Both international and domestic news outlets covered
the 24-hour protest staged in the Peruvian department of Loreto demanding that
Peruvian state-owned oil company Petroperú take control of Lot 192, the
country’s largest oil block. According to Peruvian Interior Minister José Luis
Perez Guadalupe, several people were arrested,
but the police had the situation under control. In recent months, the Peruvian
government has repeatedly been forced to deploy the country’s military in
response to violent social conflicts.
In related news, Aidesep, a federation of various indigenous
tribes living in the Peruvian Amazon, outlined
to the press a 27-point plan that it had submitted to the government asking for
quicker action to clean up the damage done by oil extraction to the environment
and the local communities.
Aidesep president Henderson Rengifo noted that the Peruvian
government had established a development fund for the benefit of the indigenous
communities. However, he added that Aidesep is also asking for 20 million
hectares of jungle to be officially designated as indigenous lands.
On the subject of social conflicts, La
Republica interviewed Carlos Herrera, ex Peruvian Minister of Energy and
Mines, about the Tía María conflict. Herrera blamed Southern Copper’s lack of
communications skill for generating the conflict with the local community, but
he warned that the Peruvian government could be on the hook for a $100 million
fine to Southern if the project does not go forward.
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