MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru moves to reconcile with protesting indigenous peoples

García Belaunde called Bolivian president Morales “an enemy of Peru”

Peru's government is moving toward reconciliation with the indigenous peoples after two months of rioting and protest that left over fifty people dead. The government of President Alan García wants to delay the implementation of two plans to open parts of the Peruvian Amazon to foreign investment.

According to government sources, the state of emergency will be lifted in Bagua, where there is finally peace after the deadly clashes between police officers and natives.

This follows Peru's Cabinet chief Yehude Simon announcement that he plans to step down after settling the dispute with Amazon Indians. “I will resign in the next weeks when the situation has calmed”, he said during a radio interview in Lima.

Simon has led negotiations with Indians protesting decrees they say make it easier for foreign oil and gas companies to exploit their lands.

Simon originally had refused to discuss the decrees with the indigenous groups but on Monday acceded to their demands and said he would ask congress to revoke them. The decrees open the Peruvian Amazon to foreign corporations for logging and mineral resources exploration.

It is one of the clauses included in the recent free trade agreement signed by the administration of President García with the United States.

In related news it was announced that the Peruvian government had granted safe passage to indigenous leader Alberto Pizango to leave Peru for Nicaragua, which has granted him political asylum.

Pizango, a leader of the Amazon protests, had sought refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy in Lima after sedition and rebellion charges were filed against him.

Meanwhile the incident with neighbouring Bolivia and its indigenous president Evo Morales escalated with Peruvian Foreign Affairs minister accusing President Morales of being an enemy of Peru.

Jose Antonia Garcia Belaunde's remarks followed Peru's withdrawal on Tuesday of its ambassador to Bolivia. The move was a response to Mr Morales's remarks about the violent clashes and the deaths of indigenous protesters which he described as a genocide caused by free trade.

Garcia Belaunde said the Bolivian leader appeared to believe he had a messianic role to play in liberating Peruvians from the government of President Alan Garcia.

Mr Morales's comments on free trade appeared to be a reference to Peru's bilateral treaty with the United States, which facilitated the decrees that the native Amazonians believed to be a threat to their lands.