Peruvian Police Accused of Massacring Indigenous Protesters in Amazon Jungle
Dozens of people are estimated to have been killed in clashes between police and indigenous activists protesting oil and mining projects in the northern Peruvian Amazonian province of Bagua. Peruvian authorities have declared a military curfew. Troops are patrolling towns in the Amazon jungle. Authorities say up to twenty-two policemen have been killed, and two remain missing. The indigenous community says at least forty people, including three children, were killed by the police this weekend.
On the morning of Friday, June 5th some 600 Peruvian riot police and helicopters attacked a peaceful indigenous blockade outside of Bagua, killing twenty-five and injuring more than 150. The indigenous people were protesting policies set in place based on the Peru Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Remember, Obama was actually FOR the Peru FTA. Eyewitness accounts indicate the police fired live ammunition and tear gas into the crowd.
What essentially happened is that the Peruvian government wants to destroy the Amazon rainforest to use it for oil, mining, and biofuels, and they are attempting to do this in the name of free trade. When the indigenous people protested to protect their rights, they were brutally massacred.
more info at:
http://amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1843
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/8/740267/-Massacre-in-Peru-in-the-Name-of-Free-Trade
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