Indigenous Peru in Protest

Indigenous leader Alberto Pizango.

Despite the excessive lip service paid by the government of Alan Garcia to the international community, especially to the US and EU, about protecting the environment and natural resources the Peruvian government is streaming ahead with its numerous reforms to enable greater foreign exploitation of the nation’s vast oil and gas reserves. Such exploitation which not only poses a significant threat to one of the most spectacular, diverse and vital regions on the Earth, but also to the indigenous tribes and communities which live in those regions.

These groups have, over the last couple of weeks taking their protest against the ‘Law of the Jungle’ as the government’s project is known in Peru, to the streets and highways of the Amazonian region. The protests have paralised life in many of Peru’s jungle cities, not least my home town of Tarapoto. The protests are increasingly unpopular as the blocked roads pushes the prices of basic goods through the roof and out of the reach of ordinary people.

The President has claimed that the natural resources of Peru belong to all Peruvians, and appears to charge the indigenous groups with selfishness. He is now mobilising the nation’s armed forces to try to combat the protests. The protests, until now mostly peaceful, will either end or turn violent, unless the international community intercedes. Something which looks extreemly unlikely.