After the murder of a British journalist and a Brazilian native in Brazil’s Amazon region, indigenous Peruvians shouted, “The spilled blood will never be forgotten!” they marched in Lima this Friday to demand the protection of land and water and to show solidarity with Brazil.
The demonstration, attended by hundreds of locals from the Andes, the Amazon rainforest and the Peruvian coast, covered the streets of two neighborhoods in the south of Peru’s capital.
The locals, who demonstrated in front of the Justice Ministry headquarters in the Miraflores district, then reiterated their demands by walking about three kilometers to the Ministry of Interior building in the neighboring municipality of San Isidro.
Aymara Margarita Atencio Mamani said, “We are angry that our land is being mortgaged by mining companies. We are at the door of the Ministry of Interior because the government does not listen to us.” “Our Lake Titicaca (shared by Peru and Bolivia) is very polluted,” the 49-year-old indigenous woman complained.
frequent targets
Protesters denounced that environmental defenders in the Amazon are often the target of attacks. According to NGOs, nineteen have been killed in Peru in the last two years.
“The country ranks ninth among the countries with the most recorded attacks on environmental defenders,” NGO Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR) said. “Violence against environmental and human rights defenders is out of control at the national level.”
Awajún Amazon leader Agustina Mayan, 44, said that activists on the Amazon “cannot let the murder continue”. “We show solidarity with Brazil,” he added, following the murder of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian native Bruno Pereira.
“The Amazon is in grave danger from pollution of logs and water, and the environment in general,” warned Arthur Cruz Ochoa, leader of the indigenous community of Maynas Punchana in Loreto’s forest region.
source: Noticias
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