1 killed, 22 injured in Peru anti-oil exploration demo
At least one person has been killed and another 22 injured in clashes between anti-oil exploration protesters and police forces in the Peruvian town of Pichanaki.
According to the Peruvian medical forces on Wednesday, a 25-year-old demonstrator was shot dead and another 22 were injured by shotgun pellets during a rally against an Argentine oil energy company’s operations in the Amazon.
The Peruvian Interior Ministry said the clashes erupted after hundreds of protesters "violently entered" a police station where the facilities of the Argentine company Pluspetrol were kept.
The ministry added that the police forces did not carry firearms and only used teargas to repel the protesters’ attack.
This is while Carlos Echevarria, an organizer of the rally, blamed the deadly incident on Peru’s armed forces, saying at least three people lost their lives after the police targeted the protesters with live bullets.
The protesters believe that Pluspetrol’s oil operations have had irreversible detrimental impacts on the regions’ rivers and soil, urging the Peruvian officials to put a halt on the company’s exploration.
The Argentine company expressed regret over the violent clashes, saying it is ready to hold talks with protesters.
Echevarria rejected Pluspetrol’s call for negotiation, saying "There is nothing to negotiate, we simply want the company to leave."
The South American country of Peru, which abounds in oil and gas resources, frequently witnesses clashes between security forces and environmentalists who fear the oil and gas operations will contaminate the country’s natural resources.
FNR/AS/MHB
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