The Half-Year That Was: Bloodshed in Peru

There have been numerous protests throughout the Americas so far this year yet none have been as brutal as the violence in the Peruvian Amazon.

Demonstrators had rallied for weeks against the government in an effort to stop what they deemed as land exploitation and to bring attention to the lack of social services in the impoverished Amazon area. Negotiations between officials and protest leaders were fruitless as tensions simmered. The bubbling cauldron finally boiled over on June 5th after demonstrators and policemen clashed. President Alan Garcia accused protestors of “barbarity” in the deaths of 22 officers while locals blamed the police for being heavy-handed and attacking unarmed people. Thirty people officially died though some estimates claim a lot more.

In the aftermath of the violence, Peru’s government repealed a series of laws at the center of the Amazonian protest. More demonstrations have taken place while Garcia’s popularity has tumbled and he has subsequently shaken up his Cabinet. Unrest continues as the possibility of a repeat of June 5th remains all too real.


Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, BBC News, FT.com, ABC Online, YouTube, Los Angeles Times, Angus Reid Consultants