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<div style="display: block;" id="reader-header" class="header"> <b><small><small><small><small><a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Peru-Indigenous-Seize-11-Oil-Wells-Demanding-Spill-Clean-UP-20150902-0006.html"
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<h1 id="reader-title">Peru: Indigenous Seize 11 Oil Wells
Demanding Spill Clean UP</h1>
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<pre style="position: absolute; left: -99999px;">2 September 2015
This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address:
<a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Peru-Indigenous-Seize-11-Oil-Wells-Demanding-Spill-Clean-UP-20150902-0006.html">"http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Peru-Indigenous-Seize-11-Oil-Wells-Demanding-Spill-Clean-UP-20150902-0006.html"</a>. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.teleSURtv.net/english">www.teleSURtv.net/english</a>
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<p itemprop="description alternativeHeadline"
class="subtitle">September 2, 2015<br>
</p>
<p itemprop="description alternativeHeadline"
class="subtitle">The Achuar communities say foreign oil
companies pollute their lands and their clean water. They
demand compensation and clean up of oil spills.</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody" class="txt_newworld">
<p>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. </p>
<p>The protesters from the Achuar indigenous communities
said they also plan to halt output in a nearby
concession. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>"So far, however, they insist on holding control of
installations," Pluspetrol said in a statement. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Both oil blocks are in Peru's northern region of
Loreto. </p>
<p>"The decision (to seize wells) has been made, we just
need to wrap up some coordination," Sandi said. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Representatives of Pacific could not be reached outside
of regular business hours. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>The Latin American country is rife with conflicts over
mining and energy projects. </p>
<p>Earlier on Tuesday, an <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Peru-Amazonian-Region-to-Renew-Strike-Against-Oil-Concession-20150901-0032.html">assembly
of social organizations</a> 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. </p>
<p>Lot 192 is the source of 17 percent of the national
crude production. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Lot 192 is comprised of areas inhabited by the
communities of the river basins of Pastaza, Tigre, and
Corrientes. </p>
<p>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. </p>
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