Conflict continues between Pluspetrol and Peruvian indigenous group

A group of approximately 100 young protestors assembled outside of Pluspetrol’s Lima office on Tuesday to protest the oil company’s treatment of the Pampa Hermosa indigenous group. The protestors had a banner identifying themselves as “The indigenous youth defending our forest.” According to interviews with the protestors, their ambitions are greater than those of the Pampa Hermosa indigenous people. These young protestors are fighting out against “43 years of pollution by oil companies” and want the oil companies to clean up their mess.

In other news related to the conflict between Pluspetrol and Pampa Hermosa, Fernando Melendéz, the regional president of Loreto, the area in question, arrived in Dorissa over the weekend to facilitate “the first attempt at dialogue” between the conflicting parties. Meléndez asked them to have faith, adding, “The people have been abandoned, but today they have a president that listens to them, and so I am here. I am taking the time necessary to resolve the communities’ problems.”

The incident also received some international press coverage, with Vice News publishing the most well-researched and comprehensive report to date. Vice put a number on the indigenous communities’ demands, reporting that they are demanding $33 million in reparations. The Vice report did not blame Pluspetrol or the indigenous groups for the conflict, but instead laid the blame with the Peruvian government: “Under Peru's constitution, the state owns the country's mineral wealth, not those who happen to live on top of it. This has put it on a collision course with tribes campaigning for legal recognition of their ancestral lands. The state has failed to sufficiently regulate the oil sector, in spite of warnings issued by its health and environment ministers over pollution levels.”