On December 6, 2010, the Achuar of Peru were allowed to proceed in U.S. federal court with their case against Occidental Petroleum, the California-based oil giant that has been exploiting and polluting their homeland for over 30 years.  The Achuar community is claiming that the company violated Indigenous rights enshrined in Peruvian and U.S. law by dumping toxic waste, including cyanide, lead, arsenic, and mercury, directly into their rivers and streams and failing to warn them of potential health impacts.

After a three-day Forum on Mining, Climate Change and Well-being at the Museum of the Nation from November 18 through 20 in Lima, Peru, Indigenous delegates from all over Latin America issued the so-called Lima Declaration demanding the end of large-scale mining by multinational corporations on Indigenous lands.

After detaining Indigenous leader Alberto Pizango upon his arrival at the Lima airport, Peruvian officials released him on his own recognizance. Public pressure from world citizens surely influenced this decision, which sets the stage for more respectful negotiations between Indigenous Peoples in Peru and the government.
 
If you have not yet sent a message, please do so. It is very important for the Peruvian government to know that the world is watching. See our action alert here.

Last June, Cultural Survival and Global Response members sent letters to the Peruvian government protesting its violent repression of Indigenous Peoples in the northern Amazon. The conflict, centered in the town of Bagua, left 34 people dead and over 200 people injured. The Indigenous protests ultimately convinced the Peruvian Congress to repeal decrees that would open Peru’s Amazonian region to unfettered exploitation by mining, oil, and logging companies.