Hunt oil begins exploration of 1 million acre area of pristine Amazon Rainforest

[JohnWxy]

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0803-hambone_peru.html">Weeks after bloodshed, American oil moves into Peruvian Amazon, putting rainforest, possible archeological site at risk A perspective by Hambone Littletail (contact) August 03, 2009



Barely six weeks after a dozen Amazon natives were gunned down by the Peruvian Army in the oil town of Bagua for protesting the cozy relationship between Big Oil and the government of President Alan Garcia, I find myself on the banks of the Mother of God River in Salvacion, Peru, wondering if all those folks died in vain.

Any day now, the bulldozers will be moving in as Texas-based Hunt Oil Company – with the full go-ahead of the Peruvian government -- fires its first salvo in its assault against the million-acre pristine rainforest wilderness of the little-known and largely unexplored Amarakaeri Communal Reserve. By the time you read this, the choppers will probably already be here, womp-womping their way along the very edge of Manu National Park to supply the seismic survey crews whacking their way through the jungle and blowing off explosives to see what riches lie below the surface. The local natives that the “reserve” was created to protect, like so many before them, are getting ready to have their lives irrevocably altered, and are wondering how to react to this invasion.

In other words, it’s business as usual for the Planet Eaters in the Amazon jungle, as if Bagua never existed at all. I could write a book – indeed, I am writing a book – about the carnage going on down here in the heart of the Mother of God. Here is just a taste of what I’ve found so far in my first two months in Peru:


If you carefully read all the reports from the massacre at Bagua, you will notice that those protesters (and other natives from all over the Peruvian Amazon, including those here in Amarakaeri) are saying that, by and large, modern-day Amazon natives are not categorically opposed to all oil and gas drilling (or logging, or mining, or ranching) on their ancestral lands – no matter how much the tree-hugging environmentalists in the U.S. with their “noble savage” fantasies don’t want to hear it.

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[Joanne98]

1. Peru's government shuts down TV station in the Amazons

Peru's government cancelled the operation license of TV Oriente, based in Yurimaguas, Amazonas (northern Peru), alleging legal issues.

TV Oriente was the station that reported locally the indigenous demonstrations and the police reactions during last June's Bagua clashes, that left more than 40 Peruvians dead and an undetermined number of missing persons.

According to the official versions, the station was closed because “it had not installed new equipments within one year after being authorized to start operations."

TV Oriente Director, journalist Geovanni Acate, claims that the equipments were approved in 2006 and 2007, and maintains that this is a reprisal due to the station's editorial line, which is critical of the government.

While journalists and local organizations are condemning this, calling it “an arbitrary action” and consider it as an act of intimidation, the Deputy Minister of Communications, Jorge Cuba, rejected this version, saying that the closure of the station was exclusively due to legal issues.

http://www.livinginperu.com/news-11259-peru-perus-government-shuts-down-tv-station-amazons

If Hugo Chavez did this it would be all over the news.

[JohnWxy]

2. MORE THAN 70% of Peru's rainforest area set aside for oil and gas exploration.

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0606-oil_or_death_in_the_amazon.html">Oil or Death in the Amazon

More than 70% of the Peruvian Amazon has been allocated for oil and gas extraction, and the current government of Alan Garcia has been pushing for more. Unfortunately, as usual, these policies are promoted by and only benefit a handful of people, but negatively impact the lives of many. However, Garcia’s government did not foresee the potential consequences of their actions.
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[amborin]

3. yes; indigenous groups tried to block this plan a few months ago; travesty!

[Lorien]

4. "...negatively impact the lives of many" How about EVERYTHING ON EARTH?

The rain forests are our planet's lungs. We should be doing everything possibly to preserve what's left and restore what was destroyed. It's time to get serious about green renewable energy sources!

[Lorien]

5. It's sad that stories like these always end up in this forum instead of GD

so many people miss them, and these issues are critical to all life on earth.

[JohnWxy]

6. I took your suggestion to heart.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x151493