The 150 people, including 70 foreigners, who remained blocked on three boats will be able to resume their journey after an agreement has been reached between the authorities and the protesters.
An agreement between Peruvian authorities and the indigenous people of the Amazon has allowed the release of the Spanish tourist detained on a boat on the Marañón River since Thursday, along with 150 other people, including 70 foreigners. The event happened when the three boats in which the group were traveling were blocked by protesters protesting an oil spill in the area’s waters.
The representative of the Ombudsman’s office in the Loreto region, Abel Chiroque, explained that the group can continue their journey in another boat. “A few minutes ago, the lieutenant governor told me they were coordinating the transfer,” Chiroque told EFE, who said he hopes the passengers will be handed over in the next few hours.
Cuninico community president Watson Trujillo Acosta had assured this Friday that the foreigners would be released shortly. “The law and respect for life must prevail. In this context, we will provide the facilities so that the people on the boat can move to their destination. That will be before noon (local time),” he said in an interview with the Peruvian RPP.
The Ombudsman’s office also explained that the Cuninico communities had granted their request to release the people held in the Marañón River, a measure that, according to what the office published on its Twitter profile, ” will be implemented shortly”.
The activists, indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon belonging to the Urarinas district in Loreto province, say two children and a woman have died in the area as a result of oil spills from a 40-year-old pipeline in the Cuninico River. Those facilities, which transport crude oil from the Amazon basin to the northwestern city of Piura, have been the scene of several leaks in recent years. The last, of about 2,500 barrels, took place on September 16.
According to the British chain Sky News, among the 70 tourists there is a one-month-old baby, people with disabilities and pregnant women. Similarly, the German chain Deutsche Welle (DW) indicated that in addition to the Spaniards in the group, there were also British, French, Swiss, Brazilians and a dozen American cyclists attending a sporting event.
Source: La Verdad
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