Indigenous groups have been blocking since Thursday the passage of all types of ships moving in the section of the river that passes through their lands, in protest of the oil leak due to a hole in the Norperuano Pipeline (ONP), in the Loreto region (north).
Two days after the release of more than a hundred tourists, both Peruvian and foreign, indigenous people of an area covered by the Amazon rainforest in Peru are now holding another ship, with about 70 passengers on board, in protest at the lack of government help after a spill a huge amount of oil, a radio station of the Andean country broadcast yesterday Sunday.
“We are about 70 passengers, they are holding us for no apparent reason. The natives are threatening us with their spears and bows,” lawyer Luis Otasu, who is on the boat, told RPP.
“We have here 25 crying children, adults, mothers, pregnant women,” he continued.
The ship Coquito, with goods and passengers, was intercepted on Saturday morning in the Marañon, a river that runs through the territory of the community of Kuniniko.
Indigenous groups have been blocking since Thursday the passage of all types of ships moving in the section of the river that passes through their lands, in protest of the oil leak due to a hole in the Norperuano Pipeline (ONP), in the Loreto region (north).
On Friday, the more than a hundred tourists who had been taken hostage by the same indigenous organizations were released.
According to another Coquito passenger, Scarlett Rodrigues, passengers have been placed in “total isolation” while other cargo ships are being held by indigenous people in the area.
Protest leader Galo Vasquez, who represents the Kuniniko indigenous community, said “the ship will not be able to leave until a government delegation is sent to have a dialogue.”
Neither the police nor the authorities have yet commented on the new incident.
On September 27, the government declared a 90-day state of emergency in the area affected by the oil spill, in the lands of the Kuniniko and Urarina communities, where some 2,500 indigenous people live.
The Norperuano pipeline is owned by the state-owned oil company, Petroperú. It is among the largest public works in the Andean state. Built four decades ago to transport crude oil from the Amazon rainforest region to Piura, near the coast, it is about 800 kilometers long.
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