60 Die in Peru Rainforest Protest

Send a Message to the President of Peru

June 5, 2009

URGENT ACTION ALERT

Peru's Amazon Indigenous Peoples need you to TAKE ACTION now!

Tell the Peruvian Government:

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

Since April 9th communities throughout the Peruvian Amazon have been protesting new laws that usher in an unprecedented wave of extractive industries into the Amazon Rainforest.  President Alan Garcia's government passed these laws under "fast track" authority he had received from the Peruvian congress to make laws to facilitate the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and to make Peru more economically "competitive".

Over 30,000 indigenous people have taken to blockading roads, rivers, and railways to demand the repeal of these new laws that allow oil, mining and logging companies to enter indigenous territories without seeking prior consultation or consent.  The protests have led to disruptions of transport as well as the interruption of oil production.

In the early morning of June 5, Peruvian military police staged a violent raid on a group of indigenous people at a peaceful blockade on a road outside of Bagua, in a remote area of northern Peruvian Amazon.  Several thousand indigenous peoples were forcibly dispersed by tear gas and real bullets.  Initial reports of fatalities include at least eleven indigenous people, along with nine police officers.  For more information, click here.

We need you to immediately TAKE ACTION adding your voice in solidarity with thousands of indigenous people.  Send a letter today to the Garcia Administration demanding an end to the violent repression and respect for the constitutionally guaranteed rights of indigenous peoples.

As one of the Earth's largest tropical rainforests, the Amazon plays a critical role in safeguarding the global climate.  Its destruction releases massive amounts of global warming gases into the atmosphere, worsening climate change.  Indigenous peoples are the guardians of the Amazon rainforest.  They need your support.

Go to www.amazonwatch.org/peru-action-alert.php to send a letter to the Garcia Administration.