Indigenous Communities Reject Prior Consultation Law Rules

Indigenous leaders on Wednesday came out against the regulations of the Prior Consultation Law, enacted Tuesday, daily El Comercio reported. One of the main reasons why some indigenous community organizations are against the law, which is intended to provide the communities with better consultation rights on natural resource projects, is that the legislation is not binding. [...]

Peru Approves Prior Consultation Regulations

Peru’s government published on Tuesday regulations that govern the “Prior Consultation Law,” new legislation that is intended to improve dialogue with indigenous communities that are affected by development projects, especially mining and energy projects. The regulations, which were published in the official newspaper El Peruano, point out that the seven-stage consultation process should take approximately 120 [...]

Peru Gov’t Says Will Address Concerns In Prior Consultation Law

Peru’s Deputy Intercultural Minister, Ivan Lanegra, said Monday that the government will guarantee that the final text of the Prior Consultation Law will deal with concerns and take into account proposals made by indigenous communities, state news agency Andina said. The Prior Consultation Law was enacted by President Ollanta Humala during a ceremony in the [...]

Indigenous leaders critize sentence on Bagua conflict

Representatives from indigenous communities have criticized the sentence handed down to three military and police generals who were involved in a deadly confrontation between protesters and Peruvian soldiers and police on a remote jungle highway in June 2009. The three generals led the government’s response to the protests. They received sentences in a military court [...]

Pizango launches presidential campaign

Alberto Pizango, the head of the Interethnic Association for the Development of Peru’s Jungle (Aidesep), has launched his campaign for the presidential elections in April 2011, daily La Republica reported. The indigenous leader made the announcement on Thursday backed by representatives from Aidesep. His party, an Alliance for an Alternative for Humanity, or Aphu, will [...]

Survival International: call for napalm bombing of ‘savages’ in Peru’s Amazon wins “Most Racist Article of the Year Award”

An article implying that Peruvian natives should be bombed with napalm has been named by London-based Survival International as the ‘most racist article’ published in the last year by the mainstream media.

Number of social conflicts reaches year-high in June

Social conflicts in Peru have shot up from 132 in March 2008 to 273 this past month, daily El Comercio  reported Wednesday. Of the 273 social conflicts tracked last month, more than half were related to environmental concerns and 83 percent are still active, said Peru’s Ombudswoman, Beatriz Merino. Last month’s most heated and severe [...]

Camisea gas contract to be revised, Peru fears inability to meet internal demand

The Peruvian government is currently reviewing the contract it signed with the Camisea Gas Consortium to permit gas exports to Mexico, now that gas reserves have been proven to be much lower than earlier reported. The current contract would seriously diminish supplies for the local market. “We began the revision on May 19,” said Minister [...]

Peru Government adopts conciliatory tone after Amazon clashes

In a conciliatory move, after two months of telling indigenous communities that the government would not review legislation aimed to open up the Peruvian Amazon to more foreign investment, Peru’s Premier Yehude Simon asked Congress to repeal the controversial decrees by June 18. “I understand that the members of Congress are upset,” said Simon. “But I [...]

Indigenous communities pursue strike, charges pressed against Alberto Pizango for “insurgency call”

As indigenous communities throughout Peru’s jungle provinces continue to block highways, waterways and oil pipelines, Peru’s Justice Minister pressed criminal charges Friday against Alberto Pizango, who called for an “insurgency” against the government last week. “People have to learn that their actions have consequences,” said Justice Minister Rosario Fernández. “When Mr. Pizango called for an [...]

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