Peru: social injustice

Written by David Fletcher 01 Sep 2017
Peru: social injustice

Social injustice occurs nationally, regionally and locally from unequal wealth and resource distribution, and unfair treatment of individuals of differing race or culture with laws that support exclusion. On 25 August an indigenous people living on Peru's largest oil-field concession threatened to block the government from accessing their territories, and to halt production unless a rights law is implemented within twenty days. They fear big oil concerns taking and destroying their homes while unequal government regulation considers profit of more value than people. The so-called ‘prior consultation law’, passed in 2011, requires the Peruvian government to seek free, prior and informed consent from indigenous groups before approving any development plans which might affect them. Tribal leaders accuse the government of refusing to carry out the consultation process while it negotiates a new thirty-year contract for Block 192 in the Peruvian Amazon with a Canadian firm whose current agreement expires in August.

Additional Info