I´m currently sitting in a hot and humid Internet cafe in the city of Iquitos, located in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon. I´m here partly to investigate the many fossil fuel-related environmental and human rights issues in this part of the world. But what´s struck me again and again, while here, is how closely the future of the Peru´s Amazon is tied to another battle raging in my own home: the Pacific Northwest, USA. In this post, I want to try to convey some of the urgency of confronting fossil fuel development in Oregon and Washington for the people and ecosystems of Peru.
Over the last few months, Peru has become a front line in the fight against the globally expanding fossil fuel empire. Peru is also a shining example of how corporate globalization and ¨free trade¨ contributes inevitably to the strengthening of that empire. As regular readers of this blog will already know, last month saw the massacre of an unknown number of indigenous activists protesting oil, gas, and timber development, and the seizure of indigenous lands in the Amazon. Most of the killing occurred in the Bagua area of Peru, and the Peruvian government has attempted to cover up the actual number of activists killed (the highest number I heard in the US was about 80 deaths, but the actual number seems to have been much higher). The protests were brought on in response to several decrees passed by the Peruvian government to facilitate a ¨free trade¨ agreement with the US. From the beginning, it´s been clear: the environmental and human rights abuses which triggered the protests and the massacre in Bagua came about as a direct result of this trade agreement, and pressure from the US for Peru to open up its oil and gas reserves for exploration.
But the international implications of the massacre go even deeper, and center on several communities in Oregon and Washington currently working to keep infrastructure for a new and dirty fossil fuel out of the Northwest. Here, energy companies are attempting to build at least three import terminals for natural gas extracted in distant parts of the world, and shipped to the US after a supercooling process to convert the gas to a more easily transported liquid: thus the name Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG. The Northwest is a focal point for an industry attempt to make LNG a much more important fuel in the United States. And where would this imported gas come from? Well, it could be the Middle East, or it could be Russia. Or it could be the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.
If the energy giants get their way, importation terminals in my home region will grant LNG an open door to the US market. Suddenly, the Peruvian government will have an even greater incentive than it does now to explore for gas in the Amazon. I recently spoke with a local concerned citizen in Iquitos, whose name I will protect, who explained to me what increased oil and gas development will mean for the people of the Amazon. My Spanish is not the greatest, but in a conversation consisting of mixed English, Spanish, and hand gestures, my friend conveyed this central message: the Peruvian government and President Alan Garcia are not particularly concerned with the well being of Peru´s indigenous people, and will not hesitate to use force to obtain land for fossil fuel exploration. The Bagua massacre could be only the beginning, and importing LNG in the Northwest will only exacerbate the pressure on indigenous communities.
In Iquitos – a town that grew up around rubber extraction and where the extractive industries continue to be important – graffiti art criticizing Garcia and the exploitation of the Amazon is a common sight. This is the opposite of the old, misguided stereotype that rainforests are being destroyed because the local people don´t know how to take care of their own resources. In Peru, there can be no doubt as to the real force behind deforestation. Over half of Peru´s forest is already under concession to oil and gas developers, and the disillusioned local people I have spoken with are well aware of the health and environmental effects of fossil fuel development. To save Peru´s carbon-sequestering Amazon and the people who live there, we must reverse or substantially alter the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement. We must get US corporations out of the Amazon. And we must stop LNG from becoming an important source of fuel in the US.
Peru´s Bagua massacre may be the worst case of violence in Latin America that can be traced directly to a trade agreement with the US. The horror of the police crackdown and subsequent cover-up here is not something I can even attempt to convey. But there are some signs of hope on the horizon. The two most controversial government decrees have been, at least for the moment, suspended in response to the Bagua crisis. In Oregon, the legislative session just ended with the defeat of a bill that would have smoothed the way for LNG companies attempting to begin work on projects there. This fight that extends from the heart of the Amazon to rural areas in Oregon and Washington will be a long one, but it´s one I believe we can win.
My friend from Iquitos and I agreed that both our country´s governments have ignored the effects of fossil fuel extraction for far too long. I tried to convey that we are making some progress in the US, though my optimism was far from unqualified. ¨Your president,¨ said my friend, ¨he has an honest face.¨ I replied cautiously that I believe Obama truly wants to make change, but there are many other individuals in our government who will make it difficult for him. My eyes lingered on the No LNG button pinned to the backpack of my travelling companion from the US. She, like me, has gone to protests against LNG back home, and worked to raise awareness of the issue at our school.
I have never felt the international implications of the struggle against LNG more tangibly than now. It´s time to shut the door to new fossil fuels in the Northwest once and for all, and score a victory for a battle that extends to indigenous communities in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.
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This is a nice analysis of how increased infrastructure in consuming (First World) countries like ours places more pressure on Third World (producing) countries to expand their own extraction/transport infrastructure, with devastating consequences. Thanks! We’ve linked to it on our own blog, here:
http://www.rootforce.org/2009/07/08/why-our-struggles-matter/
I am a student in Lima, Peru, and I am , like you, much worried about the environment, but I see that in this post there are some serious errors.
Iquitos, capital of the Loreto Region is located in north peruvian amazon. Here there are some oil extraction pits, connected to the cost by the north-peruvian-oleoduct(you can consult a map of the region). Here LIQUID CRUDE OIL is extracted, oil that is exported because we have no petrochemical industry. Here NATURAL GAS IS NOT EXTRACTED.
There is a natural gas field far away in south-central amazon, the Camisea Gas Field, located in the Cuzco Region. The field is in high-elevation rainforest(here we call it “selva alta”). Today is used only for internal(peruvian) consuption. The gas in transported in a gasoduct to the capital Lima, where is destined to industrial, domestic and transportation use. There were plans to export the gas in near future, but they where abandoned when the amount of reserves was revised and found that we will run out of gas by 2012. That means that ALL this natural gas will be destined to the peruvian demand.
The gas discovery and exploitation was actually GOOD NEWS for all peruvians corcerned about polltion. It permitted too swich all petroleum powered thermic power plant to the cleamest gas. Numerous factories use natural gas now , and finally a lot of cars now use it. Natural gas is much cleaner than petroleum derivatives. It emits more than 25% less carbon dioxide(CO2), and more important, it soot and sulfur emissions are near zero (soot is composed of organic and black carbon, the second largest contributor to climate change, and, together with sulfur, is highly toxic, causing even lung cancer).
Lima is one of the most polluted cities in the world, pollution caused mainly by the burn of diesel petroleum (fuel oil) by decade-old cars and buses, that are imported thank to a law made by the corrupt government of Alberto Fujimori in the 1990s(now he is in jail for mass murder and corruption crimes).Switching to natural gas is the easiest form ( plus trashing all obsolete cars as rubbish)to save Lima’air.
After explaining this( showing that peruvian natural gas will NOT be exported and it is environmentally friendly), I will explai what really happened in the amazon a month ago.
The current president approved a group of legislative decrees to made peruvian legislation agree with the LTC ( Free trade treaty, Tratado de Libre Comercio) with the USA. This decrees where approved without parliament intervention and even worse, WITHOUT CONSULTING TO THE AMAZON NATIVES (both things were agaist peruvian law). The decrees, regarding land property management in the rainforest, triggered a wave of social unrest. The government ignored it for months, while the natives blocked the main local roads, specially around the city of Bagua, in the northern amazon.
Finally, it ordered the police to clear the roads. The police was not prepared (they have no clear plan, and instead of tear gas and rubber bullets, most of them have only MACHINE GUNS!), and when they try to clear the road, a major battle began. After some time, some natives steal the gun from the police, and a riot exploded. In the battle, more than 20 policemen were killed, and an unknown number of natives were wounded or killed ( officially, there were just 9 natives killed, but probably there were several tens dead and hundreds wounded)
When another group of natives hear the news of their killed comrades, they kidnapped 20 policemen from a station post in the north pruvian oleoduct , and began executing 6 of them , until the peruvian army arrived and liberate the others after shooting on the natives.
This was the worst single episode of political violence in Peru, and the cause were both the government incompetence and the activity of some far-left groups who told the natives(falsely) that the government will take his land. Peru is still shocked by this massacre, and the prime minister have resigned for that.
I hope have explained clear what happened in few words (there can be lots of pages written about this tragedy), and forgive me if my explanation in particular was too long of if my english is not good. I hope I can tell more about peruvian reality and politics
Go to the inl.gov website (this is a research lab.) and look up LNG they are doing some amazing things that can help out third world countries and the US. The have a small system that can fit into a cargo trailer for about 2million that will convert LNG and be “green” at the same time. They have set one up in Sacramento, CA already.
Dear From Peru,
Thanks for writing in, and I apologize if I appeared to misprepresent anything in my article. I´m not from Peru, and don´t pretend to be an expert on gas projects in this country. However, my main concern in my article was that if the US increases imports of LNG, this will put further pressure on countries like Peru, with large gas reserves, to explore for gas in environmentally destructive ways, and sell it on the international market. I don´t know much about specific gas exploration proposals in Peru, and did not mean to suggest that I did. You seem pretty confident that the Peruvian government doesn´t plan to export gas internationally; I wouldn´t be so sure. In any event, keeping LNG out of the US market will certainly decrease the temptation for government´s like Peru to start exporting LNG – which has a much larger carbon footprint than domestic gas.
As for gas providing a cleaner alternative to oil, I´m glad if Peru has found a way to decrease pollution using gas on a domestic level. My concern in my article, however, was with LNG sold on the international market, which produces much more pollution over its lifetime than domestic gas. In my article, I said nothing about Peru´s domestic use of gas as a fuel.
Finally, thanks for your description of events leading up to the Bagua massacre. I don´t think we have any disagreements there.
Dear Bonnie,
Well, I don´t know about your California lab, but what I do know for certain is that if technology exists to make LNG ¨green¨ (and I´m fairly skeptical), such technology is not being implemented for the terminal proposals in the Northwestern US. LNG companies have tried repeatedly to sell their projects as environmentally sound, and have failed miserably. If these companies get their way, the Northwest will be importing a fuel with a carbon footprint similar to that of coal. Even more important, however, you completely ignored the main point of my article, which is that increasing the market for LNG internationally will put further pressure on Peru to explore for gas in ways that harm the environment and contribute to human rights abuses. Even if LNG were a carbon-neutral fuel (and it emphatically isn´t), that should be reason enough to oppose it.
“Finally, thanks for your description of events leading up to the Bagua massacre. I don´t think we have any disagreements there.”
I have one disagreement, with the statement that the violence was caused both by the government and “the activity of some far-left groups who told the natives(falsely) that the government will take his land.” This is a lie being promoted by the Peruvian government, which seeks to minimize its own culpability and falsely direct blame onto a supposed foreign conspiracy (from Bolivia or Venezuela). Indigenous communities and their representatives have made it overwhelmingly clear that the recent mobilization was an entirely homegrown affair, stemming from indigenous concern over their territorial sovereignty.
And I would not by any means call concerns that indigenous land would be taken “false.” That is, after all, what modern states do, almost by definition. I don’t see how you can open up vast new tracts of the Amazon to oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, agribusiness and hydroelectric dams without stealing and destroying native land — and no one denies that that’s what the laws are intended to achieve.