At Least 60 Dead In Clashes Between Indians, Soldiers In Fight Over Peruvian Forest Mining & Logging

[hatrack]

Troops controlled the town of Bagua Grande, 870 miles (1,400 km) north of the capital Lima, after an overnight curfew was enforced to defuse the worst violence faced by President Alan Garcia's government. An indigenous leader said 40 protesters were killed and the government said 23 members of the security forces perished in two days of battles over Garcia's push to open up the rainforest to billions of dollars in foreign investment.

Thousands of Indians armed with wooden spears vowed to dig in at blockades on remote Amazon highways to defend their ancestral lands from outside developers. "We are looking for the missing police and the weapons the Indians stole from them," said Major Jose Luis Santillan, police chief in nearby Bagua Chica, close to the stretch of highway known as "Devil's Curve," where 11 police died when they moved to break up a roadblock on Friday.

Dozens of police were held hostage by protesters, but most were freed hours later. On Sunday, two were still missing. Hundreds of natives who sought refuge at a Catholic mission in Bagua Grande drew up a list of dozens of missing people and sought guarantees to search for bodies of the slain. "We have been told that many of our dead brothers have been thrown into the Maranon river to cover up the killing," said Carlos Anchanchi, one of the group's leaders.

Garcia has accused protesters of acting like terrorists and said the unrest had been fomented from abroad. Garcia, who is a fierce critic of Latin America's leftist leaders, did not specify who he meant. But in the past, members of the Peruvian government have accused the leftist governments of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian leader Evo Morales of links to Garcia's ultranationalist rival, Ollanta Humala. "There is a conspiracy aimed at stopping us from using our natural resources for the good, growth and quality of life of our people," Garcia said on Sunday, blaming foreign interests that would benefit if Peru did not tap its gas and oil.

EDIT

http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/53287

[imdjh]

1. Interesting cast of characters. nt

[BeFree]

2. History repeats itself

US history is replete with Natives standing and fighting the encroachment of outsiders upon their lands.

Were I a Native down there it would be done only over my dead body.

[Nihil]

3. That's an interesting twist on the truth isn't it?

The Bush's friend claims one thing ...
> ... aimed at stopping us from using our natural resources for
> the good, growth and quality of life of our people,"
> Garcia said on Sunday, blaming foreign interests that would
> benefit if Peru did not tap its gas and oil.

... whereas the issues actually centre on the reflection of it ...
> ... aimed at starting us using our natural resources for
> the good, growth and quality of life of our people
> ...
> foreign interests that would benefit if Peru did tap its gas and oil.

:argh:

[phantom power]

4. Yeah, just a thought, but perhaps they don't want their land raped...

and themselves turned into wage slaves in the name of extracting raw materials to feed the western economic machine and make replacement parts for my volvo?

Maybe?