[News] Peru: Indigenous Seize 11 Oil Wells Demanding Spill Clean UP

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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  Peru: Indigenous Seize 11 Oil Wells Demanding Spill Clean UP

2 September 2015

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September 2, 2015

The Achuar communities say foreign oil companies pollute their lands 
and their clean water. They demand compensation and clean up of oil spills.

Peruvian indigenous protesters seized oil wells in an Amazonian oil 
block Tuesday to press the government to respond to demands for 
compensation due to the pollution caused by the petroleum operations.

The protesters from the Achuar indigenous communities said they also 
plan to halt output in a nearby concession.

The indigenous demonstrators shut down 11 wells and tood control of an 
airdrome in oil block 8 to demand clean water, reparations for oil 
pollution and more pay for the use of native land, said Carlos Sandi, 
chief of the indigenous federation Feconaco.

Argentine energy company Pluspetrol operates block 8 and said daily 
output of about 8,500 barrels per day had stopped. The firm called on 
protesters in block 8 to seek dialogue.

"So far, however, they insist on holding control of installations," 
Pluspetrol said in a statement.

Sandi said the Achuar in oil block 192 would also soon seize wells there 
following a dispute with the government over proceeds for communities in 
a new contract awarded to the Canadian company Pacific Exploration and 
Production Corporation.

Both oil blocks are in Peru's northern region of Loreto.

"The decision (to seize wells) has been made, we just need to wrap up 
some coordination," Sandi said.

Peru signed a last-minute deal with Pacific for the rights to tap oil 
block 192 for the next two years after an open auction for a 30-year 
contract failed to draw any bids last month.

The government included benefits for some indigenous communities in the 
new contract but a stalemate with others over their share of oil profits 
left many out.

Representatives of Pacific could not be reached outside of regular 
business hours.

Block 192's operations have been halted on various occasions in recent 
years. The protesters have demanded the government clean up spills and 
give them more compensation. Peru has declared several environmental 
emergencies there because of oil pollution.

The Latin American country is rife with conflicts over mining and energy 
projects.

Earlier on Tuesday, an assembly of social organizations 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Peru-Amazonian-Region-to-Renew-Strike-Against-Oil-Concession-20150901-0032.html> 
in the Amazonian region of Loreto voted to carry out another 48-hour 
strike starting Friday to protest the government's privatization move to 
allocate an oil lot to the Canadian company for two years instead of the 
country's state-owned company.

Lot 192 is the source of 17 percent of the national crude production.

The region's president of Patriotic Front Americo Menendez said the 
Canadian oil firm is a “mafia company,” saying that for example in 
Colombia they hire gunmen to deal with social leaders who oppose 
exploitation.

Nevertheless, he added, the assembly also voted in favor of maintaining 
the talks with the government, in order to negotiate various demands, 
including the creation of a compensation fund of about US$112 million, 
in addition to an inversion of about US$625 million in the area.

In Colombia, Pacific Stratus Energy allegedly hires killers against 
social leaders who oppose the exploitation, claimed President of 
Federation of Native Communities from the River Tigre Fernando Chuje.

Minister of Mines and Energy Rosa Maria Ortiz has indicated that the 
state company PetroPeru will start a process of restructuring and 
modernization in the next 270 days to prepare it to compete against the 
Canadian company in two years, when the concession ends.

Lot 192 is comprised of areas inhabited by the communities of the river 
basins of Pastaza, Tigre, and Corrientes.

The leaders of the Apus Indigenous people in the area have been 
protesting for years, demanding respect for their people and reparations 
for environmental destruction caused by oil companies.

-- 
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