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FACTBOX - Laws criticized by Peru's indigenous groups

Sat Jun 6, 2009 4:34pm EDT

(Reuters) - At least 40 people are dead and more than 100 wounded after Amazon tribes clashed with Peruvian police in escalating protests against the government's push to encourage foreign energy, agricultural and mining investment in the rain forest.

World

Indigenous groups in Peru want the government to revoke a series of laws that President Alan Garcia signed last year using special powers Congress gave him to implement a free-trade pact with the United States.

Tribes say Garcia went too far and signed laws that undermine their control over land and natural resources. They fear a massive wave of development in the Amazon jungle, which is one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth.

Below are the most contentious rules and points of protest:

- Legislative Decree 1090, which shrinks the size of Peru's Forestry Heritage protection system, outlines a broad plan for how to regulate investment in the Amazon. Protesters say the rule frees up some 111 million acres (45 million hectares), or roughly 60 percent of Peru's jungles, for potential development. The deadly conflict between police and indigenous tribes on Friday happened one day after Congress blocked a motion to open debate on this rule.

- Legislative Decree 1064 allows companies with concessions to get changes in zoning permits directly from Peru's central government, potentially giving them a way to extract resources without having to win the approval of local communities.

- Legislative Decree 1020 encourages the private ownership of agricultural lands by offering loans to individuals with relatively large farms. Protesters fear it will lead to communal land holdings being broken up into individually owned plots and push consolidation.

- Law 29833 creates new public agencies to oversee water management and distribution. Small farmers fear the changes will drive up costs, reduce their access to water while giving more of it to corporate growers, and eventually lead to the privatization of the water agencies.

- Besides the repeal of the laws, protesters want the government to create new reserve areas for tribes living in voluntary isolation, revoke Peru's free-trade agreements with Chile and the United States, and include a clause in the constitution requiring that tribes be consulted on potential economic projects.

(Compiled by Dana Ford in Lima; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)



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