Perenco chairman meets president as Indians protest across Amazon

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The chairman of Anglo-French oil company Perenco has told the Peruvian president his company will invest $2 billion in the country, as Indians across the Amazon protest against the invasion of their territories by oil companies.

The protests have included the blockade of the Napo River, a key Amazon tributary. According to sources, at least two boats, including one belonging to Perenco, have managed to break through the blockade on the Napo – allegedly leading to three shots being fired at the Indians who chased after them.

Meanwhile, Perenco’s chairman, Oxford University graduate Francois Perrodo, and Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, met in the presidential palace in Lima. Perenco pledged to invest $2 billion in Peru, but said that its oil project, in an area inhabited by at least two of the world’s last uncontacted tribes, will be delayed.

Survival has urged the company to withdraw from the project, as the isolated Indians living in the area, known as Lot 67, could be decimated.

Survival director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘While Garcia and Perrodo shake hands and do billion dollar deals in the palace, hundreds of miles away Indians are protesting against the government and the invasion of their territories by companies. Perenco’s timing couldn’t be worse.’

Watch Survival's short film 'Uncontacted Tribes'