GOING CHEAP ON AMAZON

Throughout the last month the Amazonian region of Peru has erupted in protest with as many as 8,000 people from 1,350 indigenous communities blockading key waterways and road routes in the isolated oil and gas region and staging marches, pickets and occupations in surrounding towns and cities. Coordinated by the National Organisation of the Amazon Indigenous People of Peru (AIDESEP), the communities have organised against environmentally damaging exploitation of resources and the failure of the government to recognise indigenous rights.  

While in the cities of Iquitos and Atalaya government buildings and banks have been picketed and airstrips occupied, in the jungle region of Napo-Curraray locals have blockaded one of the main Amazonian tributaries servicing the Anglo-French oil company Perenco, which has a monopoly on oil production and development rights in the region. Now a month old, the blockade of cables and canoes has been breached twice. In the first weeks of the action two boats, including one from Perenco, forced their way through and shots were fired at pursuing protesters. Earlier this week a Peruvian Navy gunboat also breached the barricade, causing a number of injuries and sinking canoes. Community leaders are said to be outraged at the action and have condemned the military intimidation. The situation remains tense with two more gunboats said to be circulating in the area.  

Similar protests took place in August last year when thousands of indigenous people brought Peruvian hydrocarbon production to a complete stop by blocking crude pumping installations, shutting down the only crude pipeline in Peru. The protests came to an end when the Peruvian congress voted to repeal two of the laws that threatened indigenous territories. 

The repealed laws were part of a raft of legislation passed without a congressional vote by Peruvian President Alan Garcia as part of a Free Trade Agreement with the US. Many more laws remain on the statutes which indigenous organisations claim will not only lead to a profit driven destruction of the rainforest but also dispossess hundreds of indigenous communities whose land titles have not yet been formalised by the Peruvian government.

Although AIDESEP leaders have met with the president of the Peruvian congress, Javier Velásquez - in talks they described as ‘fruitless’ - they are holding out for ‘transparent’ negotiations, preferably with Garcia himself. The demand seems unlikely to be met though as Garcia, one of the few remaining adherents to US Free Trade Agreements left amongst Latin American leaders, met with Perenco chairman Francois Perrodo less than a fortnight ago to discuss further exploration and drilling. After Perrodo pledged to invest $2billion in the region the government passed a law which declared Perrenco’s work a ‘national necessity’.  

Despite the intimidation and Garcia’s pandering to big business, the communities aren’t backing down - in particular the Napo protesters who have signalled their intent to step up the campaign and begin blocking more tributaries. “This is not only about indigenous rights but also the basic human right to live in peace” said AIDESEP president Alberto Pizango Chota. “We’re not seeking confrontation but to simply be allowed to protect our environment, our homes and our lives.”  

* See also www.aidesep.org.pe, www.survival-international.org