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29th Mar 2024

EU trade talks with Peru continue despite government violence

A coalition of development NGOs has expressed concern at the European Commission's decision to continue negotiations on a free trade agreement with Peru this week, despite government attacks on indigenous protesters in the country earlier this month that resulted in over 30 deaths.

In a recent letter sent to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, a coalition of NGOs called for the talks - currently taking place in Bogota, Colombia - to be suspended.

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  • Peru's indigenous leaders claim the current FTA with the US threatens their livelihoods (Photo: newneonunion)

"Peru has entered a new stage characterised by a deterioration in social peace, including serious human rights violations that can not be left unnoticed during negotiations," reads the letter.

The violence erupted on 5 June when the Peruvian government sent in troops to break up roadblocks in the north of the country, set up by protesters from Peru's indigenous population who say a recent free trade agreement with the US threatens their livelihoods by transferring land and resource rights to foreign companies.

The EU's executive has defended its decision to continue talks for a similar FTA with Peru.

"The European Commission remains committed to a free trade agreement with Andean countries that will benefit all sides," the commission's trade spokesman, Lutz Guellner, told EUobserver.

"Provisions on the mining and extracting industries are envisaged as part of the final agreement, but the EU is committed to including flexibilities that allow Peru and others to restrict market access, in particular to preserve the rights of indigenous communities," said Mr Guellner.

EU trade agreements

Frustrated by slow progress in multilateral trade talks pursued through the World Trade Organisation, the EU adopted its "Global Europe" strategy in October 2006 with the goal of securing trade agreements with regional trading blocks and individual countries.

However, subsequent talks with the Andean Community, which groups together Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, stalled last year, with Bolivia's left-wing government of Evo Morales deciding to call off the discussions with the EU, citing unfair terms.

Recent comments by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa suggest it too is likely to pull out, leaving the EU to negotiate with the right-wing governments of Peru and Colombia.

"We are very concerned about the bias, the direction being taken by the negotiations," said Mr Correa last month.

Friends of the Earth trade campaigner Charly Poppe, whose organisation has followed the negotiations closely and is one of the signatories on the letter to Mr Barroso, told this website that an agreement between the EU and Peru had the potential to cause more unrest in the South American country.

"It will be very much a copy of the agreement that Peru has with the US that sparked all the criticism and from the information we have ... it's going to be even more stringent in terms of the rules that it will put in place for Peru," he said.

If the FTA goes through, "it will restrict even more the ability of indigenous populations to have control of their resources," he added.

Government backdown

On Tuesday (16 June), the Peruvian government appeared to back down on the controversial land laws introduced by presidential decree as part of the country's FTA with the US.

Peru's prime minister, Yehude Simon, said his government would introduce a bill into parliament this week that would revoke the controversial land laws, adding that he intended to step down once the country regains peace, according to the BBC.

However, he also insisted the reversal would not jeopardise the country's free trade agreement with the US.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia meanwhile signaled he intended to move ahead with development policies based on free trade and foreign investment.

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