Andean Theater
Colombia: indigenous protester killed as army retakes base
One person was killed and 23 wounded as Colombia's army retook a base that had hours earlier been occupied by protesters in Cauca department July 17, local indigenous authorities said. Special forces troops were sent in to clear the 1,000 protesters armed with sticks who briefly took control of the "Berlin" army base, located in war-torn Toribio municipality. Photos showed Nasa indigenous protesters armed with sticks physically ejecting soldiers from the base. National Police backed up the army troops to evict the protesters, firing tear gas. Nasa indigenous authorities said army troops also opened fire. Defense Minister Carlos Pinzón, while not confirming the death, said the troops had "the right to defend themselves…if the indigenous initiate an aggression." President Juan Manuel Santos denounced the takeover of the base via Twitter, saying, "I do not want to see a single indigenous in the military bases." And: "Make no mistake. We will not allow attacks on those who defend us. Everything has a limit."
Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade: from Peru to Timbuktu
In the eighth YouTube edition of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg discusses the cultural survival struggles of the Quechua of Peru and the Tuareg of Mali—the first threatened by global capitalism, the second by the global jihad, in a demonstration of the paradoxical unity of opposites.
Colombia: Embera people strike deal for return of usurped lands —as terror continues
After hundreds of Embera Chamí and Embera Katío indigenous people from Colombia's departments of Chocó and Risaralda marched in Bogotá July 11, the city government met with their leaders and brokered a deal for them to return to their lands which were usurped some 10 years ago by paramilitary groups. Under the deal, the some 70 Embera families are to return to their lands within 60 days, accompanied by a delegation from the national government to assure their security. (Radio Caracol, El Espectador, Bogotá, July 12) But just days earlier, Embera leader José Vicente Jarupia Domicó in Los Canales de Tierralta community, Córdoba department, was assassinated in a hail of bullets fired by two men on a motorcycle. (El Universal, Cartagena, July 5)
Peru: national solidarity builds with Cajamarca struggle
As the giant Mother Earth flag from Cajamarca arrived in Peru's capital of Lima on July 12, a demonstration of some 1,000 construction workers with the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) marched in solidarity with the struggle against the Conga gold mine project—as well their own demands of better pay and working conditions. In reference to the protesters killed in Cajamarca, marchers carried signs reading "¡Ni un muerto más, Sr. Humala!" (Not one more death, Mr. [President Ollanta] Humala!). The demonstration was addressed by lawmakers Rosa Mavila, Javier Diez Canseco, Jorge Rimarachín and Lima council member Marissa Glave. After the rally in Lima's Plaza San Martín, the moment there to the liberator José de San Martín was spray-painted with graffiti against the Conga project. The CGTP said this was done by young students, not unionists, and a volunteer crew of workers scrubbed the statue clean. The rally saw a brief clash between National Police in full riot gear and student protesters.
Peru: Cajamarca martyrs put to rest amid ongoing civil strike
On July 6, in a silent mass demonstration that filled the central plaza of Celendín town, last rites were held for three of the five campesinos killed in protests against the Conga mine project in Peru's northern region of Cajamarca last week. The caskets, draped with banners reading "CONGA NO VA," were carried in a motorcade through villages in the region, where gathered crowds paid their respects. The flags at the offices of the regional government were flown at half mast. Cajamarca remains under an indefinite paro, or civil strike, launched May 31 to demand an end to the Conga project. (AQP Soluciones, July 7; Noticiera Bambamarquino, July 6)
Peru: Sendero Luminoso attacks spread
On July 4, Sendero Luminoso guerillas attacked the Peruvian army's Counter-terrorist Base Number 42 at Canayre, Huanta province, Ayacucho region, in the Apurímac-Ene River Valley (VRAE), leaving one solider dead. On June 29, in a rare attack outside the VRAE, Sendero guerillas attacked Counter-terrorist Base Number 43 at Cachibamba Grande, Pampas Tayacaja province, Huancavelica region, leaving one soldier wounded. (Notimex, July 4; Correo, RPP, June 29)
Bolivia: police attack indigenous protest camp in La Paz
Bolivian police used tear gas, pepper spray and blasts from a water cannon mounted on an armored vehicle against protesters at the camp established by the Ninth Indigenous March just off Plaza Murillo, the central square in La Paz, on July 5. "They have gassed children and indigenous of the Ninth March, they have soaked our beds," said march leader Bertha Bejarano, calling upon the people of La Paz to mobilize for the "physical defense" of the protest camp. Interior vice-minister Jorge Pérez said the police were responding to the arrival at the camp of a contingent from the local anarcho-feminist group Mujeres Creando, who he said threw rotten fruits and vegetables at the police. "There was no order, and there was no police repression," he said. "What happened was a natural reaction on the part of the police, who were attacked in a violent manner. We aren't justifying violence by any side, but those who came to savagely attack the integrity of the police was this group of ladies." A statement from Mujeres Creando said "the protest was peaceful, but we suffered repression from the police." (ANF, Erbol, La Razón, La Paz, Opinión, Cochabamba, July 5)
Peru: one more dead in Cajamarca; protest leader detained
With three provinces of Peru's northern Cajamarca region under a state of emergency, police again fired on protesters July 4 in Bambamarca, seat of Hualgayoc province, leaving one man dead. Another six were wounded, at least some gravely, although accounts do not make clear if the wounds are from bullets. Authorities said one National Police officer was also injured in the confrontation in the town's Plaza de Armas. (Perú21, Peru.com, Sociedad Política, July 4) Meanwhile in Cajamarca's regional capital, protest leader Marco Arana was detained by police troops for continuing to call public meetings despite emergency measures restricting freedom of assembly. Arana was reportedly accosted by police while sitting on a bench in the city's central square, the Plaza de Armas. He is still being held at the city's National Police headquarters, but did manage to get out a Twitter message saying he had been badly roughed up in custody—struck in the face and kidneys, and verbally insulted. (La Republica, 24 Horas, Radio Nacional, El Comercio, RPP, July 4)












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