A group of Achuar delegates are in Canada this week to confront the Canadian oil company, Talisman Energy, for drilling for oil in their ancestral territory in the Peruvian Amazon. At a press conference yesterday in Ottawa, the Achuar leaders, who are in Canada for the fourth time since 2008, explained that Talisman Energy is already causing serious environmental problems on their ancestral lands as well as social problems. As Peas Peas Ayui, President of the Achuar Federation of Peru FENAP, stated, "Talisman is creating divisions in the community. This is a strategy that Talisman applies in order to create conflicts and weaken us."

Last year, Father Diego Clavijo, a Salesian missionary priest, testified via satellite phone from the remote Amazon community of Kuyuntsa, that Talisman has been buying local support for their drilling operations, creating a divide that runs the risk of exploding into violence.

In the past, the Achuar also “brought charges against Talisman for transporting a group of armed pro-oil community members to confront protesters at a Talisman drilling platform in May 2009,” says Amazon Watch. Fortunately, a violent confrontation was averted, but that is no excuse.

What’s more, Talisman is operating without the expressed consent of the majority of the Achuar peoples, despite company president John Manzoni’s promise in 2008 that “Talisman will not work in Peru in areas in which it does not have an agreement with the community.”

FULL ARTICLE: Achuar Leaders In Canada To Confront Talisman Energy, Build Alliances.