A group of indigenous protesters in Peru’s Amazon rainforest has released two oil tankers and the crew members operating them. The protesters took hold of them last week in protest against changes to a social development fund.
According to Reuters, a source at PetroTal, an oil and gas company that uses the services of the oil tankers, said the group released the two captured ships on Saturday. The company’s marine shipments in the region resumed earlier on Monday, the source added.
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The protest began after the region’s local government refused to recognise a previous agreement with indigenous communities in the area regarding a social fund.
The two ships were hijacked last Tuesday by the group the Indigenous Association for Development and Conservation of Bajo Puinahua (Aidecobap). One held 40,000 barrels of crude oil, while the other was an empty Brazilian convoy. The release was negotiated at a meeting between Aidecobap leaders and local authorities.
According to a statement from PetroTal put out on Thursday, during the takeover of the tankers a navy sailor obtained minor head injuries from a spear. It added that the indigenous group’s activity has halted operations at PetroTal’s oil field in Loreto, northern Peru.
The company said during the hijacking that it “strives for full alignment between all working table and social fund members to achieve the social fund’s objectives. PetroTal is working with all parties to help the Government of Peru generate a rapid, peaceful and safe resolution to the blockade.”
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By GlobalDataCompany spokespeople have previously said that it gives 2.5% of its profits from local production to communities in the surrounding areas.
Protests from indigenous communities against the company’s operations have been ongoing. At the beginning of June, PetroTal clashed with Aidecobap as the group carried out a blockade in the Puinahua Canal, preventing ships from providing transportation services, again in protest to the allocation of social fund resources.
