Peru's Congress has revoked controversial laws that would have opened up Amazon tribal land to development.
Indigenous leaders complained they had never been consulted on the
laws intended to benefit the free trade agreement Peru has signed with
the United States
Economists estimate $US3.5 billion worth of timber, mineral and oil
products are locked in 92,000 square km Amazon basin.
Some 12,000 Peruvians from 65 tribes occupied oil and electricity
plants in the Amazon basis before agreeing to a truce subject to the
laws being repealed.
"This signals a new dawn for Amazon peoples," said Alberto Pizango,
leader of the Inter-Ethnic Association of the Peruvian Forest.
However, an angry President Alan Garcia warned it was a serious,
historic mistake to revoke the development laws.
The Garcia administration contends that the revoked development laws
were aimed at improving the livelihood of Indigenous communities by
developing their farming, livestock and mining activities so they can
better integrate with the country's economy.
posted to ClimateConcern
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