!

Caption: Video Id: NNGDj9IeAuI&hl Type: Youtube Video
HOME

by Peruanista Sat Jun 06, 2009 17:00

Today I died in Bagua, I was shot today. Today I was tortured, they dragged my body and then burned me down. My remains were thrown to the river. Today I was the art student shot in the chest, the four year old girl shot in the stomach. Mine was the immobile and bleeding body that the Peruvian Police has shot again cowardly, I am the mother who saw his son dying with my body was shaking in the road. Today I was the Indigenous man who went crazy and burned the government of Peru’s facilities because they do not represent me anymore.

I am the victim of genocidal racism of the right-wing Garcia government with the complicity of a mafia of apristas and fujimoristas. Today I'm hurt, I died today, today I am lying on a road and my body will be eaten by animals, because the police are shooting my family and friends who wants to rescue me. Today I am the Indigenous Peruvian, I am my people, my blood, my pain, my inquiry, my body, my anger.

Today I ask you, I require you, I demand you Alan García to resign, leave, get out! you're not my president, you are a genocidal criminal. Take your fucking murderers with you. One day you will end up behind bars. Evil, murderer, genocidal, racist, thug, you disgust me Alan García.

(BE WARNED - SHOCKING photos and videos of the racist massacre of Bagua in Peru at link below)

by DUNK Sat Jun 06, 2009 17:37

This is really really nasty; reports coming in that cops have been burning bodies and taking in body bags, in attempts to lower the numbers of those assisinated. Also images of the brutality of the police; rounding up people, beating, torturing, and finishing some of with gunshots through the mouth.

Burning the evidence
The post from Red Ucuyali is the necessary translation below. Seems like Twobreakfasts (president Garcia) has learned some tricks from Uribe; burn the bodies and say "hey...wasn't that bad y'know"

Feliz Calva Guerrero, reporter for Radio Marañón, says he has seen various dead people with bullet wounds and/or savagely beaten ('massacred' was the term he used) and that the police were burning the bodies.

Marijke Deleu, a Belgian volunteer who has been a supporter of the indigenous strike action since last month, has said that she was in the area called 'El Reposo' when the police offensive began. She said that they started to bomb the protestors from the air and those surrounding them opened fire with machine guns. She said "there was nowhere to run". At 5pm she went back to the El Reposo zone where she saw the bodies of ,five indigenous. All were very young. One had been shot in the mouth. The police were looking in the surrounding hillsides for more bodies. Up to that moment no fiscal had been to the scene. She has heard from other people that the police are taking the bodies to the El Milagro army barracks to burn them.

"They (Amazon indigenous) are not first class citizens."

Solidarity with Peru

(Most of) Latin America is more independant of the US than Europe (unfortunately Peru is still under the thumb)

Bagua - Exceptional event for exceptional times

Is it OK to shoot young indigenous through the face, if its FARAWAY?

Garcia: "Its OK, They (Amazon indigenous) are not first class citizens."

by Cathar Sat Jun 06, 2009 18:31

have been reading about the events in the Bolivian Press. Even the right wing Santa Cruz papers are shocked. Helicopter gunships were used to disperse the protesters who numbered about 5000 from the roadway. The number dead is uncertain. At least 27 indigenous and 9 policemen were shot dead.
All the shooting was done by government forces. The indigenous were armed only with tribal spears.

It is another Bloody Sunday type event.

by DUNK Sat Jun 06, 2009 20:09

There is an english speaking version of the film HOME at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU
2 main slides being added here; advent of use of OIL and destruction of TREES

OIL

TREES

by iosaf - (lending a hand with solidarity) Sat Jun 06, 2009 20:41

The last time was in 2007, when we all noticed that the amount of Peruvian Amazon territory opened to exploration had risen from 13% to 70% in the two year period from 2005 to 2007. The then recently elected President Garcia of Peru said this sell-off of Peruvian national resources or the planet's rainforest lungs (up to you how you see it) was all part of his plan to tackle widespread poverty. Strangely enough the widespread poverty didn't budge an inch or hectare, though to be more realistic poverty is rarely measured in hectares and is more often measured in one extended family per small room without sanitation, a standard which of course defies the detail of modern statistics and looks messy. How big is one small room without sanitation & how big is one extended family exactly? Perhaps due to such difficulties of saying exactly what that project was all about and maybe in no small part due to the resistance put up by the people who lived in the rainforest, possibly for their "not in my back garden" attitude or plausibly for their belief that rainforests benefit the human population of Earth as a whole - - -

Resistance saw the plans shelved and the army who had been sent in to put manners on their locals were redeployed without even need to employ the supplemental services of Irish security firms, bodyguards or neonazi's of Hungarian loyalty.

How things change.


President Garcia of Peru has just gone on telly and said that outside interests put the indiginous up to their resistance and basically caused their deaths. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U56Hv0FNu6U "Which are to be regretted" as always. Before telly watchers in Peru and on satelite or their colleagues and peers and solidarity networks on the internet could blurt out "oh well Dunk must be one of those foreigners being recently very well informed through a zapatista organised video festival on the barbarity with which all Latin American states trample the rights of both their poor and indiginous communities in the name of essential economic progress and exploitation of resources" , president Garcia qualified himself by naming Hugo "the man" Chavez as being the gurrier and of course his Peruvian sympathiser and champion of a certain type of ethnic and indiginous rights, Ollanta Humala who lost the last presidential elections.


So Dunk is in the clear there & none of the indy ireland readership need worry he's going to be the victim of a death squad or suffer the irksome experience of summary detention complete with near death beating and / or rape. Thank our God Dunk is simply well-informed and white of skin.


This aint about trees, so whether you hug them or not don't miss out on the demographic here. Nor is it about indiginous Amazonias, of either Paddington Bear's Aunt Lucy Darkest Peru variety or the kind you see on National Geographic with the droopy tits.

This is about the air you breathe involuntary thanks to the regular contraction of your diaphragm muscle which allows your lungs send oxygen to your brain along with carfumes and tobacco fumes.

We are all in favour of the Air We Breathe, no?


So we really have to make noise & do the Peruvian embassies or if there isn't one locally (for example in Ireland) we have to do Peruvian interests. & that means learning more about Paddington Bear's Aunt Lucy and the hope for justice which only so recently all people in that state had & thus hopefully realising what a travesty and barbarity and affront to human rights and constitutional progress President Garcia's regime has presented the international community with. c/f http://www.indymedia.ie/article/84337

by Cathar Sat Jun 06, 2009 20:42

ridiculous story on BBC.news website. Gives Peruvian Govy version that troops attacked to free police hostages. Shooting indiginous protesters with gunships is insane imho.

The story is total spin.and leads with the killing of the 9 policemen. They died when the army shot into the crowd!!! yet the story says they were killed by indigenous protestors.

by Concerned Sat Jun 06, 2009 21:55

It appears that the oil rights in the region have been granted to a company known as Olympic Peru Inc. It would be interesting to get more information about this company.

http://mirror.perupetro.com.pe/exploracion01-e.asp

by Billy idle Sun Jun 07, 2009 16:31

Horrific stuff. Strong parallels here with the Nigerian situation!!

by more co's involved Sun Jun 07, 2009 19:09

just thought this was worth looking at.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hunt_Oil_Company

http://mirror.perupetro.com.pe/estadisticas01-e.asp#link7

by me Sun Jun 07, 2009 19:18

old news, but may be related to the source of the latest massacre.

http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1020

by C Sun Jun 07, 2009 20:24

Amazingly enough it even got a mention on RTE ! Wonder how long it will be before they black that out too? Surprised it even made it on there but maybe the Irish Govt are distractted with other things, ha...

Not long I bet.

by Mayoman Sun Jun 07, 2009 20:59

Might highlight the fact that oil companies and corrupt governments are a toxic combination for the environment and human rights. Not what the Irish government or their state broadcaster want the public to hear given the Elephant in the Room in Mayo.

by iosaf Sun Jun 07, 2009 22:27 barcelona

Tonight's sundown in the Peruvian Amazon, which will occur in approx five hours will be subject to military Curfew. This naturally complicates the gathering of information and the work of journalists and must be seen by us as a tactic of military intimidation and state repression. There are few reasons and fewer examples to argue that limited curfews are of either policing or military use in a constitutional state of law. Extended curfews are undoubtedly a breach of human rights & nothing more than arbitrary collective punishment.

After yesterday's initial reporting the BBC suite of reports (meaning their Spanish coverage as well as their English) seemed to tone down the blaming of indiginous hostage takers for the massacre. The Spanish language media in South America split down the usually left and right bias, those of the left blaming Garcia and those on the right blaming indiginous troublemakers. I linked to in my previous comment to the first interview given by president Garcia, this was followed almost immediately in "our small hours" by a feature compilation on the South American continental TV channel "telesur" which was mostly sympathetic to the indiginous and carried an interview with one of their leaders, a member of the group AIDESEP (indeed this chap is in semi-hiding because the Peruvian police have a locate and detain order out on him).

Sapien Nonengo alledges that a signinficant number (150+) of indiginous rights spokespersons have been subject to summary detention and moved to the temporary Peruvian military operational base of the 16th batallion. Telesur reported his description of those detainees being kept on their knees in fear of summary execution. Importantly the feature put together was filed under the title "Peruvian indiginous accuse government of distorting public opinion".

http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/51514-...lica/

In my last comment I was being bloody serious in my usual sarcastic ironic way when I said indy ireland readers need not worry that Dunk who broke this news to us will face that fate.

Allowing for time differences the expanded news then got selectively picked up by global English print media, Latin American and US Hispanic media but escaped detailed print copy in the European Spanish press. By 3am Continental European time (2am Ireland) the Spanish state TV 24 hr news channel & Catalan language 24hr news channel were carrying slightly differently pitched reports light on pictures but these were by morning time supplemented by comment from human rights observers by the time the decision to place the Amazonian provinces under military curfew had circulated and been absorbed.

The human rights pitch and the contrast between what is happening now and the hope that Peruvians only recently had to leave state repression and violence aimed at ethnic minorities behind is the angle which needs to be explored by us, the observers in Europe, be it Ireland or the Spanish state or anywhere else. (the link to the Peruvian truth and reconciliation report for those who can't be bothered to explore the link I left in the last comment - http://www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php

Within Peru itself the centre-liberal/leftish (in our European bourgois sense & not any south American way) Lima based "El Commercio" newspaper chose to put the story on first and fifth and sixth pages. There was the usual "sensible thinking people who enjoy big rooms and don't live with extended family" attempt at balance.

-- Garcia is reported as seeking dialogue with the leadership of the indiginous community. I could sarcastically ask do they have to get up off their knees first and will this mean they're not worrying about being beaten to near death or having things put up their orifices in a way that not even an ex-premier of the Czech republic would like. His belief that outside and foreign elements with arms have infiltrated the indiginous community with the aim of destabilising Peru was expanded upon. Yet nobody mentioned Hungarian neonazi would be state-makers...... yet......

-- Then the justice minister in Garcia's cabinet demanded that Pizango the leader of AIDESEP and others of the group (like the chap interviewed by Telesur) assume responsibility and allow themselves face a "proper judicial process". Pizango is in full hiding it would seem, coz he aint giving interviews.

-- All that Lima middle class crap finished with the kind of insider knowledge stuff which would keep those with links to the old military estabilishment happy & get those who don't like that kind of thing clucking about anything other than the deadly arrival swine flu [which was the other main story in local Peruvian media. Apparently Peruvian intelligence had warned Garcia about secessionist elements & recommended that troops be sent in.

Finally the story has been picked up extensively through the Indymedia network, with many nodes compiling reports based mostly on the same links available on the Peru IMC newswire. Alas, Peru IMC had awful problems years ago / its own editorial team don't update features anymore. Those past problems & pressures need not be explored too much now nor would they be helpful because it would regrettably mean reflecting on the class differences between those in Lima and the people who get shot at tonight if they leave their homes.

That's how curfew works you know. You go out at night you get shot at or summarily detained. & what makes it even shitter in the 21st century - the soldiers keeping curfew have night sight equipment and infrared devices. So you really can't just slink around anymore. Not even if you're a journalist interested in counting the disappeared.

by Times reader Mon Jun 08, 2009 08:57

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0608/122....html

by dunk - “Shoot them in the head! Shoot the dogs in the head!” Mon Jun 08, 2009 19:10

Heres main report form Democracy Now;

It seems that the story is the following;
1 - the cops and army were sent in to attack, assisinate, end the direct action strike by the indigenous. (This act has been called an act of genocide by some)
2 - Many natives were killed there and then, many many more injured.
3 - The indegenous, armed with speares, outraged at seeing their brothers and sisters killed, responded by attacking the police, see the cops report below.

Democracy Now: Peruvian Police Accused of Massacring Indigenous Protesters in Amazon Jungle
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/8/peruvian_police_ac...enous

Dozens of people are estimated to have been killed in clashes between police and indigenous activists protesting oil and mining projects in the northern Peruvian Amazonian province of Bagua. Peruvian authorities have declared a military curfew, and troops are patrolling towns in the Amazon jungle. Authorities say up to twenty-two policemen have been killed, and two remain missing. The indigenous community says at least forty people, including three children, were killed by the police this weekend.

AMY GOODMAN: Dozens of people are estimated to have been killed in clashes between police and indigenous activists protesting oil and mining projects in the northern Peruvian Amazonian province of Bagua. Peruvian authorities have declared a military curfew. Troops are patrolling towns in the Amazon jungle. Authorities say up to twenty-two policemen have been killed, and two remain missing. The indigenous community says at least forty people, including three children, were killed by the police this weekend.

On Friday morning, some 600 Peruvian riot police and helicopters attacked a peaceful indigenous blockade outside of Bagua, killing twenty-five and injuring more than 150. Eyewitness accounts indicate the police fired live ammunition and tear gas into the crowd. The images our TV viewers are watching are from an on-the-ground eyewitness to the attack. Our radio listeners can see these images on our website, democracynow.org.

Alberto Pizango, the leader of the national indigenous organization, the Peruvian Jungle Interethnic Development Association, or AIDESEP, accused the government of President Alan Garcia of ordering the, quote, “genocide” of the indigenous communities.

ALBERTO PIZANGO: [translated] Our brothers are cornered. I want to put the responsibility on the government. We are going to put the responsibility on Alan Garcia’s government for ordering this genocide. This is genocide. (Pizango is now in hiding after a judge ordered his arrest Saturday on charges of sedition and for allegedly inciting violence. )

FREDEGUNDO VASQUEZ: [translated] I saw them kill people right in front of me. And they began to hit the rest of us with spears. It’s disgraceful. They are just terrible. They said that their brothers died, so we had to die, too.
Gregor MacLennan, Program Coordinator for Amazon Watch. He arrived in Bagua, the scene of this weekend’s clashes, on Saturday....(more at link)

GREGOR MacLENNAN: ... I’ve just been listening to some audio reports, of hearing the police shouting, “Shoot them in the head! Shoot the dogs in the head!”

by dunk Mon Jun 08, 2009 19:24

Peru accuses Bolivia of international intervention to rule on the slaughter of the Amazon, the Bolivian government rejects claims

imc-boliva report
http://sucre.indymedia.org/es/2009/06/45817.shtml

that in english
http://translate.google.ie/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=es...ate0=

Perú 08 Jun. (CMI Sucre).- On June 7 the ambassador of Peru in Bolivia, Fernando Rojas, called Sunday for intervention in internal affairs of his country condemning the statements of some Bolivian authorities on the bloody slaughter of peasants and police department in the Peruvian Amazon. While the government refused boliviano possible interference and requested the Government of Alan García to assume their responsibilities on that fact.

"There were official statements, including ministers, who spoke with quite a lot of adjectives and hardness with information on these events which were not proven, these statements are intervention in Peruvian internal affairs," said Rojas, a contact with the media La Paz. ...

Indegenous women protesting; You cant sell the forests

by Cathar Mon Jun 08, 2009 19:39

Gold Oil is one of the companies exploiting oil on or adjacent to indigenous lands.(I dont have a map) Its Managing Director John Gary Moore is Irish and it has a a strategic partnership with Minmet Plc, an Irish company with oil, gas and mining interests.
Its block is adjoining Olympic Peru a US venture mentioned previously.

by Dunk Mon Jun 08, 2009 21:58

GLOBAL IMC features about the Bagua massacre

From IMC-PERU
The Mobilisation on World Environmental day in defense of the regions forests and her peoples (This did not happen, as the "Genocide" began at 5am, as indegenous were sleeping by the roadside...)
http://www.peru.indymedia.org/calendar/event_display_de...15669

IMC-ORG- new feature- http://www.indymedia.org/en/2009/06/925277.shtml

IMC-PERU - http://www.peru.indymedia.org/
+ youtube vid; (Vigil in Lima, Peru´s capitol) Vigilia Lima 06 Junio 2009 por muerte de nativos amazónicos en Bagua - Perú
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBNS6ABnK6Q

Features from Other countries:

IMC- Bolivia / Sucre - http://sucre.indymedia.org/es/2009/06/45817.shtml (which became the imc-org feature)

IMC-VENEZUALA - ¡Repudio a la masacre de indígenas perpetrada por el gobierno de Alan García en el Perú!
http://venezuela.indymedia.org/or/2009/06/21020.shtml

IMC-COLOMBIA- http://colombia.indymedia.org/news/2009/06/102748.php

IMC-NEDERLANDS - Bloody conflict in Northern Peru
http://ovl.indymedia.org/archives/archive_by_id.php?id=..._id=1
http://ovl.indymedia.org/news/2009/06/26605.php

June 11 - International day of action in support of Peruvian defense of their land against neo-liberalism
IMC-BCN - Jornada Nacional de Lucha 11 de junio‏ en Perú
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/375439/...x.php

"The Open Veins of Latin America" - More background about the Latin American story
Hour long interview on Democracy Now with Uruguayan Author Eduardo Galeano. He is the writer of "The Open Veins of Latin America", (5 centuries of the pillage of a continent) the book which Hugo Chavez gave as a present to Obama at the meeting of the Americas last month. (The book shot to the top of the book lists very soon after):
Fresh Off Worldwide Attention for Joining Obama’s Book Collection, Uruguayan Author Eduardo Galeano Returns with “Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone”
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/28/eduardo
on youtube (1 of 4): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObQbFhUUHrU

Here is an NBC news report about this symbolic book donation:

Chavez Gives Obama Book on Latin American History
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z4DUOHnRNQ

And lastly here is something from pre massacre support and protest from NYC (new york city):

International solidarity protests against Peruvian forest laws (Before the massacre)
http://peru.indymedia.org/news/2009/06/44495.php

NEW YORK – Thousands of demonstrators on two continents have joined the struggle to defend the rights of indigenous peoples in Peru, who have been staging road and pipeline blockades for more than 50 days.

Advocates are fighting against a series of Forest Laws that facilitate the seizing of indigenous land by various corporations as part of a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, and that criminalize protest and provide immunity to military who kill demonstrators.

This year’s demonstrations follow actions staged last year when Peruvian indigenous leaders shut down parts of the country and lifted the strikes weeks later after being promised concessions. The concessions, according to spokespeople, did not materialize and the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon or AIDESEP renewed the struggle in April with the help of 40,000 indigenous peoples. As the blockades and counter-measures unfolded, some allies have responded with protests of their own. One of the more highly visible actions took place in New York City May 23 in front of the Peruvian Mission to the United Nations.

Indigenous leaders from the U.S., Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and other countries were in New York to attend the eighth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Egberto Tabo, general coordinator for the Coordinating Body for the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin, read from a statement entitled “Solidarity with our Peruvian brothers and sisters.”

“As indigenous leaders from the five continents, we are profoundly concerned about current events in the Peruvian Amazon. This past May 9 the Peruvian Government declared a State of Emergency in various districts. … The State of Emergency is nothing more than a disproportionate response to the legitimate complaints and demands for indigenous rights. … and is worsening conflicts, criminalizing social protest and putting at even greater risk indigenous peoples rights.”

Tabo said COICA, and the 63 other organizations that signed the petition, received support from the UN Permanent Forum. The signatories had a list of requests and denunciations aimed at the Peruvian government. According to the statement, the protestors requested the lifting of the emergency decree and they denounced government press releases sent to Peruvian media that avoided addressing the main concerns of the demonstrations, as well as demanding that the government respect the International Labour Organization treaty 169 “…which has constitutional status in Peru. … and which both establish that Native peoples should be consulted regarding all actions that impact them.”

“It is clear that the development of the Amazon is being carried out ignoring the wishes of the indigenous people and that the Amazon is seen as having natural riches that should be sold to the highest bidder,” Tabo said. “We cannot continue to allow a group of transnational companies to divide up the Amazon, as if it were just a business without consideration given to the territory of ancestral peoples, or without taking into account that this is the ‘lungs of the world’ and the greatest source of fresh water on the continent. We will not permit the continuation of this exploitation.”

Among the signers of the statement were the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia, and the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia, the Council of All the Lands of Chile and the National Network of Mayan Peoples of Guatemala. The list included indigenous and allied groups from Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, the U.S., Peru, Kenya, Papua, Suriname, Algeria, South Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Canada (Assembly of First Nations), Venezuela, Brazil, Nepal and India. The U.S. featured several organizations including Amazon Watch, Diné CARE, Environmental Defense Fund, Hawaii Institute for Human Rights, Indigenous Environmental Network, and the Xicana Indigenous Woman’s Network.

Tabo presented the statement to a representative of the Peruvian Mission who gave no comment upon receiving the document.

In the week after the New York demonstration, allies and sympathizers in Los Angeles, Calif., as well as Lima and Puno, Peru held events to call attention to the struggle of the indigenous peoples of Peru. While UN Permanent Forum officials did not issue a formal response during the New York protest, Chair Victoria Tauli-Corpuz released an official statement June 2, after the meeting.

“The Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues expresses her deep concern on the reports received during the Eighth Session of the UNPFII, regarding the current situation in Peru. According to the information received, a state of siege was decreed by the Peruvian Government on 8 May 2009 in response to the mobilization of indigenous peoples in the Amazon region against extractive industries concessions in the area without the adequate consultations and respect for their free, prior and informed consent.

“The Chair wishes to recall that the Peruvian Government is under the obligation to consult and respect indigenous peoples’ rights as a Party to ILO Convention 169. Furthermore, Peru led the negotiations on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and was one of the countries which actively supported the adoption of the Declaration, which calls for the full respect of indigenous peoples’ rights, including the rights related to their traditional lands, territories and resources and to their free, prior and informed consent.”

According to comments made by AIDESEP President Alberto Pizango in the first week of June, further protest actions in Peru will continue. (One of the protest issues involves criminal charges filed against Pizango for his involvement in the blockades.)

Mobilisation in support of hte Amazonian struggle and in defense of the life - World Environmental Day

"The Open Veins of Latin America", (5 centuries of the pillage of a continent)

Caption: Video Id: IBNS6ABnK6Q Type: Youtube Video
Vigil in Lima, Peru´s capitol, after Bagua massacre

Caption: Video Id: 5Z4DUOHnRNQ Type: Youtube Video
Chavez Gives Obama "The Open Veins of Latin America", Book on Latin American History

by p.ie Mon Jun 08, 2009 22:20

Discussion on politics.ie: Peruvian battle for oil - up to 50 dead and rising
http://www.politics.ie/environment/75039-peruvian-battl....html

by Eanna Dowling Mon Jun 08, 2009 22:41

excellent work

what can we do to help?

by OIL AGE - not a fan Mon Jun 08, 2009 22:43

"Work friendly governments", "Peruvian authorities welcome new oil companies without placing too rigorous corporate criteria"
Can someone explain these terms.
By the way, notice the spelling mistake in the first passage, not very profesional

Gold Oil´s target area of interest:

The Company is targeting low tax regimes with work friendly governments where the is a good chance of finding and producing oil and gas for sale into either the local or the international market. Our initial focus was Peru and then Colombia and these have proved to be attractive countries for working in to date. The competition has also recognized how attractive these countries are and now it is almost impossible to get any interesting acreage in Peru and the competition in Colombia is stifling.
http://www.goldoilplc.com/target.html

Gold Oil decided to focus its initial entry into the South American upstream business on Northern Peru for several reasons:

* The Peruvian fiscal regime is relatively benign, comprising royalty and corporation tax.
* Peruvian authorities welcome new oil companies without placing too rigorous corporate criteria, hoping thereby to stimulate investment.

The hydrocarbon basins of Northern Peru offer vast and largely overlooked potential, not only for new exploration, but also for lower risk development and infill drilling in more mature areas.
http://www.goldoilplc.com/peru.html

Gold Oil´s targets: "Work friendly governments + not too rigorous corporate criteria

Gold Oil´s area of interest, where on world environmental day a local indigenous massacre happened, "not too rigorous" behaviour?

by Eanna Dowling Mon Jun 08, 2009 23:00

Best I can tell folks, there is no Peruvian embassy in Ireland. London hosts one:

EMBASSY OF PERU IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

52 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9SP
Tel: 00 44 20 7235 1917, 0207235 2545
Fax: 00 44 20 7235 4463

[email protected]

by Dunk Mon Jun 08, 2009 23:14

Telesur (Latin American cable TV) claim with find of 15 more genocide victims, the death toll is up to 47
http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/51587-...uana/

Inca Kola News posts

- opinions of the bagua massacre in peru
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2009/06/opinions-of-ba....html
linking to: http://huancayorktimes.blogspot.com/2009/06/todas-las-i....html

- Peru's next protest flashpoint
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2009/06/perus-next-pro....html

This map (link below) shows the place on the roads of San Martin Department, norther Peru, where indigenous protestors have been blocking three sections of highway for the last 20 days.

Suddenly, according the reports, some 600 police officers have turned up at on the scene and "asked" the blockaders for a temporary respite in their protest to allow the tailbacks of trucks to get through. It seems this temporary deal has been agreed upon by locals, but the police have said that they will try to stop the protests from restarting "in the next 24 to 48 hours".

Full map
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7Se7iswAanA/Si085QDaWwI/AAAAAAAAHvo/5BtSRAd58AI/s1600-h/san_martin_mapa_vial.jpg

- Bagua: García leading and controlling a racist backlash
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2009/06/bagua-garcia-l....html

Mate Pastor is good for a succint and accurate soundbite on what's happening in Peru right now:

The government is using the death of members of the police force to incite citizens against our indigenous compatriots. This is a fascist attitude and must be denounced, even to international organisms.

related links: http://mate-pastor.blogspot.com/2009/06/masacre-en-bagu....html

by Dunk Mon Jun 08, 2009 23:34

Thanks to this link from Cathar; http://www.energydigital.com/Gold-Oil-Plc_2743.aspx
on p.ie http://www.politics.ie/environment/75039-peruvian-battl...56247

It turns out our Irish Golden boy, Gary Moore, first went to Peru as a consultant with Shell in 1996.

hhhhhmmmmmmm

Ireland and Shell enter the Peruvian equation...

by iosaf Tue Jun 09, 2009 15:12

In my last comment I mentioned that a warrent had been out since last weekend on the leader of AIDESEP & it seemed pretty obvious he was in hiding because he wasn't giving interviews. Last night in Peru or very early in our morning he turned up in the Nicaraguan Embassy.

This fact was broken to media by Yehude Simon of president Garcia's cabinet to a meeting of the Peruvian defense commitee. The news has since been relayed by AIDESEP on their website http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?codnota=782 & has now been commented on by the Nicaraguan authorities in the form of their ambassador to Peru, Tomás Borge, who has told RPP say his case is under consideration and a decision will be made on Tuesday (today).

This means that for the moment he is not being granted asylum status and is thus in "refuge".

It is perhaps worth noting that the Nicaraguan embassy is on Avenida Álvarez Calderón, 738 and about 4km from the centre of Lima in a very affluent area within the general pleasant stroll between Sant Isidre and Miraflores. This prime real estate zone boasts ample swimming pools as you can see for yourself on google-earth at these co-ordinates 12°6'13"S 77°2'45"W - without getting so precise even the dimmest of us will realise that Alberto Pizango Chota is very far away from the Peruvian Amazon and has probably made the journey using some form of transport which is quicker than bare foot and even we may speculate has not been wearing his usual traditional dress. Such things would get noticed in the vecinity of Calderon Avenue. It might be too early to wonder why he chose Nicaragua or is it a case of him being brought there. There are after all several other diplomatic missions in the neighbourhood. For example the Bolivian embassy is less than 2 km away a distance which we know can be covered walking or pleasantly strolling in less than an hour. Or if you fance the Austrian embassy is a few doors seawards from the Nicaraguan.

Nicaragua is currently led by Daniel Ortega leader of the "Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional" (FSLN). He was elected to the presidency in 2006 but of course the history of the FSLN and CIA sponsored terrorism opposed to leftists (Ortega's Nicaragua belongs to the Bolivarian group of Latin American states) etc ought be familiar to anyone interested in latin American history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ortega Relations between Peru and Nicaragua would generally be termed cordial in the nefarious language spoken by diplomats. Probably because they don't actually do much trading with each other and not sharing a border rarely get up each others' noses.

Pizango in my opinion chose his embassy well.

Alberto Pizango Chota without feathers is now awaiting status update : fugitive or refugee?

by dunk Tue Jun 09, 2009 17:03

a few things:

1 - Amazon Watch PRESS RELEASE: Eyewitness Reports Accuse Peruvian Police of Disposing the Bodies of Dead Indigenous Protesters
2 - Indegenous re-strike for thursday 11th. AIDESEP, the national indigenous organization of Peru has called for a nationwide general strike
3 - Barcelona Thursday "Demo for Bagua" at Peru consulate, wed night vigil with green candles
4 - Amazon Watch: Send a Message to the President of Peru
5 - Some OIL companies with interests in the Peruvian Amazon region
6 - ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FORCED TO SETTLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE OUT OF COURT, pays $15 million

*** Amazon Watch PRESS RELEASE ***
(CLICK ON LINK TO READ FULL PRESS RELEASE)
http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1843

Amazon Watch, AIDESEP, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2009-06-08

In the U.S.: Nick Magel 1-419-283-2728 [email protected]
In Peru: Gregor MacLennan + 511 - 993 916-389

Eyewitness Reports Accuse Peruvian Police of Disposing the Bodies of Dead Indigenous Protesters

Garcia Government Makes Troubling
Racial Slurs and Fear-mongering

Indigenous Leaders and Allies Call for an
End to Violence on All Sides

Bagua, Peru (June 8, 2009) – In the aftermath of Friday's bloody raid on a peaceful indigenous road blockade near Bagua in the Peruvian Amazon, numerous eyewitnesses are reporting that the Special Forces of the Peruvian Police have been disposing of the bodies of indigenous protesters who were killed.

"Today I spoke to many eyewitnesses in Bagua reporting that they saw police throw the bodies of the dead into the Marañon River from a helicopter in an apparent attempt by the Government to underreport the number of indigenous people killed by police," said Gregor MacLennan, spokesperson for Amazon Watch.

"Hospital workers in Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande corroborated that the police took bodies of the dead from their premises to an undisclosed location. I spoke to several people who reported that there are bodies lying at the bottom of a deep crevasse up in the hills, about 2 kilometers from the incident site. When the Church and local leaders went to investigate, the police stopped them from approaching the area," reported MacLennan....

AIDESEP, the national indigenous organization of Peru has called for a nationwide general strike starting June 11th.

*** Indegenous re-strike for thursday 11th. ***
The Amazonian indigenous have decided to go on indefinite strike as of Thursday 11th June.
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2009/06/bagua-indigeno....html

On todays democracy now, the indegenous say only 1 way to end strike; repeal the law:
Indigenous Protester Atilio Pisango: “We have carried on this fight for more than fifty-seven days. The government has killed our indigenous brothers in Bagua. If the government repeals the law, we will lift the strike. Our leader, Alberto Pizango, did not send armed men; it was the army.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/9/headlines#3

*** Barcelona solidarity actions begin with the indegenous of Peru ***
Wednesday night; vigil and concentration @ Peru consulate. With green colored candles
Thursday, "Manifestastion/ demo for Bagua" - 13h (mid-day Dublin time)
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/375597/...x.php

*** Amazon Watch: Send a Message to the President of Peru***

Tell the Peruvian Government:

1. Immediately suspend violent repression of indigenous protests and the State of Emergency
2. Repeal the Free Trade Laws that allow oil, logging, and agricultural corporations easy entry into indigenous territories
3. Respect indigenous peoples' constitutionally guaranteed rights to self-determination, to their ancestral territories, and to prior consultation
4. Enter into good faith process of dialogue with indigenous peoples to resolve this conflict

http://amazonwatch.org/peru-action-alert.php

*** Some OIL companies with interests in the Peruvian Amazon region: ***
British French; Perenco (big gas group in UK), Argentina; Plus Petrol, Canada; Petrolifera, Spain; Repsol, Brazil; Petrobras... + much more
http://www.survival.es/noticias/4643
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/375576/...x.php

*** ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FORCED TO SETTLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE OUT OF COURT, pays $15 million***
https://www.indymedia.ie/article/92632

Shell to Pay Out $15.5 Million to Settle Landmark Lawsuit over Death of Nigerian Activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/9/shell_to_pay_out_1...llion

The oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay a $15.5 million settlement to avoid a trial over its alleged involvement in human rights violations in the Niger Delta. The case was brought on behalf of ten plaintiffs who accused Shell of complicity in the 1995 executions of Nigerian writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others.

Amazon Watch - defending the Amazon

by dunk Tue Jun 09, 2009 17:42

Los Angeles protest in support of Peru's Indiginous Peoples rights , May 26,2009 (before the massacre - If hes behind them, perhaps many more Irish people might get behind this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I15dDC9BeaM

Celebrities Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Qorianka Kilcher , Jesse Garcia, Alex Meraz and Clifton Collins pull together in an effort to call attention to Peru's Indigenous peoples plight and struggle for survival , health and basic human rights In the wake of the FTA and the Peruvian governments attempts to allow multinational oil, gas, logging and mining corporations to take over their land, without previous consultation or consent of the local inhabitants.

The May 26th protests outside the Peruvian Embassy in Los Angeles were organizes by
On-Q initiative/Peru Youth Activists
in support and solidarity with Perus 48 day long indigenous protests, involving over 1200 indigenous Amazon communities and more than 30 thousands indigenous protesters who, in peaceful protests, are blockading roads and river traffic throughout the Amazon, demanding the repeal of a series legal decrees imposed by the Garcia Administration under the pretext of implementing the Free Trade agreements (FTA) with the United States.

The new laws favor free access for multinational companies over indigenous rights and directly undermines indigenous peoples rights recognized in the national constitution as well as in international treaties, including the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 169.

On may 9th in an effort to silence indigenous community opponents of extractive industrie and suppress the peaceful protests, the Garcia regime declared a state of emergency , allowing the deployment of military forces , and the use of violence and repression as weapon against the just fight of a peaceful and humble people whose only arm is their voice and simple presence.

Furthermore, In an aggressive harassment campaign, the Garcia government has filed criminal charges of treason and sedition against 6 indigenous leaders including Alberto Pizango, president of AIDESEP, Perus national indigenous organization representing over 350,000 indigenous peoples in the Amazon

We thank the "Harmony Keepers" for providing harmony and peace for the Los Angeles Protests and DANZA CUAUHTEMOC for their ceremonial dances and prayer.

more as it comes at; http://www.youtube.com/user/OnQinitiative

Caption: Video Id: I15dDC9BeaM Type: Youtube Video
Los Angeles protest in support of Peru

by dunk Tue Jun 09, 2009 17:55

June 5th. 2009 ...Violent Confrontations in Bagua Peru:
Initial Reports from the Ground
View vid at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ur9duUg0Wo

June 5th. 2009 ...Violent Confrontations in Bagua Peru:
Initial information:
* Around 2am, the police began amassing near protesters, who were blocking the road in a locale called Curva de Diablo. Protesters did not move.
* Around 5:30 am 6:00 am helicopters dropped teargas from above. On the ground, police started to attack, firing gun shots from outset.
* As protesters were feeling, the police were shooting at and killing indigenous people.
* Reportedly in self defense, some indigenous people took control of police firearms and shot back, killing several police officers (The police are claiming that the protesters were armed with guns from the beginning and initiated the exchange of gunfire, a claim denied by eye-witnesses)
* When an international NGO worker was trying to film and photograph the situation, a policeman fired a teargas bomb in her face. She said that the police also were prohibiting other press from filming.
* As injured and dead were being transported toward the town of Bagua Chica, they have been detained at a police control post at Milagros. Only injured police have been allowed to pass. Injured indigenous have been detained at the police station, an undetermined number dying there for lack of medical attention.
* An ambulance driver was also attacked and injured.
* Protesters have retreated to the Cruce de Bagua, between where they were blocking the road and the town of Bagua.
* In Bagua, the police firing shots into the air as they looked for indigenous leaders. Two non-indigenous residents are reported killed. Now the non-indigenous population is protesting police presence and have reportedly taken control of the police station and government offices including the APRA offices, COFOPRI and PRONAA.
* Reports of deaths include at least four indigenous protesters (Santiago Valera, Luis Yankun, Feliz Dupis, and Luis Jintas), two Bagua towns people, and four police officers.

Context:
* On Tuesday the constitutional committee of congress was suspended from debating the constitutionality of the other legislative decrees because the APRA participants did not turn up.
* Yesterday congress was scheduled for the second time to debate the constitutionality of 1090, but again suspended the debate.
* Yesterday the Defensoría del Pueblo published a report to the constitutional tribunal on the unconstitutionality of law 1064.
* Yesterday the local chief of police confirmed that he had orders from above to open the roads in the next 24 hours. The indigenous protesters had agreed not to allow anyone passed.

Genocide and oppression !!! ...in the name of development and greed.

13 > 70 % Giveaway of Amazonian area resourses in 2 years

by Dunk Tue Jun 09, 2009 22:10

LASC (latin American solidarity campaign) in Ireland links to 2 articles from its NEWS section on its site:
http://www.lasc.ie/

Upside Down World: 50 Days of Protest and One Massacre in the Peruvian Amazon
An article by Ben Powless, written on Sunday
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1895/1/

Take Action Against The Massacre of Indigenous People In Peru
from blog Integral Psychosis, Philosophy, Politics, and Opinions from the Lunatic Fringe
http://integralpsychosis.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/take-...peru/

First article links to
Al Jazeera; Scores killed in Peru land clashes
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/06/2009....html

Also newly set up, via p.ie thread, http://www.politics.ie/environment/75039-peruvian-battl...60094:

Sign up for Facebook to join Unite with the Peruvian Indiginous People.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=93416587471&ref=nf

I have just recently come back from Peru and my heart is breaking about what is happening to these people.
(accompanying photo) A young gentleman I met while over there.

... These people are simply fighting to protect what is theirs. Their lives depend on their land and their land is being sold from under their feet to oil and mineral companies.

The total area being granted to multinational companies covers more than 70 percent of the Peruvian Amazon, according to a study by scientists at Duke University. At least 58 of the 64 areas are on lands titled to indigenous peoples, it said.

What happened on June 6th was a massacre and the world needs to tell the Peruvian government that this is not acceptable.

Please take five minutes to email the Peruvian Embassy or write to them and let them know your disgust at what is happening.

52 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9SP
Tel: 00 44 20 7235 1917, 0207235 2545
Fax: 00 44 20 7235 4463
[email protected]

A young gentleman I met while over there. c/o floatingingalway

by dunk Tue Jun 09, 2009 23:01

(link found via IMC-PERU)
http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2009/06/59939.shtml
http://peru.indymedia.org/news/2009/06/44526.php

Petition to the Ambassador of Peru in NL

Dear Mr. Allan Wagner Tizón, Ambassador of Peru in The Netherlands,

To the Peruvian Consulate and Embassy in The Netherlands:

The following Dutch organizations in solidarity with Latin America, want to express our deep concern with the slaughter of Indigenous people on the morning of Friday 5 June in Bagua, area of Corral Quemado and Curva del Diablo in the Peruvian Amazon. We are outraged with the dozens of dead and wounded people on both sides, mainly members of the Indigenous People Awajun.

WE DEMAND AN INMEDIATE HALT TO THE STATE VIOLENCE BEING WAGED AGAINST INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON AND INSIST THAT THEIR RIGHTS BE RESPECTED.

We demand, in solidarity with organizations in Peru:
- The respect of and compliance to the Convention 169 (ILO) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples signed by Peru, that includes the self-determination of indigenous peoples. Our indigenous brothers and sisters have the right to determine their political condition and to decide on how natural resources (including the subsoil) should be allocated for their economic, social and cultural development. The consultation of indigenous people by the Peruvian government is, in this case, not only a courtesy, but an obligation to uphold the right to free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.
- To denounce and cancel the Free Trade Agreement with the USA. It is through this agreement that the APRA government intends to impose a model of plundering and irresponsible consumption of our resources that undermines the national interests in favour of a corrupt business sector that has a record of environmental damage, plundering and exploitation of native people, and played a part in bringing about global warming and the world economic crisis.
- The immediate abolition of all unconstitutional Law decrees.
- The lifting of the State of Emergency in the Peruvian Amazon.
- An immediate end to the persecution of social leaders, the criminalization of social protest and the criminal charges against Alberto Pizango (the main leader of AIDESEP) for conspiracy, rebellion and sedition.
- AN INMEDIATE HALT TO THE STATE VIOLENCE BEING WAGED AGAINST INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON AND RESPECT FOR THEIR RIGHTS.
- Prosecution of those responsible for the massacre.

We demand that your Embassy pass this denunciation on to the Peruvian government and with the declaration that you are against the above mentioned violations of human rights.

Signatures:
Organización Autónoma de Jóvenes para América Latina, Ojalá
XmenosY Fondo de Solidaridad
ICAD (Comite Internacional contra las desapariciones forzadas y la tortura) Holanda
FIAN Holanda
Aseed Europe
HIJOS Holanda
Mapuche-FOLIL
Fundacion Centro Latino Americano en Amsterdam
Carbon Trade Watch
La Revista Klasse !

Solidarity actions in Holland today at Peruvian embassy at den Haag

Solidarity actions in Holland today at Peruvian embassy at den Haag- funeral

by soundmigration - per cap Tue Jun 09, 2009 23:05

Fair play for all the info and work your putting in.

by iosaf Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:37

The Nicaraguans have made their decision & it is one which obviously internationalises the situation in the Peruvian amazon in a way which our solidarity grumblings or Bolivian government comments have not done. Explaining the decision, the ambassador Señor Borges in comments to Nicaraguan radio has said that Pizango satisfies the conditions for political asylum as he is clearly subject to political persecution in Peru.

He will now be brought to Nicaragua out of Lima, where the authorities want to charge him and put him away for a very long time for sedition and rebellion.

In my last comment I had wondered why he chose the Nicaraguans, it is now reported that prior to seeking asylum with them he had indeed knocked on the doors of the US, French & Bolivian embassies. They all refused him refuge. In the case of the US and French embassies this ought not be surprising but the attitude of the Bolivians contrasts with their recent rhetoric which has been the most outspoken in its support of the Amazonian indiginous and its criticism of Garcia.

http://www.rfi.fr/actues/articles/114/article_12065.asp

Meanwhile the Peruvian parliament is meeting today to debate the removal of the raft of laws which have allowed Garcia to expropriate Amazonian lands and brought this political conflict through bloodshed to the continuing state of curfew in the Amazon and thus collective abuse of human rights & let's be specific Peru's first leader to be granted political asylum in another Latin American state since its ex-president Fujimoro.

Now that's so ironic it ought hurt.

by bbc Thu Jun 11, 2009 09:57

Protesters block a road in northern Peru, 10 June 2009
Indians have been blocking roads to protests against the land laws
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8094304.stm

This is what the people were protesting against, it is a win for direct action, unfortunately it has been a bloody win

by Dr. Arthur Frederick Ide Wed Jun 17, 2009 00:38

Peru has a long racist history, with the disenfranchisement and enslavement of indigenous people, then Blacks and Chinese. It has not changed, with restaurants in Lima refusing service to racial minorities while the Spaniard lineage (white) continues to soak up national wealth for themselves. Alan Garcia, nearly as bad as human rights violator Alberto Fujimori who had death squads assassinating students and professors while raiding the national treasury to send his children to schools in the USA and groom his daughter, Keiko, for her 2010 race for the presidency to pardon him of his crimes, continues on the path of murderers, tyrants and dictators. After destroying the GNP of Peru in 1986 with an inflation of 7649% (cumulative of 2,200,002%), Garcia first fled to Guatamala and then to France before returning to Peru to run again and win the Peru presidency on a platform of lies and distortions. His cavalier attitude in caving into the government of the USA has enriched his supporters and impoverished the country--a program he has continued with the rape of the Amazonian lands and people through the nefarious TFL pushed by Washington DC. Garcia is too arrogant to resign and Peru too weak to arrest and try him for crimes against humanity, thus the thugs in the National Police will continue to assassinate Amazonian leaders while murdering women and children in a putsche to steal their land and destroy their fields and forests. Bolivia is the one true friend of the Amazonians, for Garcia has declared an unholy war against them, sending heliocopters and troops to slaughter while "police" toss bodies over a cliff as if it were a mass grave. The world refuses to watch or listen to the screams of the innocent while Garcia mourns the butchers in his police force.

by lulu Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:16

Peruvian President Alan Garcia changed a number of economic policies that would open areas in the Amazon to oil, mining and timber development after protests among indigenous people led to violent confrontations. Garcia announced several cabinet and governmental changes, including the resignation of Prime Minister Yehude Simon. Mining and oil exploration are nevertheless expected to be the cornerstone of Peru's economic policy. Photographs captured by two Belgian aid workers reveal police suppressing unarmed protesters and shooting others as they flee. Los Angeles Times (6/19) , Financial Times (free content) (6/18) , The Independent (London) (6/19)

by Democracy Now / amazon watch Sun Jun 21, 2009 13:10

Peru’s Congress Overturns Land Laws

The Peruvian Congress has overturned two controversial land laws that led to an indigenous uprising and dozens of deaths in the ensuing police crackdown. The laws would have opened large areas of the Peruvian Amazon to logging, dams and oil drilling. Indigenous leader Daysi Zapata praised the decision by the Peruvian Congress.

Daysi Zapata: “Today is a very historic day for all indigenous people and the entire country of Peru. We, the indigenous peoples, are present here because we believe that the demands of the indigenous peoples are just.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/19/headlines#10

amazon watch press release 2009-06-18

Peruvian Congress Votes 82 – 12 to Repeal Two Controversial Laws

Government Urged to Drop Criminal Charges Against Indigenous Leaders and Allow Independent Investigation into Violent Incidents in Bagua

Lima, Peru – The Peruvian Congress voted today 82 – 12 to repeal two of nine contested laws in an attempt to end widespread indigenous protests that have been paralyzing transportation and commerce in the Peruvian Amazon for 70 days. In a complete shift of discourse, President Garcia admitted that "there were a series errors and exaggerations" in the government's handling of this conflict and asked Congress to repeal decrees 1090 and 1064, which were passed in 2008 as part of a package of new laws to facilitate the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

Having witnessed the vote in the Peruvian Congress, Daysi Zapata, acting President of AIDESEP, Peru's national Amazonian indigenous organization welcomed the President's comments and declared: "Today is a historic day. We are grateful that the will of the indigenous peoples has been heard and we only hope that in the future governments listen and attend to indigenous peoples, and not legislate behind their backs."

Zapata said that AIDESEP it is calling on our base organizations and communities to end their blockades and protests while also calling on the government to enter into a good faith and transparent dialogue...

http://amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1860

Bird of the amazon

by Dunk Sat Sep 12, 2009 13:19

'Climate change is extremely dangerous for all of us'
Shaman Davi Yanomami talks about the threat posed to South American Indians by loggers, miners and climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jun/13...erous

The fight for the Peruvian rainforest
The extraordinary story of how Peru's Indians and English priest Brother Paul are fighting to the death to protect their way of life and their rainforest
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jul/03...orest

by dunk Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:01

edited report of this lengthly report found at http://itsafunnyoldworld.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/bagua/

amazon watch report found at http://www.amazonwatch.org/documents/amazon-in-focus-20...9.pdf

More events are being organised in Barcelona with the Peruvian community to keep this struggle growing...

Peru: Indigenous Peoples Protest over Land Rights
By Gregor MacLennan (speaker on DN! interview)

After two months of peaceful indigenous protests across the Amazon, on June 5,
2009, armed police violently attacked a roadblock occupied by 3,000 indigenous
people in the northern Peruvian Amazon province of Bagua. The ensuing violence
left more than 200 protesters hospitalized and at least 34 people dead, including
indigenous peoples, local townspeople and police officers. The June 5th incident
became a watershed moment for Peru’s policies related to the Amazon. The
tragedy has led to an unprecedented level of national debate and international
outcry about deep-rooted abuses and threats facing indigenous peoples.

For nearly two months prior, some 30,000 Indigenous people had paralyzed
transportation and commerce throughout the Peruvian Amazon demanding
that the Congress repeal a series of decrees that would make it easy for the
Government to grant indigenous lands to multinational oil, mining, and energy
corporations. Passed between December 2007 and June 2008, some 99 new
laws were promulgated under executive powers Congress had granted to
President Alan Garcia in order to implement the Free Trade Agreement with the
United States. In sum, the decrees systematically undermined the legal rights
of indigenous peoples to their territories, promoted the privatization of lands
currently under communal control, reverted lands classified as abandoned and
unproductive to state control and enabled petroleum and mining companies to
enter indigenous lands without prior negotiation with communities.

It was in August of 2008 when indigenous peoples first launched a national
strike in protest, closing river travel and marching in major towns in the Amazon.
Eventually the government agreed to repeal two of the decrees: 1015 and 1073,
which would have made it easier for a third party to buy land from an indigenous
community without the consent of the majority. The government also agreed to set
up a special committee within Congress to investigate the legality and the impact
of the new laws on indigenous peoples. The protests were called off....

¿A qué estamos esperando? what are we waiting for : HOME (film) and Bagua

by dunk Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:14

If the amzon gets sold off, then the indigenous know what is in store, as this film about a community further north up in the forest demonstrates. Pollution from oil processing enters the water, the earth, the food, and eventually the bodies of the community, who are now dying, or dead... Una Muerta en Sion - A death in Sion

vid - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=178962449134950...2624#

Una Muerta en Sion - A death in Sion

by dunk Thu May 27, 2010 12:00

Indigenous leader Segundo Alberto Pizango was arrested today upon his return to Peru after 11 months in exile in Nicaragua. Amazon Watch and actress Q'Orianka Kilcher accompanied him to Lima. Take action now: http://bit.ly/pizango

Saturday week, the 5th of June will be the anniversary. In Barcelona we are organising events to commerate the massacre and further help build understanding of what is going on as well as solidarity and resistance to further destruction of the Peruvian amazonian rainforest, the lung of the world. we will show the film "amazonia for sale" http://intercontinentalcry.org/amazonia-for-sale/

amnesty call out regarding Alberto Pizango - http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa12310.pdf

Amazonia For Sale - approaching the 1 year anniversary since Bagua massacre and leader Alberto Pizango is arrested today

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Thu May 27, 2010 21:29

If its not in there somewhere www.survivalinternational.org do a global newsletter on indiginous peoples under threat.

by Dunk Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:23

- Leftist Wins First Round of Peru Presidential Elections

Voters in Peru went to the polls Sunday to pick a successor to President Alan García. Leftist Ollanta Humala won the first round of the election. Exit polls show lawmaker Keiko Fujimori placed second. She is the daughter of former right-wing Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who is now in prison for human rights abuses. The two will face each other in a runoff election on June 5.

A leftwing former army officer and the rightwing daughter of a disgraced autocrat will contest a runoff election in Peru, according to partial results from Sunday's presidential election.

Ollanta Humala, a one-time protege of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, won about 30% of the vote, more than any other candidate in a crowded field. Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori, appeared to have come second with approximately 23%.

The 48-year-old former lieutenant colonel also won the first round of the 2006 presidential election but lost to Alan Garcia in the run-off after strong attacks on his links with Chávez.

This time he swapped red t-shirts for sober suits, rebranded himself in the mould of Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and hired some of the former Brazilian president's consultants. His promise to share revenue from Peru's mining boom more evenly resonated with impoverished slum-dwellers and rural indigenous communities.

The official vote count was slow, but unofficial results provided by the non-profit electoral watchdog Transparencia gave Humala 31.7% – well short of the majority needed to win outright. Fujimori received 23.3% and was trailed by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a 72-year-old former World Bank economist and investment banker, with 18.3%.

In fourth place was Alejandro Toledo, Peru's president from 2001-06, with 15.9%, while the former mayor of Lima Luis Castañeda was fifth, with 9.9%.

Humala spooked foreign investors by promising to divert natural gas exports to the domestic market and obtain greater royalties from foreign investors in Peru's mineral wealth. He called his victory proof that Peruvians "want a great transformation".

Peru is a top exporter of copper, gold and silver – commodities whose rising prices have helped fuel economic growth averaging 7% during García's tenure. But the growth has barely trickled down to the poor. Toledo said voters simply "expressed their rage ... at having economic growth without the distribution of the benefits of that growth".

Leftist Ollanta Humala - former army officer to be next Peruvian president?

Ollanta Humala, leftist on the side of poor and indigenous of Peru, will he protect Bagua?

Ollanta Humala: ultra nationalist fascist imagery c/o anarkismo.net

Caption: Video Id: fO26_j6i_Qc Type: Youtube Video
Ollanta Humala plantea las Propuestas de Gana Perú.

by Dunk Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:57

Here is an interesting debate about the issues of left/right nationalism/ fascism, again from 2006 when Humala was running for the elections, from the left anti-capitalist Spanish web: Izquierda Anticapitalista
DEBATE POLITICO ENTRE ANTARO HUMALA Y HUGO BLANCO
http://www.anticapitalistas.org/node/1355
translation - http://translate.google.es/translate?hl=es&sl=es&tl=en&...F1355