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TechnoratiPeru Suspends Decrees That Fueled Amazon Violence
LIMA - Peruvian lawmakers suspended a controversial law that eased restrictions on lumber harvesting in the Amazon rain forest, days after it sparked clashes between police and indigenous protesters, killing dozens of people.
The legislature agreed by a 59 to 49 vote to suspend Decree 1090 -- dubbed the "Law of the Jungle" -- that covers forestry and fauna in Peru's northeastern Amazon rain forest, said Javier Velasquez, the head of Peru's single-chamber Congress.
![[Natives set up a road block at the entrance of the Amazonian town of Yurimaguas, northern Peru. Peruvian lawmakers suspended a controversial law that eased restrictions on lumber harvesting in the Amazon rain forest, days after it sparked clashes between police and indigenous protesters, killing dozens of people.
(AFP/Ernesto Benavides)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/peru_suspendslumber.jpg "peru_suspendslumber.jpg")
A decree related to governing private investment also was suspended.
The decrees are vehemently opposed by the approximately half-million Indians of 65 ethnic groups who live in the Peruvian jungle. The natives, who see the development of the jungle as an assault on their way of life, have been holding protests since April across the region.
The Amazon protest peaked Friday and Saturday when some 400 police officers moved in to clear protesters blocking a highway near the northern city of Bagua. Protesters fought back, then retaliated by killing police hostages.
According to the government, 25 police officers and nine Indian protesters died in the clashes. Protest leaders and media reports however insist the death toll is much higher.
The decrees were originally to be suspended for 90 days, but in the final vote legislators agreed on an indefinite suspension "to negotiate without pressure," said Aurelio Pastor, a legislator with President Alan Garcia's APRA party.
Both measures are among decrees issued in 2007 and 2008 by Garcia easing restrictions on mining, oil drilling, logging and farming in the Peruvian Amazon.
Garcia issued the laws when Congress granted him special powers to implement a free-trade agreement with the United States.
Angry legislators with the opposition Nationalist Party (PNP) called for the decrees to be overturned, and waved signs as they held a protest in the chamber after the vote.
"No to transnational (corporations) in the Amazon," read one sign. "The land and water are not for sale," read another.
The clashes were the bloodiest since the government's war in the 1980s and 1990s against the Shining Path, a violent Maoist insurgency, and the leftist Tupac Amaru guerrillas.
The vote suspending the decree is seen as a compromise allowing the government to resume talks with the protesting indigenous groups who have been blocking key regional highways, said spokesmen for legislators that voted for the measure.
The vote also comes on the eve of a strike called by the country's powerful leftist labor umbrella group, the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP).
CGTP leader Mario Huaman said there would be a protest march ending at the presidential palace in Lima to reject "the arrogant, intolerant, overbearing and discriminatory attitude of the government towards the Amazon communities."
Other protest marches, including those held by indigenous protesters in Amazon cities and towns, are planned in Peru's main cities.
"There is no justification at all for the protests" on Thursday, Interior Minister Mercedes Cabanillas said after the decrees were suspended.
Meanwhile some 3,000 Indians from 25 ethnic groups continue to block a key Amazon highway linking the cities of Tarapoto and Yurimaguas, some 700 kilometers (435 miles) north of Lima.
"We want an immediate derogation of those laws," said Segundo Pizango, an apu -- indigenous leader -- at a roadblock near Yurimaguas.
Another native leader, Kariajano Sandi, told AFP that he and his men will not lift the roadblock until the government definitively overturns the laws.
"We do not believe the government, they lie too much," said Sandi, surrounded by a group of his followers.
The repercussions of the violence have rocked the government, with Women's Affairs Minister Carmen Vildoso resigning Monday in protest over the government's crackdown.
The crisis even extended its reach to foreign affairs after Nicaragua granted political asylum to Alberto Pizango, the main indigenous protest leader, who earlier took refuge in Managua's embassy in Lima.
The Garcia administration has issued an arrest warrant for Pizango on charges of sedition, conspiracy and rebellion.
36 Comments so far
Show AllImagine a world without greed. Where everyone, especially governments worked for the common good.
WHAT!? This is vapid crap.
"The Amazon protest peaked Friday and Saturday when some 400 police officers moved in to clear protesters blocking a highway near the northern city of Bagua. Protesters fought back, then retaliated by killing police hostages."
What REALLY happened is the police descended on the protestors with machine guns and opened fire killing many protestors.
Only later did people who were not part of the original scene arrive on scene and also come under attack by police who they then dispatched with by spears and arrows.
They're making it nice and quiet now. Surely they'll screw the natives behind the scenes, cut off a little slice to entice the rats and addicts and psychopaths. Then steer the leadership with a seeming reasonable offer and ultimately bait and switch, start serving up massive death by industrial pollution and resource warfare. Leave it to them then to explain to their people how things got so bad. Then they'll be back to arrows and bullets to settle it but the Peruvian state will have turned all the resources into weapons bought cheap from the US or Russia or whoever has the cheap armaments for sale.
snydly
A GOOD START.
AND A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR US.
for those who have studied Peruvian history and the history of the shining path in history.
you will find that violent rebellion will not only work, but that hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people will be affected negatively.
the only hope would be peace full protest.
The reason the Shining Path didn't suceed wasn't their use of arms, but because thay advocated and loony-fringe form of Maoism that had little popular support.
What about, say the Sandidnsta's in the late 1970's - would they have suceeded through nonviolence? The answer is no. They tried it, all it got them is being dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night and shot. The armed FMLN in el-salvador would have quickly suceeded too, if it weren't for the massive US military aid to their opressors.
Two interesting points.
Checking the internet, virtually every environmental organization posted either a petition or letter writing campaign in protest of the police repression in Peru.
Each cites the UN ILO Convention 169 on "prior and informed consent" (a problem not discussed enough in our own situation, by the by)
I look forward to there being two counts. One at the time of the repeal of the Garcia imposed laws and over the next week as people continue to respond.
Put 'Baguá' into a search engine and you get 10-20 videos on you tube being updated hourly.
Yes the Peruvian government tried to pull a fast one, though they see it as business as usual, and the peaceful demonstrators died standing up for their rights and the growing concern over destruction of mother earth. Note that they have said that there is no longer any backing down. The spears are SYMBOLS of the fact that murder and mayhem do not lead to life. Persistent and unflagging pressure on the process until they either comply with ethics and law or expose the bloody attacks and abrogations of laws.
They are supported around the world by ten sif not hundreds of thousands of people.
If the Pen is mighter than the sword is citizen bloodshed mighter than the corporate bribe?
It would seem to me that the so called "primitive” inhabitants of Amazon forest have natural intuition and courage to defend mother earth than the civilized west!
Re glenn ford and randolfski:
Violence is being forced upon us every day.
We're being thrown out of work and out of our homes, despite working hard and playing by the rules.
The Earth we live on, the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink---the very stuff our DNA is made of---is either being poisoned or "privatized," in many cases both at the same time.
Our children are being killed or made killers for the sake of empire, while we're told there's no money available to keep their schools from crumbling.
As one of the more perceptive posters here wrote recently (I'll try to get it right), Q: Why does evil always seem to win? A: Because evil has more tools at its diposal. In other words, if there are some things that we the victims won't do, we hobble ourselves out of the gate.
Non-violent resistance is a noble idea. It has worked in the past. But the bourgeoisie have adapted. Non-violent resistance is no longer noticed or reported. It gets you nothing to show for your trouble---if you're lucky. If not, it's tasers, truncheons and tear gas first, then a charge of "terrorism."
Might as well earn it, eh?
Or we could march peacefully into a "free speech zone" and see where that leads. My guess is it'll be a gas chamber, and sooner rather than later.
might as well EARN it!!???? you gotta be kidding. that's just the mirror image of the 'war on terrorism': utilizing tax/state-funded violent terrorism to 'combat' (more like add kerosene to the flames) violent terrorism. nonviolent resistance IS frequently both noticed AND reported... ----the truth is the truth and can't be obscured forever.... how else would you have come to the conclusions you have about the connection between privatization and crumbling schools, jethro? it's harder to earn a rep as a true peacemaker than as a terrorist. people adapt to more than economic imperatives, esp. when a money system is collapsing, as it is now. dealing with enemies by dismantling enmity itself is tougher, but more life-affirming than jumping into the fray with one more gun or bomb blast. violent vs peaceful means to achieve a goal can't help but contaminate vs deepen that achievement. there may be instances when violence is necessary in the moment (as when protecting someone from a violent attack in progress) but why intentionally go THERE...as in be the cause of violence yourself? 'evil' has, if anything, far fewer 'tools'... aung sun su kyi sez what we call 'evil' should more correctly be called simply 'ignorance'.
MLK was not so long ago and both Ghandi and MLK faced death and beatings and did in fact be assassinated.
I do admitt that the USA is more draconian and controled then during the Vietnam Protests but what MLK faced from the rednecks and Ghandi from the British was extreme violence.
The reason violence does not work is because you can not create a new paradigm by exercising the old paradigm i.e. violence.
One must live a qualitatively different life to leave a new and different legacy.
Please give an example where a new republic or genuinely revolutionary change occurred entirely through sitting and singing Kumbayta? There are NO examples. India had an armed resistance that factored as much and anything Gandhi did on his loincloth.
And the idea that engaging in armed struggle makes for a violent republic is also unproven. Is the Republic of Ireland violent? Is the Republic of East Timor violent? The first thing the Sandinistas did once they won their armed struggle was abolish the death penalty.
And don't get me started on these peace-fascists who decry even raising our voice, saying "fuck" or "pig", blocking streets without a permit, or kicking some newspaper dispensers ino the street as "violence". Such attitudes come only from a position of bourgeois privlege - and are very effective in maintaining the status quo for the bourgeois.
Violence doesn't work unless you can win -- otherwise it's just an excuse for the government to be even more repressive -- and the government is very good at being violent, and outguns the people by an immense margin. The only thing which might be effective is mass violence -- but the masses are prepaed for that. If the masses WERE prepared it's likely that violence would be completely unnecessary: if the masses were prepared to go on general strike that would work -- but the masses aren't prepared to do that either. They aren't even prepared for persistant massive non-violent protests (like a few million people descending on Washington).
If a small crowd of people become violent they just get shot down, and that's about the end of it. It's about power, and you can't buck power with weakness. If you look at the violent protests of the past which seemed to be effective, what was actually effective was the raising of public consciousness, but with the controlled media there could be a riot of a few thousand people and it would be spun into non-existence or pawned off as an attack by terrorists. The fascists have that base covered now.
Nope -- what is needed are some new approaches, and they will depend on making more many more people more aware of what is happening in ways that don't discredit the movement and strike at the weak areas of power -- mainly money, and accepting the system the fascists have set up as legitimate. That's what they are afraid of -- not violent protests (they already have camps built to contain that).
"The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
Steven Biko
I think that we have to distinguish property-damaging or disruption actions from violence against humans. I don't consider the former to be "violence".
I think recent events demonstrate that property actions can be effective, while peaceful, permited marches and even worse "vigils" do nothing. I know, becaue I've been to enough of them. I'm through with such tactics.
G20 in Pittsburgh, Sept 24-25, 2009. Start planning now.
Yes, there is a difference, but I think one needs to look at the results of any action and do strategic planning.
There was a recent demonstration against Blackwater/Xe in Illinois in which 22 people went under the fence and were arrested (they even informed the police beforehand what they were going to do. It looks like fines and court cost will set them back about $10,000. I would bet that money could have been used more effectively -- even donating it to news and web sites which tell the truth, or printing up pamphlets to hand out, or buying ads in the local paper. It could also be given to the Palestiniana or Iraqis, the ACLU, or maybe even to help fund a law suit. If *I* were a JoDavies county officila I would encourage more people to protest, get arrested, and pay fines -- the government can sure use the extra money these days.
One thing the right wing has to it's advantage is that they are a lot better organized and funded than the left. That's something which needs to change.
The peaceful-get-arested protests of the type you described is EXACTLY the type of ineffective protest that I was referring to.
But if the protestors has destroted the fence, and stormed into the Xe facility. They would have gotten the attention they needed.
Newspapers don't print, nor TV channeds broadcast, paid advertisements by peace groups - it's been tried a number of times.
Are you familiar with the actions in Oakland that forced the Oakland government (sold-out Ron Dellums, Mayor) to arrest the cop who killed Oscar Grant - after "nonviolent" protests proved ineffective? The effective actions were called riots.
It is my understanding from reading every article I can get my hands on, that the indigenous people were protesting peacefully. When attacked by the government forces, they reacted in self-defense. I think that the carrying of wooden spears hardly qualifies as "violence" when you are facing down a modern army and police force.
You are correct. And this is not the first time in Peru that indigenous people have been massacred.
Jethro Tullamore June 11th, 2009 10:28 am
Pssst---militant resistance works---pass it on...
If what you say is true, then we are doomed to forever retaliate against one another. I think it takes a lot more courage to non-violently resist. Then you don't have to become the perpetrator of violence to contront violence.
Indigenous peoples are gaining strength in South America and the days of killing them for their land and resources are over. I wish it were true in America as well but it is not.
free Leonard Peletier; that would be a small start.
It would be a very SMALL start, but a high-profile one.
It's because in countries such as Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, indigenous people are actually the majority.
The US and Canada managed a much more effective genocide.
Americans only fight for imperial corporate interests. They are too indoctrinated, intimidated and pacified by government censored, corporate filtered media to stand up for the interests of the overwhelming majority.
"We do not believe the government, they lie too much."
Will Americans ever reach that conclusion? Will Americans ever have the courage of such convictions?
"Will Americans ever have the courage of such convictions?". I think they do. The problem is the system is set up to derail any leaders who threaten the status quo. Without good leadership, people don't know how to act, and Americans have not had to face these issues. "It can't happen here" is pretty much dogma. Now, they need leadership. If it doesn't come from people of integrity it will eventually come from those without it.
As an aside, I still think Instant Runoff Voting is the only possible way out. It's coming slowly but it may be too late.
You are right that leaders who are perceived as a threat to the status quo are marginalized by corporate media.
Instant runoff would help immensely. I would add public financed elections and, perhaps above all, the revocation of "legal" corporate personhood.
I agree many US citizens are of sufficient conscience and consciousness to have an effect. We can hope this is a movement that can organize and grow into a more powerful voice.
As we see, overwhelming public support of one payer health care seems to carry little weight in the corporatocracy. It would seem we need a third party dedicated to these concerns of the people. And that too would face hostile resistance from corporate political and media power.
It's past time to launch a Democratic Labor Party, if only in a symbolic rally/"convention". In the meantime we need to reclaim the word socialism, as well as liberalism, from the Right's demonization.
It would appear as if Peru's elite briefly reflected upon history, and seeing this spiraling out of control and possibly leading to the creation of a third guerrilla movement along the lines of the Shining Path & MRTA, have held off for now.
Not at all.
Garcia wants the FTA with the gringos--and is aware that similar massacres Colombia have put that FTA on hold.
He wants his kickback greenbacks.
I do not condone violence, yet spears did bring down 'copters in Laos.
Pssst---militant resistance works---pass it on...
Exactly!
As the Sab-Cat says, direct action get's the goods!
Violent resistance/revolution can work in some circumstances, but not all, and there are always costs involved and rebuilding needed (which may not be possible after violence). One might say 'lets not take any options off the table' like the politicans keep saying, but it's not a good option: it doesn't even work that well when governments use it -- as with the Peruvian goverenment's use of it in present case. It worked in the (1st) American Revolution, with high costs, but was pretty much the last resort, and that was against an essentially external enemy. The most important revolution now is in terms if information and popular consciousness, and that's one which needs to be won before we should even consider violence. Violent revolution by zombies can't be expected to work at all.
I agree with you about violence not being viable. You should hear Zinn's lecture on three Optional Wars(none of which were necesssary), one of which is the USA Revolution, Zinn's researched arguments are valid.
Found Zinn's lecture: at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUBYI97cUgU
Also at http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=3725
Militant resistance isn't "violence". By "militant" we mean direct action - the denial of wealthy to their purported property, through physical barrcades, seizure or destruction of the property. No humans get hurt.
The recent case of the Oscar Grant killing - where the killer-cop was only arrested after direct action on the part a large group of Oakland citizens, is another successful example.
By the way, the natives were unarmed. The news report about 26 police being killed is a fabrication.
Oh, THAT kind of militance. Yeah -- that's different. Just feed the cats before you go and make arrangements for when you get arrested -- or beat up or shot (remember who the truly violent side usually is).