Which leads us to our first announcement: drumroll please.....we have internet! As some of you might have known, we used to have to travel to larger cities several hours away such as Trujillo on the coast or Cajamarca in the mountains to get a fast enough internet connection for blogging. Well, Tembladera has now climbed one rung higher on the ladder of modernization with the recent installation of high speed internet cables. We are super psyched! Feel free to skype us anytime; we leave it on most evenings. My user name is nathan.haft.
Another BIG announcement: we have photos up from Sunny, Harmony and Ryman's recent visit! Check it out: http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanhaft/SunnyHarmonyAndRymanVisitForTheUltimateRoadTrip#
For about two weeks at the end of May, my brother (Sunny) and sister (Harmony) and her husband (Ryman) came to visit us here in Peru. We embarked on what can only be described as one of the most incredible road trips ever. From bull fights to epic dance-offs, water rafting to ancient pyramid hiking, town parties and 18-hour bus rides, bumming at the beach and summiting breathtaking peaks, we did it all. We started our journey in historic colonial downtown Lima, then took the long journey up to Tembladera for our town's 3 day annual festival, stopped by Trujillo on the coast to examine some pre-Incan ruins, crossed over to the Cordillera Blanca mountain range for an arduous 3 day trek, and after 24 hours of non-stop bus rides arrived in sunny Mancora beach near the equator to relax for our final few days.
Finally, I wanted to finish off with some opining on local news. Over the past month or so violent riots have been breaking out in the Amazon jungle of Peru. Natives have been protesting a recent law which gives new exploratory rights to foreign oil and gas companies looking to extract resources from the jungle. Natives are worried that the companies will begin to confiscate their land, much of which is occupied by locals without formal property deeds. Thus far approximately 30 police have been killed along with an equal number of natives in clashes between the two groups. Recently Congress voted to repeal the controversial Law of the Jungle, as it has come to be called, and search for new solutions. These incidents raise two important questions here in Peru and in many developing countries. First, where is the balance between pursuing policies which will promote the macroeconomic growth of a country much in need of such growth, and protecting the environmental and human rights of local populations? Second, is rioting/roadblocking/striking the only way for local peoples to gain the attention of the national government and make change happen, and if so, how is the government obligated to respond? In this case, locals lashed out when they felt their voice was not being heard by the central government, and in the end they got the change they wanted, change that in the end was probably just. The central government needed to do a better job from the start working and negotiating with local tribes to ensure that their rights would be protected as new companies searched for resources that could give a considerable boost to macroeconomic growth. The government argues that the resources which exist in the jungle are not sole property of the people in the surrounding regions, but rather of all Peruvians. It is not a decision to be made solely by the tribes, nor solely by the government. Ultimately, I believe there must be a balance. It is simply not economically feasible to say "Hey, let's just outlaw any and all types of natural resource exploitation in our country because we all know how horrible the consequences are." Even a country as powerful and rich as the United States hesitates to let up on its natural resource exploitation for fear of the economic consequences (see recent debates on the new Climate Bill). If Peru were not allowed to extract and sell its own gold, gas, calcium, oil, etc. (or at least tax the companies that do) the economic consequences would be crippling and Peru would be far poorer, with even more of its people lacking the basic services they need to live with dignity. Tembladera itself is a showcase of this dilemma: a local calcium mining company has gradually degraded the town's air quality (debatable according to them, but not according to the health post) but over the years has poured in millions of dollars for development projects in Tembladera and surrounding villages, including electricity, water, infrastructure, schools, etc. But as global consciousness is raised over man's effect on the environment and the meaning of universal human rights, Peru is also becoming more aware that its macroeconomic growth should be handled in a responsible manner. And that is why Congress repealed the Jungle Laws and said "hey, let's look at these laws again and make sure we do it in a way that respects the rights of the locals." I think it was the right move.
In regards to the latter question, it seems that in Peru, yes, often the only way for rural peoples to get the change they want is through roadblocking, strikes and rioting. Peru is a democracy but it is underdeveloped, and it lacks the legal system whereby normal people can make their voice heard. A small anecdote while we are on this topic: One of the first weeks after we arrived in Tembladera I remember being stuck in a roadblock on the way getting back to site. Local farmers were upset that the highway had not been paved despite promises, because the dirt road was kicking up dust onto all of their crops as heavy traffic passed by. We had to deboard the bus, get all of our bags, trek across the roadblock line and find a car on the other side of the roadblock to turn back and get us to site. I remember thinking that it was such an inconvenience for travelers like us, and that the farmers were really disrupting business here. What right did they have? They were punishing us, the innocent ones in the whole affair; why not work it out with the government directly? Much to my surprise, most of the other passengers on the bus were thoroughly understanding of the necessity of the roadblock and the plight of the farmers. "Oh, it's really good they're doing this roadblock," I heard them say. How strange, I thought, that the very people who had to wait hours more to get where they were going were the ones sympathizing with the roadblockers. It would never happen this way in America, I thought. 9 months later, I found myself on a bus traveling on the same road back to town. Only this time, the potholes were worse and the dust was even more suffocating as it poured in through the open window. I turned to Milene, and instinctually said, "Lord, this is horrible, they need to organize some more roadblocks around here to get the message across." I couldn't help but think of the dozens and dozens of times the government had said they would fix the roads in the past 9 months and that construction would begin soon. I even remember once seeing a news conference on television of the president himself proclaiming that the main highway from Trujillo to Cajamarca had been remarkably improved. I laughed along with my host family and we said to each other, "I know he's not talking about our highway!" Only later did Milene and I realize the mental change we had undergone since that first roadblock.
Back to the jungle riots now: These people were essentially doing the same thing, but matters got out of hand when police arrived to disarm the roadblocks. Shots went off, some natives died. Then, large throngs of natives eventually surrounded the police, who then laid down their weapons, and were subsequently bound and massacred with their own weapons. The violence continued to escalate until eventually the Law of the Jungle was repealed by Congress. But what is the lesson people are taught here? That in a democracy, such as Peru, one can murder unarmed policemen in broad daylight, and not only avoid punishment but to the contrary be rewarded with the government's capitulation to your political demands? In the end, the whole situation was tragic. But by repealing the Jungle Law, Congress did what it thought necessary to placate the situation for the time being in hopes that they could get to the bottom of the whole conflict in a reasonable manner. I think, given the circumstances, it was the right choice. I hope that Congress and the central government can engage in a more equal and attentive discussion with natives as to how to find a compromise that respects the rights of locals as resources are tapped for exploitation. After all, Peru is world reknown for its policies which have protected of the Amazon from damage (unlike its neighbor Brazil) and I doubt it plans on ruining that reputation any time soon. Nevertheless, I am shocked by the government's hesitancy to investigate and arrest those natives responsible for the police murders. Perhaps they are biding their time for things to cool down, but there needs to be a serious investigation into the murders of the policeman as well as those of the natives, and all guilty parties should be punished severely giving the unequivocal message that violence is not acceptable when it comes to getting your message across.
That's all for now, but we'll be back on the blog soon!
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