Indigenous Peoples of Peru Strike to Defend their Lands

By Meg Maloney

Indigenous people have long been at the front-lines of resistance against multinational corporations who pollute the environment through deforestation and mineral, oil and gas extraction. The indigenous peoples of Atalaya are demanding action be taken to stop extractive industries from further polluting their territories. Atalaya is the largest of four provinces in the Central Amazon Rainforest in Peru. Natural resources are being given to corporations without the consent or consultation of the indigenous people. Gas and wood are being extracted without the permission of the people who have lived on these ancestral lands for over 7,000 years.

The indefinite strike which began August 15 is to protest the negligence of national, regional and local authorities who allow the Ucayali and Urubamba rivers to be polluted by extractive industries. “We want the central government to enter into a dialogue with us,” said Edwin Jumanga an indigenous rights activist with AIDESEP. The groups involved have stated that they will block the routes used to transport cargo through the rivers. Through unity and organization, the Quechua, Aymara, Ashaninka and other indigenous peoples are resisting large multinational corporations and armed groups. The strike will continue until Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra agrees to meet with the affected communities and their representatives.

Workers Voice Socialist Movement

We are workers, employed and unemployed, youth, students, and seniors. We are multi-racial and multi-national and organize for the unity of the working class. We are funded by and for workers, for the liberation of all workers and oppressed people.

We organize for jobs and higher wages, against racism, women’s, and LGBTQ oppression, and for solidarity with immigrants. We organize for community schools, lower rents, and food on our tables. We organize for workers’ power so that everything will one day be removed from the capitalists’ private ownership.

We oppose the Pentagon, which is looting our tax dollars and handing them over to war-profiteering private companies, while social programs are gutted. We oppose war for empire which is pursued only to lower our wages and plunder the world’s resources while destroying the environment. We reject the monopoly media who feed us lie after lie.

The labor of workers produces enormous wealth here in Louisiana, the U.S. and the world– so much wealth that everyone could have housing, meaningful jobs, education, healthcare, and genuine equality. But this wealth is stolen and privately owned by the capitalist class for their greed and profit. We believe that we, the workers of the world, can unite in revolution to overcome capitalism and build a better world.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30