Indigenous Group in Peru Took Dozens of Tourists Hostage in Protest of Oil Spills

On Thursday, November 3, an indigenous group took dozens of tourists hostage in Peru’s Amazon, in protest of recent oil spills in the area. The hostages included both foreign visitors and Peruvian nationals, who were held up by the group as they traveled through the area on a riverboat. Tourists were citizens of France, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There were more than 240 people on the boat in total–approximately 150 of which were taken hostage–which included children, disabled individuals, the elderly, pregnant women, and even a one-month-old infant.

The indigenous group aimed to “call the government’s attention with this action,” according to Watson Trujillo Acosta, the leader of the Cuninico community. There have been 46 oil spills in the area, they said, allegedly leading to the deaths of one woman and two children. However, Acosta said, this protest was in direct response to an event on September 16, in which 2,500 tons of crude oil spilled into the Cuninico River. A previous incident, on September 5, occurred when a pipeline leaked and affected communities in the Nacion Chapra region.

According to a Facebook post from Peruvian national Angela Ramirez, herself a member of the Cuninico, the group was treating the hostages with kindness and respect. She assured people that they all were “physically fine,” and ended with a call to action: “Help me help them to be heard.” And, as Acosta said, they primarily wanted a “state of emergency” to be declared and also for the Peruvian government to investigate these incidents.

Source: Channel 4 News/YouTube

Fortunately, the hostages were released on Friday, November 4, although it’s still not known exactly how long they were held captive and what the conditions were like. The hostages had been warned that they’d be held for up to 8 days and had been assured that they wouldn’t be harmed, the latter of which was true, and they were held for fewer than eight days.

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