.
Indigenous people in Peru were protesting destruction of land under free trade agreements and were murdered by Peruvian police. The letter below describes the situation and the threat of a national strike (though, the strike has been called off as of a Reuters report of June 15th.)
Freedom Socialist Party
4710 University Way NE, Suite #100
Seattle, WA 98144 ? fspnatl@igc.org
June 10, 2009
Ambassador Luis Valdivieso Montano
Fax: (202) 659-8124
Email: lvaldivieso at embassyofperu dot us
Dear Ambassador Valdivieso,
We are sickened by reports that as many as one hundred indigenous protesters have been murdered by Peruvian police while opposing the destruction of their land under free trade agreements signed without their consent. The incredible brutality exhibited by the Peruvian government toward these people reminds us of the Spanish embassy fire in Guatemala in 1980 when it was torched to kill indigenous protesters seeking refuge within. It was an unspeakable act which turned the world against the Guatemalan government, just as these latest killings are doing now to your government.
When, we want to know, will the slaughter of indigenous people cease in this hemisphere? When they are all gone and corporations can freely exploit and destroy their lands?
Tomorrow a national strike will begin in defense of those whose rights and lives have been so severely injured by your government. We call on the government of President Alan Garcia Perez to step down from a confrontation with the strikers and to call off the armed forces and police. Allow the indigenous people, their leaders, organizations and supporters to exercise their right to seek redress from the government. The Freedom Socialist Party stands in solidarity with the strikers and the National Front for Life and Sovereignty. We will be watching closely what transpires.
Sincerely,
Guerry Hoddersen
International Secretary
Freedom Socialist Party, U.S.
For more background on what is happening Peru, go to Common Dreams report: here.
Protests and Repression in Peru video: here.
__________________________
The Freedom Socialist Party’s website states that they are “a revolutionary, socialist feminist organization, dedicated to the replacement of capitalist rule by a genuine workers’ democracy that will guarantee full economic, social, political, and legal equality to women, people of color, gays, and all who are exploited, oppressed, and repelled by the profit system and its offshoot — imperialism.”
In New York, their space is called “Freedom Hall”. It is at 113 West 128th Street. And, they hold various events and forums there.
Filed under: News
Leave a Reply