The Frame
A photo blog of world events by Sacbee.com Assistant Director of Multimedia Tim Reese.
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June 9, 2009
Amazon protests
TARAPOTO, Peru (AP) -- The Aguaruna Indians have a well-earned reputation as warriors. In pre-Columbian times they successfully resisted Inca subjugation. And during Peru's 1995 border war with Ecuador, they served as guides for the army. Those who know them weren't surprised, then, at the fierce resistance -- 23 police officers were killed -- when President Alan Garcia's government sent heavily armed police to clear several thousand Aguaruna and their Wampi cousins from an Amazon highway blockade. The ensuing turmoil has set Garcia's government, which critics accuse of exhibiting racism typical of Peru's traditional European-descended ruling class, on a collision course with this Andean nation's indigenous peoples. London-based Survival International, which promotes tribal rights, called Friday's melee "Peru's Tiananmen Square," comparing it to China's bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. It was Peru's worst political violence since the Shining Path guerrilas were quelled in the mid-1990s, and prompted Indian and labor groups to call a general strike for Thursday. (21 images)

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Peruvian and Bolivian citizens demonstrate during a protest against Peru's President Alan Garcia in front of the Peruvian Embassy in La Paz, Tuesday, June 9 ,2009. The small sign depicts Garcia and read in Spanish: "Alan Garcia Perez, we demand your resignation, killer", and the bigger ones read in Spanish: "Juana Azurduy de Padilla women's organization support the indigenous movements in Peru". AP / Dado Galdieri


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Peruvian and Bolivian citizens demonstrate during a protest against Peru's President Alan Garcia in front of the Peruvian Embassy in La Paz, Tuesday, June 9. The signs depict Garcia and read in Spanish: "Alan Garcia Perez, we demand your resignation, killer." AP / Dado Galdieri



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Natives holding a road blockage at the entrance of the Amazonian town of Yurimaguas, northern Peru June 9, let the lorries pass through for a couple of hours. AFP / Getty Images / Ernesto Benavides



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Natives armed with spears set a road blockage at the entrance of the Amazonian town of Yurimaguas, northern Peru June 9. AFP / Getty Images / Ernesto Benavides



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Indians, who had taken refugee in a nuns' house, are transported to their villages by authorities in Bagua Chica, Peru, Monday, June 8. Peru's President Alan Garcia accused Amazon Indians of 'barbarity' Sunday in the killing of 22 members of a paramilitary police force sent to break up anti-development protests. Indian leaders say police attacked them unprovoked. AP / Karel Navarro



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Luis Pozo, top, closes the coffin containing the body of his father, Jorge Pozo, who was killed during clashes between Indians and police officers during a protest in Bagua Chica, Peru, Sunday, June 7. According to Luis, Jorge Pozo, who wasn't taking part of the protest, was shot to death in front of his house during the demonstration. Peru's President Alan Garcia labored Saturday to contain one of the worst political violence in years, as nine more police officers were killed in a bloody standoff with Amazon Indians fighting his efforts to exploit oil, gas and other resources on their native lands. AP / Karel Navarro



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Police officers prepare to move coffins of fellow officers killed during clashes with Indians in Bagua Grande, Peru, Sunday, June 7. AP / Karel Navarro



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Police take positions as they wait for Indians hiding in the patio of public hospital to come out in Bagua Grande, Peru, Saturday, June 6. The Indians evacuated the hospital and were searched by police before being released. Clashes broke out early Friday when security forces moved to break up a roadblock by some 5,000 Indians that was mounted in early April, to protest oil and gas exploration on their lands in the Amazon. Peruvian authorities say 20 police have died in the clashes and Indian protest leaders say 25 Indians have died in the clashes. AP / Karel Navarro



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A boy walks on a road that is blocked by Indians protesting against teh government in Yurimaguas, northeastern Peru, June 9. The turmoil following the killing of police officers and Indians last Friday, has saddled Peru's President Alan Garcia with the worst crisis of his second presidency and set his government on a collision course with Peru's seething native peoples and the global environmental community. AP / Karel Navarro



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A driver sits on the ground at a road blocked by Indians during a protest against the government in Yurimaguas, northeastern Peru, Tuesday, June 9. AP / Karel Navarro



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Men carry bags containing food along a road blocked by Indians in Yurimaguas, northeastern Peru, Tuesday, June 9. AP / Karel Navarro



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Indians, who are wanted by authorities, take refuge in a nuns' house in Bagua Chica, Peru, Monday, June 8. AP / Karel Navarro



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Police officers climb out of a truck to patrol a street during the 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in Bagua Grande, Peru, Sunday, June 7. AP / Karel Navarro



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A street vendor walks in front police officers in Bagua Chica, Peru, Sunday, June 7. AP / Karel Navarro



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An Indian man is searched by police as they patrol Bagua Grande, Peru, Saturday, June 6. AP / Karel Navarro



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Two men on a motrocycle observe the wreckage of a burnt vehicle in Bagua, more than 1000 kms southeast of Lima, Peru on June 7. Peru's defense minister Sunday raised to 34, including 23 police officers, the number of people killed over the weekend in an explosion of violence between indigenous groups and security forces in the country's northern Amazon. Indigenous communities, protesting for their land rights, said the number of civilians killed in the 24-hour orgy of violence Friday and Saturday was higher than the official count, giving Peruvian media conflicting tallies that ranged from a dozen to as many as 30 dead natives. AFP / Getty Images / Jack Ramon



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Police forces load the corpse of Commander Miguel Montenegro onto a pickup on June 8, in Bagua, more than 1000 kms northeast of Lima, Peru. AFP / Getty Images



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Indigenous leader Daysi Zapata Fasabi, right, Vice President of the AIDESEP (Inter-ethnic Association of Peruvian Jungle Development)Peruvian Amazon basin native nations organization, gives a press conference in Lima on June 8. Zapata Fasabi referred to the presence in the country of indigenous leader Alberto Pizango and of the recent blodshed in Bagua, where several natives and policemen were killed in clashes. AFP / Getty Images / Ernesto Benavides



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In this picture released by Amazon Watch on June 6, police open fire on Indians blocking the road in Bagua Grande in Peru's northern province of Utcubamba, Friday, June 5. AP / Amazon Watch



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In this picture released by Amazon Watch on June 6, an Indian protester screams as he is subdued by police in Bagua Grande in Peru's northern province of Utcubamba, Friday, June 5. AP / Amazon Watch



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An Indian girls sweeps her house in Yurimaguas, the site of anti-government protests in northeastern Peru, June 9. AP / Karel Navarro



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