In Peru, indigenous people are holding about 70 vacationers on a ship to pressure the government to do something about an oil spill in the region. A German vacationer is also among them. Now the story is moving.
Tourists held by protesting villagers on a boat in the Peruvian Amazon are to be released. “After discussions with the Cuninico village chief, our request to release the people was accepted,” the Peruvian government’s civil bureau said. “The measure will be implemented shortly.”
Mayor Watson Trujillo Acosta confirmed the decision on radio station RPP: “Respect for life must come first. We will make it possible for people to be transported on the ship to their destination.” In protest at the government’s inaction following an oil spill, villagers stopped a boat carrying around 70 local and international tourists on the Marañón River and arrested the passengers. The group also includes a German vacationer, as a spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin announced.
Among the passengers on the ship are said to be tourists from the USA, Spain, France, Great Britain and Switzerland. A total of 150 people have been held on various ships for around 24 hours, as reported by the radio station RPP. By arresting the vacationers, the villagers wanted to persuade the government to do something about the oil spill in the region. “We demand that a state of emergency be declared and that a commission led by the President visit our region,” said village chief Trujillo Acosta.
Most recently, oil had repeatedly leaked from a pipeline belonging to the energy company Petroperú and had polluted the Marañón river. “They are kind and respectful to us, but this is the only way they have to find a solution for their village,” Ángela Ramírez, a cyclist who was stuck on the ship, wrote on Facebook. “The sooner they are heard, the sooner they let us go.”
The tourists understood why the villagers took the radical measure, said mayor Trujillo Acosta. “They recognize what we do and that helps us. We see them as allies because they see the reality we live in.” The Citizens’ Bureau of the Peruvian government called for the dialogue between the affected villages on the river and the authorities to be resumed. Petroperú announced that the pipeline was intentionally damaged several times. More than 50 cases of damage have been registered since December last year. According to its own statements, the company took care of cleaning up the affected areas and supplied the residents with drinking water and food.