Protests turned for the worst this past Friday in the Amazons of Peru. Al Jazeera reports that over thirty indigenous Amazonians were killed during clashes with Peruvian government over planned oil and gas exploration on ancestral land.
Last Friday, thousands of indigenous people gathered in Bagua, Peru and created a human road blockade keeping government and corporate officials out of the rainforests they call home. Police attempted to break up the blockade of people which led to a violent clash between the protesters and police. When on the ground troops could not contain the protesters, witnesses reported that police officers shot fire and dropped teargas from helicopters.
The video below is footage from the protests. Although it is in Spanish, you can here the victims screaming out for help and water for the wounded.
Indigenous rights activist, Ben Powless of Ontario, Canada was in Peru during this tragic event while attending the Indigenous People's Summit held in Puno, Peru. Powless reported back that this tragedy is government retaliation for 50 days of ongoing protests. Along with the road blockade protesters have shut down parts of the Amazon and the Andes. On May 8th the Peruvian government announced a 60-day state of emergency in areas of the Amazon, suspending constitutional guarantees in an attempt to suppress the protests, which have targeted airports, bridges and river traffic. Alberto Pizango, elected representative of the Amazonian Peoples and supporter of the recent protests now has a warrant out for his arrest because of his high profile and alleged organizing support with the ongoing protests.
International human rights and Environmental Justice advocates are standing in support of Pizango and the thousands of other indigenous Peruvians who have lost their constitutional rights due to the protests to save their land and traditions.
Powless and the Indigenous people of Peru have offered some suggestions on how people like you (yes you reading this) can support this fight:
Please go here to send a letter to the President of Peru,and show him that the international community is watching and is outraged: http://www.amazonwatch.org/peru-action-alert.php
You may also donate to the cause with the following bank information: account number is 395-11-35-338057 (in nuevos soles, Peruvian currency) of the "Banco de Crédito del Peru" The contact information is Nicanor Alvarado Carrasco, coordinator of the "Vicaría del Medio Ambiente de Jaén". Phone: +511 076 433948.
with the suspension of constitutional rights it is even more important to scream and shout because there is a good chance that Pizango and other protestors will be tortured or executed once apprehended.
Continue to checktheweather.net for more info! Correspondents will also live tweet and blog from the protests planned for today Monday June 8th at 12:30 at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, DC. Follow us on twitter or come join us if you are in the DC area!
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