Resistance to Petro Development in Peru

On 19 December 2007, the Federation of Indigenous Cacataibo Communities (FENACOCA), the Peruvian NGO Instituto del Bien Común, and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL); with the support of the Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP), have requested precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to protect the lives, health and physical integrity of Cacataibo indigenous peoples living in isolation in the Peruvian Amazon. The Cacataibo peoples in isolation are threatened by oil and gas exploration in their traditionally occupied territories.

The Cacataibo Indigenous peoples in isolation live in the areas superimposed by the Block 107 oil and gas exploration concession in the Cordillera Azul region in the central Peruvian Amazon. There is overwhelming historical evidence that shows that forced contact with indigenous peoples in isolation results in serious illnesses and numerous deaths. Yet, despite the high risk of forced contact and life-threatening diseases, the Peruvian government approved oil and gas exploration in the traditional territories of the indigenous Cacataibo peoples in August 2007. The Canadian company, Petrolífera Petroleum Del Peru S.A.C., has recently begun laying down lines of explosives to conduct seismic testing, as part of its exploration for oil and gas in Block 107.

We spoke with Marcos, a member of the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) about the efforts to resist Petrolífera Petroleum's incursions into Cacataibo territories.

The audio is available HERE.