Poor Peru

Since about April of this year Indigenous people in the Amazonian regions of Peru have been taking part in a non-violent resistance to plans by the Government of Alan Garcia to sell off the rights to exploit subsoil resources. You see, the capitalists found out that even if you have a native group that has legal right to the land, you can still exploit it as long as it is in the subterranean fashion. Of course mining and drilling pretty much ruin the surface too, but in the world of business the profits always justify the means. So since April the native tribes have been blocking pipelines and roads in an attempt to force the government into accountability for what is essentially no different than what Pizarro did almost 500 years ago. The recent round of abuses was spurred by a free trade agreement with the United States that gives multinational corporations free reign on the resources and people of Peru. On Friday, the military assaulted an unarmed group of several thousand Natives who were blocking one of the main roads. Although reports vary, the fact that the troops opened fire upon the crowd and killed many is beyond debate. The official count, by the government, is 30, but Native sources say the troops were dumping bodies in rivers and using helicopters to hide them in remote areas. We also know that 22 members of the paramilitary force that engaged the barricade were killed, some after being taken hostage and being executed. Considering that the people they were engaging were unarmed, this would seem to indicate what the troops goal was. It is a time honored tradition of the ruling classes of Latin America for government to piss on their people and tell them its raining. The spin has been intense in the media: 'In a speech in Lima, Garcia accused Indians opposed to oil, gas and other development on their native lands of impeding progress, either through "elemental ignorance" or manipulation by outside interests he didn't name.' With a long standing reputation for corruption and much blood on his hands from the war against Sendero Luminoso, Garcia is part of a long line of people that have made it their business to see that the people of Peru are as exploited as possible. During his first presidency, some 15 years ago, his government saw hyperinflation and over half of Peru's population being below the poverty line (an increase of some 13% in just a few years). How long can the West sow the wind and not expect to reap the harvest it deserves. The pendellum of history is in full swing, with both Venezuela and Bolivia electing Indigenous leaders that refuse to answer to Washington and Wall Street. A full blown oil war is already raging in the Niger Delta over the exact same issues as in Peru. One could also make the argument that our entire involvement in South West and Central Asia is the same fundamental quest for hydrocarbons and the geopolitical power that it fuels. Since it wouldn't be a blog without a quote, here is one from the Sage of the South that says it all: "The big bankers of the world, who practise the terrorism of money, are more powerful than kings and field marshals, even more than the Pope of Rome himself. They never dirty their hands. They kill no-one: they limit themselves to applauding the show." Although the fat, sedated and ignorant Americans don't like to admit it, but our Culture of excess consumption is the reason why so many people in the global south are thin, determined and pissed. In this day and age of the modern market, by the very nature of system, the wealth and ease of American life is facilitated by the blood, sweat and tears of many millions. How long will it all go on? Until Imperialism either becomes unprofitable or we start valuing human life, anyones guess which one of those will come first.