Beginning at midnight on Sunday, October 24th, thousands of inhabitants of the upper Marañón basin (Nauta district) began blocking the passage of vessels on this important Amazon river near the community of Puerto Orlando.
The five thousand residents who have set up the blockade demand a direct, public, honest, and respctful dialogue between the indigenous communities and government and Pluspetrol representatives.
The action was supported by more than seven thousand people convened by the Organization of Nauta Neighborhood Assemblies, which mobilized on Monday the 25th in support of the measure.
Community spokespeople denounce the lack of attention given to the continuous crude oil spills into their main water source, the Marañón River, and the affect that this has had on their living conditions.
On June 19th there was a spill near the town of Saramuro, and another on September 24th shocked the population on the Corrientes River.
Thousands of fish, river dolphins, and other species were found dead on the shores of beaches of the Samiria River Basin in the heart of the Pacaya Samiria National Preservation Area, inside of which are Pluspetrol operations in Lot 8X.
People can no longer drink the water from the river and suffer from gastrointestinal illnesses and skin maladies from coming in contact with the water. Nevertheless, the company and government authorities insist that the Marañón River has returned to normal.
A report by the Institute for Research of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP), however, concludes that samples taken in the Marañón River show high levels of oils which exceed the national environmental quality standards.
The communities demand that Pluspetrol continue to provide food and drinking water assistance, which the company has suspended. In addition, they insist on fair compensation for the deterioration of their living conditions due to the pollution.
They question why the company decided to pay 2.5 million soles to only a part of the population of the Parinari district, given that many more people have been affected by the spills and that amount is completely inadequate and unfair.
