Church leaders criticize Peru's Amazon development plans

Published: 2008-04-16

BARRANQUITA, Peru (CNS) -- Catholic Church leaders in the Peruvian Amazon said the government's development plans for the region pose a threat to indigenous people and to small farmers who have migrated to the tropics. In a statement issued after an Amazonian indigenous ministry meeting, six bishops and more than 20 other church workers said that "national development policies involving the Amazon must respect existing cultures, the environment and human rights." They also called for the government to promote "development models based on inclusion, equality and justice." In the statement, the bishops expressed "particular concern" about private investment in the Amazon, the "concession and sale of land and forests, and mining and petroleum exploration and production," saying the measures increase social and environmental conflict in the Amazon. "There is a lack of a comprehensive vision for the region," Bishop Jose Astigarraga Lizarralde of Yurimaguas told Catholic News Service.

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