Peru Archbishop calls for dialogue after killings

[struggle4progress]

09 Jun 2009 14:45:00 GMT
Source: Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) - UK
CAFOD
Website: http://www.cafod.org.uk

... CAFOD partner Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos, who is president of the Peruvian Bishops Conference, said: "This was a disaster waiting to happen. The indigenous peoples have been forgotten. We must listen to them.

I also think we need to be aware of the worldview of these peoples. We are forgetting that. The indigenous, the natives, think in a very different way from us. What is good for us is lethal for them. They defend the water and the earth because it is life. There's a problem of understanding. This has been a tremendous problem ...

We have to be serious and recognise that this isn't just the responsibility of the present government. There are just demands of the Amazon peoples from way back that haven't been dealt with, about issues such as health, education, roads, electricity. We have to listen to them and understand their vision of the world ...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/217426/124455880734.htm

[L. Coyote]

1. Peruvian massacre aimed at opening Amazon to transnationals

Excellent, lenghty verview article:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/peru-j08.shtml

A massacre carried out by heavily armed Peruvian security forces against protesting Amazon Indians left dozens dead, as the government of President Alan Garcia attempts to open up the region to exploitation by the transnational corporations.

The killing began in the early morning hours last Friday in the Peruvian city of Bagua, located 1,400 kilometers north of Lima, when some 600 militarized police attacked 1,000 demonstrators who were blocking the main road.

Leaders of indigenous groups have put the number of civilians killed at over 40, while 23 members of the Peruvian security forces have been reported killed. Hundreds of civilians were wounded. The attack ignited popular anger, leading to groups of indigenous people taking 38 policemen and one civilian as hostages at a Petroperu gas station. It was reported Saturday that nine of these policemen died in a rescue operation.

The roadblock was part of a 56-day protest involving tens of thousands of indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon jungle territory .........

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MORE artcles ... :

MUST SEE Video: Peruvian Government Massacres Indian Protesters
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5811137

[struggle4progress]

2. Thanks!