La selva se desangra

News of the week is without doubt the violent clashes that erupted last Friday in the city of Bagua between Peruvian police and indigenous protesters. Since April the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon have been protesting against the exploitation of their ancestral territories without their consultation, which is against both Peruvian and international laws. For the first time the protests turned violent as armed police lifted a road blockade near Bagua in the region of Amazonas. During this operation more than 20 indigenous were killed and also 11 policemen lost their lives. For now however it’s impossible to have an accurate view on the number of victims, as there are still a lot of wounded people in the hospitals and the Peruvian government tries to minimize the number of indigenous victims. The biased Peruvian television only talks about the ‘heroic’ policemen that died in the violent clashes.

The great majority in Iquitos however agrees with the struggle of the indigenous peoples in the region to defend their rights. On Friday evening there was a gathering of people carrying candles at Plaza de Armas to remember the victims that died in Bagua and to show their support to the indigenous peoples and leaders. The same evening the arrest was ordered of the leader of the organization of indigenous peoples in the Amazon (AIDESEP) Alberto Pizango. He declared the violence to be a consequence of the aggression of police forces trying to lift the blockade, while the protest had been peaceful for almost two months now. The Peruvian government however views the protest as being manipulated by indigenous leaders, political opposition parties and also elements from other countries that try to destabilize Peru and its economy.

On Saturday about ten more policemen that were captured by the protesters died as forces moved in to try to liberate them. Again we have no news about the indigenous that were killed in this operation. The city of Bagua is now under complete control of the police, but for journalists it’s very difficult to enter the region to make a balance of the violence of those two days. It’s also hard to say how the situation will evolve now as the protests keep continuing and an agreement between indigenous leaders and the government now seems absolutely impossible. The conflict will certainly be of great importance in the speech opposition leader Ollanta Humala will give coming Thursday on Plaza de 28 de Julio. If it is not delayed, because today it was announced that on that day a national strike will be organised in support of the indigenous peoples.

News on the lighter side now, we’ve moved to a new office last week for a second time, as organisation of lawyers Solsticio Perú found a place we could share and were there is also the availability of four sleeping rooms. As we only have to pay half of the rent and now an indigenous student and I are living there instead of renting separate rooms, we can save a lot of money this way. And the place is actually a lot more beautiful and comfortable than where we used to stay, although the place is filled with an awful lot of kitsch.

Last week I also started working in a children’s house on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get out of my office from time to time. It’s very pleasing work to help the children to do their work from school from 3 till 5 in the afternoon and afterwards there’s also an hour to play with the children. As it’s a Dutch organization that is running the place I also had the chance to meet some Dutch volunteers working there. One of them is also a student working here for a few months and as she didn’t knew a lot of people in Iquitos till now, I already took her out a few times with my Peruvian friends. Last Thursday e.g. we went to an evening of Creole dances to celebrate the birthday of the university of Marina, a good friend who’s always prepared to take me somewhere with her motorcycle. One of the most fun parts of an evening out for me stays by the way cruising around in the city on the back of her motorcycle picking up all her friends before arriving at a dancing place or bar. And having her drop me off at my place again afterwards too off course.

Chau,

Jeroen