At least 30 reported killed as Indians protest oil and gas exploration in Peru

June 06, 2009|Associated Press

LIMA - Indians protesting oil and gas exploration on their lands battled police in Peru's remote Amazon yesterday, with authorities and Indian leaders reporting at least 30 deaths.

The violence broke out before dawn as officers tried to end a road blockade by some 5,000 Indians in an area called Curva del Diablo - or "Devil's Curve" - in the northern province of Utcubamba.

Protest leaders said police opened fire from helicopters with bullets and tear gas, while national police director Jose Sanchez Farfan said Indians attacked officers with firearms. He said they also set fire to government buildings.

Eight police officers were killed by gunfire and five wounded, said Interior Minister Mercedes Cabanillas.

Indian leader Alberto Pizango said 22 Indians were killed in the clash and he accused the government of "genocide" in attacking what he called a peaceful protest. Another 50 Indians were injured, 14 of them seriously, said Servando Puerta, president of a second indigenous umbrella group for the region.

Indians have been blocking roads, waterways, and a state oil pipeline intermittently since April, demanding Peru's government repeal laws they say make it easier for foreign companies to exploit their lands.

The laws, backed by President Alan Garcia as he implemented the Peru-US free trade pact, open communal jungle lands and water resources to oil drilling, logging, mining, and large-scale farming, Indians say.

Garcia, who wants to ramp up foreign oil investment in the Amazon, accused Pizango of "falling to a criminal level."

Pizango denied that protesters killed police.