Peruvian Amazon people against Talisman Energy

[Toruk Makto]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Gregor MacLennan:     +1 415 487 9600, [email protected]
Leila Salazar-Lopez:     + 1 415 341 5509, [email protected]

Indigenous Blockade River, Thwart Talisman Operations in Peru's Amazon
Shuar join Achuar in demanding oil company abandon Block 64


Loreto, Peru – More than 100 Shuar indigenous people have blockaded the Morona River, disrupting Canadian-based Talisman Energy's exploratory drilling operations in remote oil Block 64 of the Peruvian Amazon. At least four of Talisman's cargo boats have been detained in the blockade that started in the early hours of Sunday morning near the community of Puerto Juan. The action highlights escalating tensions between local indigenous groups and the oil company.

"[We] want to protect our territory from indiscriminate exploitation and abuse of our renewable and non-renewable resources," said the Shuar (locally known as Wampis) in a statement, "Talisman has not completed the prior process of consultation and relevant agreements in the framework of respect of the Shuar people of Morona...we do not want Talisman in Shuar territory."

Block 64 overlaps Achuar, Shapra, Shuar and Kandoshi indigenous territories and the Pastaza River Wetland Complex, a site acknowledged under the Ramsar Convention as one of the most productive aquatic ecosystems in the Amazon rainforest. The wetlands in the middle of Block 64 are crucial fishing and hunting grounds for hundreds of surrounding indigenous families and drain into Lake Rimachi, the largest lake in the Peruvian Amazon.

The Achuar, the largest population affected by Block 64, have repeatedly called on Talisman to halt oil exploration in the block, which affects a remote watershed between the Pastaza and Morona rivers in the heart of Achuar ancestral territory.

"The Achuar, Shuar, Kandoshi and Shapra are all in consensus: we want Talisman to leave immediately," said Peas Peas Ayui, President of the Achuar Federation FENAP.

The Shuar are calling for an alternative form of development, without contamination and discrimination, which would respect their way of life, spirituality, and self-determination. They cite the accusations against Talisman in Sudan for assisting human rights abuses, and accuse the company of provoking conflict in Block 64.

"Talisman must respect the decision of the indigenous people living in and around Block 64 and halt oil exploration," said Gregor MacLennan, Peru Program Coordinator at Amazon Watch. "The Shuar, together with the Achuar and other indigenous groups, are sending a clear message that they do not want to risk contaminating important watersheds and their ancestral hunting and fishing grounds by allowing oil development to go ahead."

The Shuar say they will continue the blockade until senior representatives of the company and government offer guarantees and commitments that the indigenous communities' demands will be met.

Talisman Energy began drilling in Block 64 in 2004 and has discovered "high-quality" crude that would allow production of 5,000 barrels a day, according to state oil contracting agency Perupetro. Talisman plans to cut new seismic lines and drill new exploratory wells in the next six months and is planning to begin production in 2012 if the new wells show the find to be commercially viable despite indigenous opposition.

Download the Shuar public statement here.

For more information, visit the Amazon Watch website.

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[Toruk Makto]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 2, 2011

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Mitch Anderson:     +1 415-342-4783, [email protected]
Caroline Bennett:     +1 415-487-9600, [email protected]

Amazonian Indigenous Leader Confronts Talisman in Calgary

Achuar grow support across Canada; condemn Talisman operations in ancestral territory

Calgary, Canada – After a two week campaign tour through four Canadian cities to raise awareness about Canada-based Talisman Energy's controversial operations in the Peruvian Amazon and culminating in the company's hometown of Calgary, Achuar leader Peas Peas Ayui returns today to the Peruvian Amazon without a commitment from Talisman to respect the Achuar people's rights. 

"I have told the CEO of Talisman, John Manzoni, that the Achuar people do not want oil operations in our ancestral territory, but Talisman refuses to respect our right to live in peace and harmony," said Ayui, newly elected president of the National Achuar Federation (FENAP). "I am worried about the conflict that Talisman is creating between Achuar brothers and sisters, and I am worried about the environmental destruction that oil will cause if Talisman continues to disrespect us." 

The Achuar traveled to Calgary in 2008 and 2010 to inform Talisman directors and shareholders that the company is operating in Peru in ancestral territory without the permission of the Achuar people. Despite a commitment to only work with community consent and a new Global Community Relations Policy recognizing the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous peoples, Talisman continues to drill for oil in the heart of Achuar territory without consultation or consent of the people who live, hunt and fish around their oil wells.

"Talisman appears to care more about its public image than it does about truly respecting the rights of communities where it operates," said Gregor MacLennan, Peru Program Coordinator for the environmental organization Amazon Watch, who accompanied Ayui in Canada. "Talisman's operations in Peru are creating conflict and division, and pose a great threat to the lives and culture of the Achuar people."

Since arriving in Peru in 2004, Talisman has steadily expanded operations and, as of 2011, has operating and non-operating interests in more than 12 million net acres in the Marañon Basin of Northern Peru. In Block 64, which overlaps the ancestral territory of the Achuar people, light oil was discovered in 2005 and confirmed in 2009. Since then, the majority of Achuar people located within Block 64 have rejected Talisman's plans to expand seismic testing and drill further exploratory wells in hunting and fishing grounds in the heart of their territory.

"We have seen how oil drilling causes contamination and foments divisions between families, it doesn't bring development," said Peas Peas Ayui. "The Achuar people have chosen to defend our territory so that our children and future generations can live peacefully in our Amazonian homeland."

For more information, please visit www.amazonwatch.org

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[Toruk Makto]

We just received an urgent call from two Catholic priests in Achuar territory in the northern Peruvian Amazon, concerned that Canadian oil company Talisman Energy is fomenting severe divisions between indigenous communities, creating a real risk of conflict.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAFHEHO5c8

Amazon Watch link

I have just returned from a trip to Canada with Achuar leader Peas Peas Ayui where he made a direct demand of Talisman CEO John Manzoni: leave Achuar territory. Regardless, Talisman continues its relentless search for oil in the region, resorting to dangerous industry practices: divide and conquer.

In their testimony Padre Diego and Padre Bola, who have worked in the region for a combined total of 60 years, recount signs of oil company bribery, ecological disruption, death threats, and even the first cases of sexually transmitted diseases as the situation around Talisman's operations on the Pastaza and Morona rivers deteriorates.

Now is the time for action: The Achuar have fought hard to keep their rainforest home free from oil drilling, but over the next six months Talisman will be deciding whether to move into production.

Write to Talisman now and demand they respect the Achuar people.

]
Gregor MacLennan Gregor MacLennan
Peru Program Coordinator

[Toruk Makto]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 13, 2011

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Gregor MacLennan:     +1 415-494-7378, [email protected]
Caroline Bennett:     +1 415-487-9600, [email protected]

Talisman Provokes Violence in Peruvian Amazon
Testimony reveals shocking new threats to indigenous people

Loreto, Peru – Canadian oil company Talisman Energy's operations in northern Peru are causing conflict and division in Achuar and Shuar-Wampisa communities and risking lives, according to Salesian missionary priest Father Diego Clavijo and indigenous Achuar leader Peas Peas Ayui. Talisman is drilling exploratory oil wells in Oil Block 64 in a remote area of the Peruvian Amazon near the Ecuador border against the wishes of the majority of the indigenous Achuar peoples who live within the oil block

"We are on the verge of genocide," said Father Diego, who has worked with the Achuar and the Shuar-Wampisa people downriver from Block 64 for ten years. "The presence of Talisman is generating conflict between those who accept and those who don't accept the company, and a conflict like this here in the jungle runs the risk of costing many lives."

In a testimony given over satellite phone from the remote Amazon community of Kuyuntsa, Father Diego, together with Father Luis Bola, who has lived in the region for 50 years, expressed their concern that Talisman's strategy of divide and conquer and underhand methods of convincing communities to accept the company is causing a real risk of conflict. They recounted events surrounding a peaceful protest against Talisman by the Shuar-Wampisa in September where a group of Achuar who side with Talisman confronted the protestors with arms, almost resulting in bloodshed.

The majority of Achuar are opposed to Talisman's presence in the region. Earlier this month Achuar leader Peas Peas Ayui traveled to Canada to confront Talisman's CEO John Manzoni over the company's ongoing operations against the wishes of the Achuar people. Peas Ayui is President of the National Achuar Federation of Peru (FENAP) that represents 42 Achuar communities and the majority of Achuar people living within Block 64.

"Talisman has convinced a handful of Achuar communities, eight villages, to allow them to drill, but they do not have the consent of the majority of Achuar people," said Peas Ayui. "Their operations threaten a critical hunting ground in the heart of Achuar territory, and they are dividing families through their insistence on trying to convince people."

The Peruvian government first created Block 64 in 1995 during the Fujimori dictatorship without consultation or consent from the Achuar people who live there. Successive oil companies were unable to start drilling due to the united resistance of the Achuar people.

Talisman first acquired an interest in Block 64 with Occidental Petroleum in 2004, and Talisman became operator in 2007. During Oxy and Talisman's presence in the region the Achuar organization FENAP was divided and two new small organizations were created, FASAM and Nuevo OSHAM, representing five communities in the North West corner of Block 64, and three communities just outside the block on the tributaries of the Morona River. FENAP continues to represent 42 communities and the majority of communities inside Block 64 – 25 communities – and has never signed any agreement with Talisman.

"Oil companies like Talisman need to learn that being a responsible company means more than good policies and community investment projects," said Gregor MacLennan, Peru Program Coordinator at Amazon Watch. "It means making decisions and changing behavior to respect human rights, and it means respecting the Achuar and leaving their territory."

Listen to the testimony here.

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[Seze Mune]

Thank you for keeping us updated on this, ma Toruk Makto. 

I was talking recently with some Canadians who told me that ALL mineral rights to ALL land in Canada belong to the government.  That means if anyone wants to prospect for oil on your land, they can.  If they find it, they can exploit it.  Sure they will pay you for it, and these Canadians were making a LOT of money off their oil wells.  So much so that they had to find ways to defer income like social security so that their taxes wouldn't be excessive.

Could it be that the Canadian people themselves are being exploited and they are too complacent to realize this...therefore they don't really care what their corporations do offshore?

[Kamean]

Irayo for posting this ma Toruk Makto.

[Tsmuktengan]

Not sure Canadians people are exploited. There are laws to protect the people there, and Canada is supposed to be serious about this there (although they are not serious at all with environment).

I feel like I am not surprised by the events in Peruvian Amazon as I read this release.

[Toruk Makto]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2012

Contact:
Caroline Bennett, 1 587.333.6301, [email protected]
Mike Byerley, 1 403.992.7515

Achuar Leaders Demand Talisman Vacate Peruvian Amazon 
Canadians support Achuar outside AGM, call on Talisman to respect indigenous rights
Interviews, hi-res photos & b-roll available upon request


Calgary – Canadians rallied in support around Peruvian indigenous leaders who spoke out against Talisman in the company's Annual General Meeting of shareholders today. Thirty Canadian environmental organizations, First Nations and unions issued a statement calling on Talisman Energy to respect the demands of the Achuar people, the majority of whom have repeatedly insisted Talisman leave their ancestral territory.

A similar message was echoed by dozens of protestors gathered outside the meeting and by the Green Party of Canada, who issued a press statement yesterday in support of the Achuar.

"This is the fourth time that my people have sent a delegation to Calgary. Talisman is operating in our territory without our consent and they must leave," said Peas Peas Ayui, President of the National Achuar Federation of Peru (FENAP). "Talisman continues to ignore our demands and is attempting to divide our people as they drill for oil on our ancestral lands."

The Achuar delegation recently traveled to Ottawa where they met with 11 New Democratic Party (NDP) Members of Parliament and Green and Liberal party representatives to build solidarity in their efforts to defend their territory from oil development. The delegation continued on to Fort McMurray to meet with Canadian First Nations and learn from their experience of oil development in Canada.

"Talisman says there will be no contamination as a result of their use of advanced technology, but we know that science and technology can fail," said Ampush Ayui Chayat, a representative of the Achuar organization ATI. "There has already been contamination around exploratory wells. Any accident where Talisman is drilling would irreversibly destroy the heart of our ancestral territory."

The statement issued today by a diverse coalition of 30 indigenous, environmental and human rights organizations and unions also called on the Canadian government to refrain from funding or otherwise supporting companies that operate without free, prior and informed consent. Since 2006 Export Development Canada (EDC) has dispersed four loans, each ranging from $100-$250 million, to Talisman.

Yesterday in a private meeting between Talisman and the Achuar, CEO John Manzoni claimed his company is not operating in areas of Peru where the company is not wanted, despite having never consulted or visited the majority of Achuar people living within its oil concession. A recent report by the North South Institute on Talisman's activities in Peru also calls into question Manzoni's claims:

"Through our fieldwork and analysis, we were not able to identify any situation where the community and its decision-making bodies on all levels, including assemblies, had granted their free, prior and informed consent for exploration activities."

Background: The Achuar people live on both sides of the Peru-Ecuador border in the Amazon rainforest. Since 2004 Calgary-based Talisman Energy has been drilling exploratory wells in a remote watershed in the heart of Achuar territory in an important hunting a fishing grounds, despite strong opposition from the majority of Achuar people who live in Oil Block 64, which overlaps the majority of Achuar territory in Peru. Talisman is accused of creating divisions and provoking conflict in the region in efforts to get sign-off on their drilling in local communities, and continues to ignore calls from Achuar leadership to leave Achuar territory.

The delegation has arrived in Calgary to demand that Talisman Energy cease oil drilling in their ancestral territory. The group recently visited Ottawa, where they met with members of Parliament and NGO allies; and Fort McMurray, where they worked to build alliances with First Nations and raise awareness about Talisman's abuses against their rights. They will continue on to Vancouver May 3-6 and Haida Gwaii, BC May 6-8 before return to the Peruvian Amazon.

More information:

• amazonwatch.org
• The North-South Institute's policy brief: A House Undermined: Transforming relations between mining companies and Indigenous Peoples in the Americas
• Statement from the Green Party of Canada: Talisman Failing to Respect Indigenous Rights in Peru

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[Seze Mune]

Thank you for the update, ma Toruk Makto. This is very sad.

[allrock123]

I have been following these issues very closely, and the problems facing Achuar and Shuar-Wampisa communities I feel are very upsetting , the oil company (Talisman energy) and mining company (Doroto Resources)  have been using a tactic in some areas to play the people aganst each other, brother fighting brother,and its ripping there community apart , David Suzuki created a very powerful documantary tying Avatar and what the communitys are facing there called The nature of things "The Real Avatar" produced by the CBC Canada try and view it on there site and you will be met with a message this contant is not advable outside Canadia, here is a site where you can view the documantary in the united states here in a very long link , http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?&p=the+nature+of+things+the+real+avatar&vid=1239554523542&dt=30173915&l=0&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1239554523542%26id%3Dcd0c1111cf2e9fbafa315f3f22bfc117%26bid%3DH%2bjMsCfaFmW%2bCg%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%3a%2f%2fblip.tv%2fzgraphix%2fthe-real-avatar-the-nature-of-things-4925931&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fblip.tv%2Fzgraphix%2Fthe-real-avatar-the-nature-of-things-4925931&tit=The+Real+Avatar+-+The+Nature+of+Things&sigr=124c9n56r&newfp=1