Eyes on Life in South America

State of Emergency in the Amazon

For over a week now protests by tens of thousands of indigenous farmers in the Amazon region have put the territory in conflict. The residents are protesting the free trade agreement that Peruvian President Alan Garcia has signed with the US. The document allows private corporations to explore and extract natural resources from Native lands, and privatize water sources.

The farmers are protesting with strikes, marches and blockades of rivers and roads, which has paralyzed oil production in many areas.

The government has responded with a state of emergency which suspends the constitutional rights of personal safety and freedom, and authorizes law enforcement officers to search people’s homes or property without a warrant. Authorities are also warning the farmers that the Military may step in to allow the flow of oil to continue.

The scope of this agreement is staggering: development of just one block of the jungle (1.5 million hectares) will completely swallow up many reserves and will severely change the greatest biodiversity on this planet.

Keep in mind there are hundreds of blocks of Amazon that will eventually be developed, resulting in a football field of rainforest destroyed every 4 seconds.

The Amazonians have something to fight for: the land they have called home for thousands of years. They need to be informed in a respectful manner on the scope and consequences of this agreement. Wouldn’t you want to know?

I am so glad I had the opportunity to see the Amazon and I am hoping our future generations will be able to experience it too.

Let’s hope both parties can come to a sensible conclusion and meet in the middle. But as long as the thirst for oil continues, it will be a lopsided battle.

For more photos from Peru visit my online gallery here

Children in the Amazon are very skillful and expert spear fishermen.