Dozens Dead After Police Open Fire on Indigenous Oil Protesters in Peruvian Amazon

At least 60 and possibly up to 100 people are dead after a brutal confrontation Friday on the Fernando Belaunde Terry Road in the Peruvian Amazon. Police opened fire from helicopters on indigenous protesters, who were blockading a road to protect their land from oil companies opening wells and mines in their rainforests without their consent.

Police claim the protesters opened fire first, but the tribes were only armed with traditional spears.

The Peruvian government has declared a state of emergency, stripping citizens in some areas of the Amazon of their constitutional rights. Some reports say police have raided hospitals where indigenous people were recovering from their injuries and taken them to an unknown location. Tribe members say up to 35 people are missing and that three children are among the dead.

Peru has already opened up 75% of its Amazon territory to oil exploration and President Alan Garcia has signed contracts for 15 more oil concessions just in the past month.

From Reuters:

An indigenous leader said 40 protesters were killed and the government said 23 members of the security forces perished in two days of battles over Garcia’s push to open up the rainforest to billions of dollars in foreign investment.

Thousands of Indians armed with wooden spears vowed to dig in at blockades on remote Amazon highways to defend their ancestral lands from outside developers.

Dozens of police were held hostage by protesters, but most were freed hours later. On Sunday, two were still missing.

Hundreds of natives who sought refuge at a Catholic mission in Bagua Grande drew up a list of dozens of missing people and sought guarantees to search for bodies of the slain.

“We have been told that many of our dead brothers have been thrown into the Maranon river to cover up the killing,” said Carlos Anchanchi, one of the [indigenous] group’s leaders.

Video via BBC News

Many major news sources are only reporting on the dead police officers and playing down the violence against the indigenous tribes. Some human rights organizations are saying that the indigenous death toll is far higher than has been reported.

Amazon Watch has put out an urgent action alert asking people to send Peruvian President Garcia a message that the international community won’t stand for violent repression of indigenous people. Add your voice today.

Link [Reuters] + [Amazon Watch]
Photo credit: Peruanista

Cops Can’t Stop California Electric Carmaker

California is in the midst of a major budget crisis. Crime is out of control, and prisons are bursting at the seams. You’d think cops would have more important things to do than bug an eco-entrepreneur who’s working on important clean energy tech. Apparently, they still find the time.

The Santa Monica Police began a sting operation against Paul Pearson, the man behind the hot Lola EV (pictured above) in December that resulted in two citations, one for allegedly remanufacturing cars without a state license and the other for not getting a business license from the City of Santa Monica.

From Autoblog Green:

As part of the sting, two undercover officers discussed converting a gas-only Ford Thunderbird to electric power with Pearson, Pearson agreed, which led to over a dozen local law enforcement officers storming his garage. Pearson is willing to admit he operated without a license, but will fight against the remanufacturing claim, telling the paper (and the police) that the vehicle, a small one-seater, is “legally manufactured as a specially constructed vehicle.” The City contends the charges result from the Thunderbird conversion.

Pearson told AutoblogGreen that the complaint that was issued to him lists the serial number of the single seater. The Thunderbird is “an iffy issue” because it doesn’t exactly exist. Pearson said that the California Highway Patrol told him that he would not need to recertify the fictitious Thunderbird if all he did was add and electric motor and batteries. Smog certification places can certify EVs as pure electric vehicles. “That is our defense on the Thunderbird charge.” The single-seater was certified, insured and has been so for two years. “We’ll beat them in court in a matter of seconds.”

Absurd. I know a lot of people are sticklers for black-and-white application of the law, but this is just ridiculous. Homebrew electric vehicle communities across America – and particularly in this area of California – are making headway on clean auto tech that Detroit won’t be catching up on for years. We need these guys. Luckily, Pearson has no plans of stopping. He’s still working on electric cars while waiting for his case to go to court.

Link [Autoblog Green]