Peru to suspend controversial land decrees

Peru’s legislature voted to temporarily suspend two controversial decrees that have been at the crux of conflicts between indigenous protesters and police.

The stop-gap measure by Peru’s Congress halts President Alan Garcia’s decrees over land use in the Amazon region. Today’s 59-49 vote could conceivably be vetoed by Garcia though it would hurt the slim odds of negotiations between the government and protest leaders.

Thousands of indigenous people have protested over Garcia’s orders which they view as an illegal land grab while also ignoring the region’s social needs. Garcia claimed that the U.S.-Peru free trade pact gave him special powers to implement the laws. In the meantime, at least fifty people died over the weekend in clashes between soldiers and demonstrators.

Today’s congressional decision comes as local groups in solidarity with those in the Amazon are planning their own rallies:

The vote also comes on the eve of a strike called by the country's powerful leftist labor umbrella group, the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP).

Mario Huaman, the CGTP's top leader, said there would be a protest march ending at the presidential palace in Lima to reject "the arrogant, intolerant, overbearing and discriminatory attitude of the government towards the Amazon communities."

Other protest marches, including marches held by indigenous protesters in Amazon cities, are planned in Peru's main cities.

Image- BBC news
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, AFP, Al Jazeera English, BBC news