Jun 16, 2009, 12:26 GMT
Lima - Peru's prime minister said Monday he would ask parliament to revoke controversial decrees on foreign investment in the Amazon region that indigenous groups say impacts their claims on land.
The Amazonian Indios have been on strike for more than two months to demand the repeal of laws that gave foreign investors access to the Amazon's mineral wealth and forests. The laws were enacted without any consultation with indigenous Indios.
The two months of unrest was followed by violence last week, in which at least 34 people were killed.
Prime Minister Yehude Simon held talks with Indio leaders in the town of San Ramon in Junin province. He also announced the immediate lifting of the state of emergency in the Amazon region.
In return for the new concessions, the Amazonian Indios will end their blockades of key roads and rivers, their leaders told Environment Minister Antonio Brack.
The government move came as a surprise to the Indios. 'Never before has a government representative called me sister,' said one leader, Lidia Rengifo.
For months, Peruvian President Alan Garcia ignored the peaceful protests of the Indios, and indigenous protestors finally clashed with security forces last week, near the town of Bagua.
The Indios claim that more of their people were killed when police opened fire on protestors at a road blockade. The Indios also responded with violence. According to Amnesty International, at least 79 indigenous demonstrators were being detained and at least 169 were injured in the protests.
Garcia had earlier said that the economic development of the whole country - including the Amazon - is needed to fight widespread poverty. The authorities insisted that the state, which ultimately owns the land in question, will watch out for the interests of the people involved, and also for the environmental equilibrium of the jungle areas at stake.
Garcia had signed the decrees after a free-trade agreement between the United States and Peru was inked.
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