Permission has been granted to Petrolifera, a Canadian mining company, to begin excavations for oil in the Peruvian Amazon. Indigenous protection groups have expressed their concern for the survival of the Cacataibo tribe, an untouched community that could suffer catastrophically from the decision.
The company plans to explore an area of 40,000 square kilometres which will go deep into tribal territory. The construction of a highway connecting the Peruvian Amazon with Lima split the Cacataibo in half in the 1940s, and they are believed never to have been in contact with each other since.
At serious risk
David Hill, of Survival International, which promotes the protection of indigenous communities warns that there is a possibility that the tribe could be relocated or die out.
“There is a very real chance that contact between Petrolifera workers and the uncontacted Cacataibo would be devastating. This is because uncontacted Indians do not have immunity to outsiders’ diseases: first contact often leads to the death of more than half of a tribe.
“Even if first contact isn’t made, the consequences could still be very serious for the Cacataibo. Oil exploration would destroy their homes, pollute their environment, and drive away wild animals, which they hunt to survive.”
Estimates suggest that there are only 11,000 tribal indians living in the Peruvian Amazon without having made contact with the outside world. It used to take over a week to reach the territory where they live by canoe boat, but mining and deforestation keep eating away at the rainforest, and they are being reined in by modern civilisation. Peruvian law dictates that all land belongs to the state; the indigenous residents have no right to any territory in the Amazon.
Ignorance
A huge public outcry over the move might have been expected, but as Hill explains, the average banker from Lima remains disinterested in the plight of his indigenous brothers.
“In the main, indigenous people in the Amazon are off the radar for most people in the capital. They know little about the way they live, little about what kind of problems they face, and have little respect for their society, culture and rights.”
There have been protests about the decision. A local organisation, the Instituto del Bien Comun, and various indigenous organisations have spoken out against Petrolifera. They have also appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Cesar Zuniga, spokesman for the indigenous protection group FENAP, affirms that the mining has destroyed pre-columbine carvings and has caused pollution. He believes it does a lot more harm than good.
“It is contaminating and also creates social conflict. For 37 years the communities of the Peruvian Amazon have seen no gain from petrol mining and it has brought no development. On the contrary they are just sick and poverty-stricken.”
Government policy and recent history
Clearly the indigenous tribes gain no benefit from foreign companies coming in and destroying their habitat, but in Peru, as in many Latin American countries, the mining of oil and other natural reserves contribute heavily to keeping the economy afloat.
The country experienced a boom in oil exports in the 1980s, where 193,000 barrels were produced daily. That fell dramatically to 43,000 in the mid 1990s, prompting the introduction of new legislation which opened up possibilities for overseas companies to come in and mine for petrol. Since then, the amount of barrels produced daily has risen again to 145,000.
Before 1990 there were no Canadian oil companies operating in Peru. Now they are manning almost half of the mining programs. Peru experienced its petrol boom relatively late and has many forest areas that remain untouched. Therefore it is an attractive proposition for foreign petrol corporations.
Peru in fact exports the majority of its own natural resources because they are discovered in a form that it does not have the means to convert. It then buys back refined oil, which makes up 70% of all imports.
Official statistics from government agency Petroperu, the body responsible for negotiating contracts between the government and companies to explore for oil and gas in Peru, explain that prices of oil began to fall worldwide in December of 2008. Prices fell from just over US$100 per barrel to US$43 in the space of three months up to March 2009.
Due to a reliance on oil, the fall in price required higher production levels to maintain the economy, which has led to the signing of more contracts with companies such as Petrolifera. Peru exported five times as much ‘residuals’ in February 2009 than in October 2008. Oil production has risen astronomically in the wake of the worldwide economic crisis.
The Peruvian government has signed 13 new petrol mining contracts in the last three months, among them Petrolifera’s, which they say will “benefit and promote national and regional development”. President Alan García Pérez also declared that the signatures of the contracts are “a concrete and firm example of the trust of foreign investment in the country and guarantees the use of resources and more working positions for Peruvians”.
Prevention: Is conflict necessary?
Petrol is a hugely important for the Peruvian economy, but Hill maintains that protection of its very people should be paramount. “The government doesn’t recognise uncontacted tribes’ land rights and Peruvian law allows it to auction off their land to companies.”
He believes there are ways of stopping the government pushing ahead with such projects. “We believe there is a way: draw enough worldwide attention to Petrolifera’s violation of uncontacted tribes’ rights to force the company not to work in any area where they live.”
The indigenous population has gone one step further. Over 30,000 people have upheld a protest for the past month, blocking major roads and rivers in the Amazon, and even occupying oil stations.
Alberto Pizango, president of the Interethnic Peruvian Rainforest Association, called for insurgency. “We will defend ourselves with force,” he declared.
President García reacted to these threats by summoning the army to suppress the protests and blockades. “Resources like oil, gas and timber don’t only belong to the people who were fortunate to be born where they are found. Everyone should benefit, not just a small group of people.”