• An indigenous group in Peru’s Amazon rainforest liberated nearly 100 riverboat passengers.
• The passengers were from France, Germany, Spain, the UK, the US, and Peru.
• They were kept for a day in protest of government inaction on harmful oil spills.

An indigenous group in Peru’s Amazon rainforest liberated nearly 100 riverboat passengers, including foreigners, who were kept for a day in protest of government inaction on harmful oil spills.

According to local media, the Cuninico indigenous community from the Urarinas region in Loreto province in Peru’s Amazon jungle held passengers from France, Germany, Spain, the UK, the US, and Peru to raise awareness about an oil leak in a local river.

On Friday, Peruvian Angela Ramirez told Reuters that the rescued tourists had boarded a boat to Iquitos.

“After communication with the (leader) of the Cuninico villages, our plea to release persons was accepted,” Peru’s independent public defender agency tweeted.

RPP reported that the protest did not hurt tourists.

The UK foreign ministry said it was contacting local authorities about a “very small number of British nationals involved in an incident in Peru”.

Watson Trujillo, the indigenous group’s chairman, claimed all the tourists left the Maranon River on Friday afternoon on Eduardo 11, which Cuninico people had held since the day before.

He said the passengers were going to Iquitos, Peru’s Amazon capital.

He also stated Cuninico residents would keep protesting and obstructing river boats until the government helps them deal with pollution.

“We have considered ourselves obligated to take this move to summon the attention of a state that has not paid attention to us for eight years,” he told The Associated Press via phone.

He requested that President Pedro Castillo proclaim an emergency to address oil spills.

Trujillo said oil accidents in 2014 and September “had caused great damage” to river fishers.

“People have had to drink water and eat fish polluted with petroleum without any official concern,” he claimed.

He said the spills affected his township’s 1,000 residents and approximately 80 others, many of which without water, electricity, or telephone service.

In a flurry of tweets, Peru’s Minister of Mines and Energy Alessandra Herrera Jara responded to the community’s request and declared an environmental emergency in the affected area on September 24.

The minister also urged the community to protect passenger transit rights.

In 2016, Peru’s Health Ministry reported that half of Cuninico’s blood samples had mercury and cadmium levels above WHO guidelines.

“The kids are poisoned. Trujillo said many had gastrointestinal problems every day.

Repsol, a Spanish energy company, began cleaning up a major oil leak near Lima in January.

The authorities reported Repsol spilled 6,000 barrels of oil into the water near its La Pampilla refinery, causing dead seals, fish, and birds to wash up on adjacent coastlines and suspend fishing.

🔴 La ministra Alessandra G. Herrera Jara señaló en conferencia de prensa que el Ejecutivo viene atendiendo el pedido de las comunidades de Cuninico con medidas rápidas tras la emergencia por derrame de petróleo. pic.twitter.com/pwrKs5jNfT

— Ministerio de Energía y Minas (@MinemPeru) November 4, 2022

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