'State of emergency' declared against Brazilian company
March 24, 2009
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More than one hundred Indigenous communities in northern Peru have declared themselves in a permanent ‘state of emergency’ after a Brazilian company announced its intention to enter their territories.
Representatives of the communities say they will not allow Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company, on their land. Petrobras is hoping for a meeting with some of them tomorrow, March 25.
‘We have had bad experiences with oil companies and meetings with them. These meetings aren’t consultations, but formal requirements they go through in order to have their projects approved. When we have attended in the past, they made it seem as if we accepted their proposals, but we only went to listen. We’re no longer that naïve and we are not going to be cheated again,’ said a leader from one of the local Indigenous organisations.
The region where Petrobras wants to work includes parts of the rainforest inhabited by uncontacted tribes. Only last week Petrobras announced a deal with Colombia’s state oil company, Ecopetrol, to collaborate on the project.
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