Emergency Demonstrations in the United States of Protest and Solidarity with the Amazon Indigenous Peoples of Peru

Protest in front of the Consulate General of Peru in New York, NY
241 East 49th Street
between 2nd and 3rd Aves, Manhattan, NYC.

Wed, June 10
12:00 noon EST
The message is simple: stop genocide, stop violence, respect human rights, avoid useless casualties, promote dialogue and respect of Indigenous peoples rights in Peru, stop using U.S. free trade policies to destroy the lives of millions of peoples in Peru, promote democracy and equality.

Contact the government of Peru

Demand to cease the State of Emergency and martial laws that are a threat to other communities that are still protesting. Demand the end of violence against Indigenous peoples of the Amazon and Andean regions, to restore peace and to restart dialogue so that Indigenous peoples can keep their lands and the environment can be protected.

Send a Message to the President of Peru:
http://www.amazonwatch.org/peru-action-alert.php

President of the Council of Ministers of Peru, Yehude Simon Munaro
ysimon@pcm.gob.pe / Fax +51 1- 716- 87-35

President of the Congress of Peru, Javier Velásquez-Quesquén
jvelasquezq@congreso.gob.pe

Embassy of Peru in Washington, DC:
Telephone: (202) 833-9860 to 9869 Fax: (202) 659-8124
Ambassador Luis Valdivieso Montano
Emails: lvaldivieso@embassyofperu.us
mtalavera@embassyofperu.us

Consulate General of Peru in Los Angeles
Telephone: (213) 252-5910
Emails: jsanchez@embassyofperu.us
conperla@mpowercom.net

Public Ombudsman Office of Peru
centrodeatencionvirtual@defensoria.gob.pe

Peruvian Embassies in your country
http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Peru

List of Peruvian Consulates in the U.S.:
http://www.consuladoperu.com/

Contact the U.S. government

Request for the Obama administration to take a stand in defense of human rights in Peru and for the government of Peru to stop using the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement FTA as a legal tool to attack the Indigenous communities.

Tell president Barack Obama, Congress members and State Secretary Hillary Clinton, that this is not the way to promote trade and progress, and that Peru must comply with the labor and environmental rights regulations included in the Peru FTA, which president Obama praised during his campaign.

Contact president Barack Obama and vicepresident Joe Biden:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Contact U.S. Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Contact U.S. House Representatives:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Contact the U.S. State Department
You can contact the U.S. Department of State in any of the following ways:

Main address:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Main Switchboard:
202-647-4000
TTY:1-800-877-8339 (Federal Relay Service)

Public Communication Division:
PA/PL, Rm. 2206
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
202-647-6575

To e-mail the U.S. Department of State, please visit the following website:
http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.

Contact the UN and OAS human rights organizations

UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
indigenous@ohchr.org

UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
wgeid@ohchr.org

UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom expression
freedex@ohchr.org

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
indigenous_un@un.org

IACHR Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
cidhoea@oas.org

ACHR Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Expression
cidh-expresion@oas.org

Talking points

Few minutes of your time can make a huge difference!

Indigenous peoples rights must be respected by Peru, included in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2007.

The right of consultations with Indigenous peoples is included at the ILO 169 Convention. This must be done with respect and honest intention of defending the rights of all Peruvian citizens and not only the interests of multinational corporations.

This massacre is a direct result of an abusive implementation of policies included in the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement, by Peru’s president Alan Garcia who used it as an instrument of corporate corruption and collusion in the genocide of the Indigenous peoples.

The Peruvian government is presenting this tragedy as if it was caused by the Native peoples, which is not truth. Amazonian peoples protested without violence for almost 2 months, until the Police attacked them. All the casualties are unjustified and should have never happened.

The Peruvian media which is mostly biased and controlled by the government and corporate interests, is reporting that Police officers were kidnapped and massacred by the Indigenous peoples, but is not reporting about the abusive attack on civilians, and snipers and helicopters shooting at civilians including children. Witnesses have said that dead bodies were burned down and thrown to the rivers, and that police prevented civilians from rescuing injured protesters.

In the last 56 days, Amazonian Indigenous peoples of Peru are fighting to protect their territories, as the government of Lima has passed decrees that lease 73% of the Amazon forest and allow extractive industries corporations to take over their land, without previous consultation. The Amazonian peoples are requesting especifically for Lima to repeal those decrees.

Indigenous peoples do not oppose progress and private investment. They want to protect their land, their families and the environment, they want for corporations to respect their traditions and ways of living.

There have been years of protests since the signing of the Peru FTA by then presidents George W. Bush and Alejandro Toledo. Indigenous peoples have tried to dialogue, but the Lima government refused to listen and even prevented a national referendum in 2006.

As a way to protest and demand to be heard, the Amazon Indigenous peoples started popular strikes, oil facilities takeovers and road blockades in 8 regions of the country. This was replied by the Garcia administration by sending police and military forces to repress the protesters violently. People in Bagua responded burning down government buildings and lootings have also occurred.

Indigenous peoples value the land as a part of a our system of life, we don't own the land but we belong to it. There will not be a way for the government of Peru to impose its corporate benefiting laws because Indigenous people will defend their territories.

After the recent bloody attack, violence has slowed as today Sunday June 7. The military has taken over control of the region in conflict, but Lima has issued a warrant arrest for Alberto Pizango, the most prominent leader of the Amazon Indigenous peoples and his whereabouts are unknown at this moment.

Unfortunately, other leaders are also being prosecuted by the government and there is a possibility of future attacks of the military on other Indigenous communities. WE MUST ACT NOW!

Peru Emergency Fund

Please donate to Amazon Watch, a non profit that is working directly with the Indigenous peoples in strike. This fund will be used for medical relief for the wounded, media campaign led by indigenous organizations, and legal defense for those being charged.
http://www.amazonwatch.org/peru-protests.php

UPDATES: links to stay updated with the current situation in Peru:

[Eng] English [Esp] Spanish

Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana – AIDESEP is the leading Amazon Indigenous peoples rights organization in Peru. [Esp]
http://www.aidesep.org.pe

Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indigenas - CAOI [Esp]
http://www3.minkandina.org/

Amazon Watch - a non profit working directly with Amazon peoples in strike: [Eng]
http://www.amazonwatch.org

Enlance Nacional – an independent internet news channel in Peru with correspondents in the Bagua region. [Esp]
http://enlacenacional.com/

Servindi - Indigenous news from Peru. [Esp]
http://www.servindi.org/

Facebook group "Solidarity with Peru / Solidaridad con Perú / Solidarité avec Pérou"
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=89605273186&ref=ts

Q'orianka Kilcher On-Q Initiative:
http://www.takepart.com/blog/author/qoriankakilcher/

Mp3 Interview with Indigenous leader Tupac Enrique Acosta who just returned from Peru:
http://www.7genfund.org/current_actions/calls-to-action/special-peru-crisis-news-update-interview-with-tupac-enrique/

Peruanista - a bilingual blog about Peru, written in the U.S. with translations of news coming from the emergency regions. [Esp] [Eng]
http://peruanista.blogspot.com/2009/06/alert-massacre-in-peru-police-shoots-at.html

Freshman Senators Stand Against Modified NAFTA Expansion Politics of Pushing Trade Agreements Reflected in Peru Trade Vote of New Members. [Eng]
http://www.citizenstrade.org/pdf/CTC_Senate_Peru_4.pdf

Twenty one organizations of Immigrant rights advocates, unions, civil rights and faith-based organizations signed a letter to the US Congress opposing the US-Peru FTA and warning of threats to Indigenous peoples and the Amazon forest. [Eng]
http://peruanista.blogspot.com/2007/11/urgent-please-call-congress-to-stop-us.html

Trade Deal with Peru Fails to Measure Up for Development. [Eng]
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/press_releases/archive2007/trade-deal-with-peru-fails-to-measure-up-for-development

Updates on Abya Yala North Indigenous Solidarity actions, contact Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh lahtokan Nahuacalli
www.tonatierra.org / email: chantlaca@tonatierra.org