The attack took place on Thursday last week but was not made known until this week. Now indigenous activists say at least two loggers have been shot dead with arrows in a clash with members of the “uncontacted” indigenous people Mashco Piro, reports The Guardian.
The indigenous activists have for some time criticized the Peruvian government for not formally recognizing and protecting the indigenous peoples and their territory.
– There are people injured, dead and missing – we don’t know what is happening or what has happened, said Eusebio Ríos, vice president of the regional indigenous federation Fenamad, which makes up 39 indigenous groups, on Tuesday.
He demanded that loggers be evacuated from the area after the confrontation.
– Fenamad has long demanded that this territory be properly protected for the indigenous population, continues Eusebio Ríos.
“An avoidable tragedy”
Caroline Pearce, the executive director of the organization Survival International, criticizes the authorities’ sale of land for logging.
– This is a tragedy that was completely avoidable. The Peruvian authorities have known for years that this area they chose to sell off for logging was actually Mashco Piro’s territory.
The attack occurred near the Pariamanu River in Madre de Dios province, an area of Mashco Piro’s ancestral territory that has now fallen within a logging concession.
A similar attack occurred in the same area in August, where at least one logger was injured. Also in 2022, one woodcutter was killed by arrows, and another was injured.