Britons and Americans are among 70 people being held by indigenous group in Peru’s Amazon rainforest

By William On Nov 4, 2022

Britons and Americans are among 70 tourists who have been taken hostage by an indigenous group in a remote part of the Amazon rainforest in Peru.

The tourists were part of a group of travellers also from France, Spain and Switzerland on a river boat which was held up by the locals.

A group leader said they wanted to ‘catch the government’s attention with this action’ after not receiving enough state help over an oil spill in September.

Angela Ramirez, who is one of those detained, said they have been told they could be held hostage for up to eight days until a solution is reached, RPP reported.

She wrote in a Facebook post: ‘We spent the night here. We already have hardly no water to drink, the sun is shining very strong, there are babies crying, the youngest is only one month old, pregnant women, disabled people, and the elderly are on board.

‘Now we do not have electricity to charge our phones, nor water to wash ourselves. Help me share please.’

Britons have been taken hostage by an indigenous group in in a remote part of the Amazon rainforest in Peru, local media reported

The tourists were part of a group of 70 travellers who were also from France , Spain , the US and Switzerland when they were held up on their river boat

Angela Ramirez, who is one of those detained, said a one-month child, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly are among those on board

Indigenous anger over oil spills

On September 16, a state-run Petroperu pipeline ruptured, leaking oil into the Cuninico ravine which contaminated the river downstream.

Galo Vásquez said: ‘El Cuninico is at the mouth of the ravine that flows into the waters of the Marañón River.

‘All the communities that are downstream, called San Francisco, San Antonio, Esperanza, San Pedro and so on up to Nauta were affected.’

The crisis led to a lack of water in the community and fishing became impossible in the remote region.

Petroperu mobilised an emergency response team on the day of the spill and later reported the pipeline was intentionally cut.

But since then, locals say state officials have failed to provide adequate help for their communities.

Angela had been on a cycling trip through the Peruvian jungle for eight days when they tried to travel through the Cuninico River by boat today and were detained.

In a previous post, she said: ‘Help me publish, we are in Cuninico an indigenous community of the jungle, we are hostages of the community, as there were 46 oil spills, from which two children and one woman died.

‘They are KIND AND RESPECTFUL to us, but it is the only way they have found to look for solutions for their community.

‘The quicker they are heard the quicker they will let us go… Help me share, we’re physically fine. Help me help them to be heard.’

Watson Trujillo, who leads the Cuninico community, said the ‘drastic measures’ should put pressure on the government to send a delegation to assess the damage from the spill of 2,500 tons of crude oil into the Cuninico river.

The detainees would spend the night inside the vessel while awaiting a solution to the situation, he added.

Trujillo said he would return to the boat today to evaluate the possibility of releasing the tourists.

The government and police did not comment on the incident, which took place on a tributary of the Maranon river.

Indigenous communities had already been blocking the transit of all vessels on the river in protest against the spill, which was caused by a rupture in the Norperuano oil pipeline.

A group leader said they wanted to ‘catch the government’s attention with this action’ after not receiving enough state help from an oil spill in September

Angela (pictured) had been on a cycling trip through the Peruvian jungle for eight days when they tried to travel through the Cuninico River by boat today and were detained

On September 27, the government declared a 90-day state of emergency in the impacted region, which is home to the Cuninico and Urarinas communities and where about 2,500 indigenous people live.

The 800km-long Norperuano pipeline, owned by state-owned Petroperu, was built four decades ago to transport crude oil from the Amazon region to the ports of Piura, on the coast.

According to Petroperu, the spill was the result of an intentional 21-centimetre cut in the pipeline pipe.