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WASHINGTON, Jul 2 (OneWorld.net) - The Peruvian government has given a company permission to drill for oil in Amazon territories populated by two uncontacted tribes, just 13 days after dozens of people were killed during protests against the exploitation of indigenous lands.

What's the Story?

Indigenous protests ended in violent confrontations with military in Peru. © powless (flickr)

Despite protests and blockades by local groups, Peru's government has agreed to allow the Anglo-French gas giant Perenco launch a billion-dollar drilling project to harness what is perceived as Peru's biggest oil discovery in 30 years. 

"Anyone who hoped that the dreadful violence of the past few weeks might have made Peru's government act with a bit more sensitivity towards the indigenous people of the Amazon will be really dismayed at this news," said Stephen Corry, director of the indigenous rights group Survival International.

Perenco denies uncontacted indigenous communities live on the proposed project site, even though "the Peruvian government, the Ecuadorian government, local indigenous organizations, and countless experts have all recognized the presence of isolated Indians in the area," reports Survival.

While Peruvian officials hope the project will boost the economy, the cost to the uncontacted tribes will be severe, warns Survival. Adds the organization: Perenco "admits that 'contamination of soil,' 'contamination of water,' and the flight of game and birds are possible consequences of its work. All these are essential to the survival of the uncontacted Indians who live there. More seriously, the Indians face the very real threat of contagion from diseases to which they have no immunity." (Read more from Survival International below.)

Protesting Government Policies

Over the last three months, indigenous Peruvians have been protesting government policies that would allow major corporations to mine for oil and gas on indigenous ancestral lands, explains Survival.

Violent clashes broke out in early June between indigenous demonstrators and the Peruvian military, claiming dozens of peoples' lives and injuring many more.

Two weeks ago, in an effort to end the protests, Peruvian lawmakers repealed two controversial laws that further opened up indigenous peoples' land to private investment by mining, oil, and timber corporations. Signed a year ago by President Alan Garcia, the decrees "gave foreign companies the right to take title to Amazonian land and facilitated their acquisition of road building rights of way," reports the Los Angeles Times. Although Peru's national Amazonian indigenous organization AIDESEP applauded the laws' annulment, it noted seven other pieces of legislation continue to threaten the rights of Peruvian indigenous people.

What Now?

Government officials and Peru's Native groups have scheduled talks on development in the Amazon, and indigenous territory will be at the heart of the discussions, reports Latinamerica Press. Nearly one fifth of the country's native communities lack land titles, according to Margarita Benavides, an anthropologist at the Instituto de Bien Comun, a Peruvian non-profit that is geared toward the optimal management of commonly held resources, such as water and forest.

In addition, tribal representatives will address the need for stronger and more efficient government-run indigenous institutions and greater government consultation of indigenous groups when passing laws that impact these communities. "Development should be in harmony with Mother Earth, with nature, not destroy it," said Mario Palacios, president of the National Confederation of Communities Affected by Mining, quoted by Latinamerica Press. "We have to overcome the irrational use of resources and respect the rights of the indigenous peoples."

However, recent reports cited by the organization Amazon Watch indicate that continuing persecution of indigenous leaders threatens to derail current dialogue. Fasabi Zapata, acting president of AIDESEP, says such actions are leading indigenous peoples to "doubt and mistrust" the government's intentions.

President Garcia has also been criticized for saying indigenous people are refusing to share the Amazon's resources with the rest of the country and insisting that foreign investment in mining, petroleum, and timber is "the key to Peru's economic development," writes the Los Angeles Times. 

Drilling in the Peruvian Amazon

"In 2003, the Peruvian state granted the international oil industry carte blanche access to indigenous ancestral lands throughout almost the entire Peruvian Amazon. Indigenous titled territories and reserves including the last refuges of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation are now within the reach of the international oil industry," reports Amazon Watch.

Survival International has called on all oil and gas companies to suspend operations in the Peruvian Amazon, maintaining that only when indigenous communal land rights are recognized can fair negotiations take place between local communities and mining corporations.

"We cannot continue to allow a group of transnational companies to divide up the Amazon, as if it were just a business without consideration given to the territory of ancestral peoples, or without taking into account that this is the 'lungs of the world' and the greatest source of fresh water on the continent," said Egberto Tabo of the Coordinating Body for the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin during the eighth annual United Nations meeting on the rights of indigenous peoples. "We will not permit the continuation of this exploitation." Indian Country Today reports.

Indigenous Paraguayans Also Fighting for Land

Indigenous communities in Paraguay are also engaged in lengthy battles with their federal government to retain the rights to their land.

Paraguayan lawmakers recently voted against the return of ancestral territories to the Yakye Axa community, undermining a 2005 decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that the state should return the land to the tribe, reports Amnesty International. The Yakye Axa have been forced to live on the side of the road for over 10 years with little access to clean water, food, and medicines while waiting for a final ruling on their land claim.

"Forcing 'development' or 'progress' on tribal people does not make them happier or healthier," writes Survival International. "In fact, the effects are disastrous. The most important factor by far for tribal peoples' well-being is whether their land rights are respected."

Learn More and Take Action

For background on development and human rights in Peru, see OneWorld.net's country guide on Peru.

For those interested in taking action, Survival International has a page of resources on how to best get involved in efforts to protect indigenous rights.

This piece was compiled by Martha Dodge.

'Business as usual': Peru approves massive oil project just days after 'Amazon's Tiananmen'

From: Survival International

30 June 2009

Peru's government has given the green light to an Anglo-French company to drill for oil in the Amazon, just thirteen days after more than 30 people died in protests against the exploitation of the rainforest.

The project, located on land inhabited by two tribes of uncontacted Indians, is believed to be Peru's biggest oil discovery in thirty years. The company, Perenco, a major gas supplier to the UK, has in the past denied any uncontacted Indians live there.

Crossed spears left by uncontacted Indians in the region where Perenco is working. © Marek Wolodzko/Survival
© Marek Wolodzko/Survival

Until recently, Perenco had been blocked from entering the area by local indigenous protesters. With help from Peru's armed forces, the company managed to break through the blockade on at least one occasion.

High-ranking figures in Peru's government hope that Perenco's project will transform the Peruvian economy. While protests against the company were taking place, Perenco's chairman, Francois Perrodo, an Oxford University polo blue and scion of one of the wealthiest families in France, met Peru's President Garcia in Lima and pledged to invest $2bn in the project.

The government's green light comes just days after protests elsewhere in northern Peru were violently broken up by police, leading to the deaths of both police officers and indigenous protesters. The exact numbers are still unknown. Survival has issued an eyewitness account of the violence.

Perenco intends to build new platforms and wells involving airlifting in, amongst other things, 42,000 sacks of cement. It admits that ‘contamination of soil', ‘contamination of water' and the flight of game and birds are possible consequences of its work. All these are essential to the survival of the uncontacted Indians who live there. More seriously, the Indians face the very real threat of contagion from diseases to which they have no immunity.

Survival's Director, Stephen Corry, said today, 'Anyone who hoped that the dreadful violence of the past few weeks might have made Peru's government act with a bit more sensitivity towards the indigenous people of the Amazon will be really dismayed at this news. The timing couldn't be worse - the government is trying to present a more friendly image in public, but as far as the oil companies are concerned, it looks like business as usual.'

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