- Amazon residents have taken about 70 tourists hostage in protest against the government.
- Among them is apparently also a person with a Swiss passport.
- With the kidnapping, the villagers want to get the government to do something about an oil leak in the region.
The EDA is aware of the kidnapping, according to SRF. The vacationers would be held on a ship on the Marañón River, said the community leader of the village of Cuninico, Watson Trujillo Acosta, on radio station RPP.
Among the passengers on the ship are tourists from the USA, Spain, France, Great Britain and Switzerland. Everyone is fine. If there are old people or sick people among them, they are allowed to disembark, Trujillo Acosta said.
At the request of SRF, Léa Zürcher from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA writes that the Swiss embassy is in contact with the authorities on site. Clarifications are in progress.
Oil leaked from pipeline
By arresting the vacationers, the villagers want to persuade the government to do something about an oil spill in the region. Most recently, oil had repeatedly leaked from a pipeline belonging to the energy company Petroperú and had polluted the Marañón river.
“We demand that a state of emergency be declared and that a commission led by the president visit our region,” said village leader Acosta. Petroperú said that the pipeline is being deliberately damaged again and again.
Legend:
The villagers want the President to visit their region. (icon picture)
EPA/PAOLO AGUILAR
More than 50 cases of damage have been registered since December last year. According to its own information, the company took care of cleaning up the affected areas and supplied the residents with drinking water and food.