In Peru, the peaceful protests of indigenous groups against legislative decrees that open up the Amazon rainforests to logging, mining, oil and agro-industry, erupted into bloodshed when Peruvian Special Forces staged a violent raid, leaving 25 dead and more than 100 wounded. The Peruvian Rainforest Inter-Ethnic Development Association (AIDESEP) has been coordinating protests and blockades of waterways and roads across the Amazon region for two months now, demonstrating against the series of laws passed under the auspices of Free Trade Agreements Peru signed with both Canada and the United States. Indigenous groups argue that these laws threaten the integrity of the Amazon, its cultural and biological diversity, by allowing the deforestation and privatization of traditional lands without their prior consultation. Since their concerns were ignored they decided to take action, wearing traditional warrior paint and armed with bows and arrows, to demand full and effective participation in all matters that concern them. "We are fighting for our children," said one of the protestors. "We want peace. We don't want to fight. But we all have the right to defend our territory, where we live." This right was clearly recognized within international law two years ago with the approval of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (see ECC 10/2007).

Since May, however, the battle lines have sharpened consistently: Negotiations between President Garcia’s government and representatives of the indigenous communities broke off. The president later declared a state of emergency in seven Amazon provinces and decided to send in the military. Thus, the government sent a clear message that it values the interests of foreign investors and business above those of an indigenous minority, which stands in the way of profits from oil and minerals extraction, logging, and agriculture in the Amazon region. "The Amazonian lands belong to the entire nation, not to a small group that lives there", stated the President, unable to recognize the legitimate claim of indigenous people trying to gain a voice in the decision making process that concerns the region’s development.  (Christiane Roettger)



The comprehensive documentation of the conflict can be found at:

http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1837



Further news on the issue is available at http://www.newint.org/features/special/2009/06/09/battle-lines/

More information on the Trade Promotion Agreement is available at

http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/peru-tpa

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, Juni 2009