Peru defends Amazon gas plans

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The Peruvian President, Alejandro Toledo, has dismissed protests by environmentalists and Hollywood stars over a controversial gas pipeline project in the Amazon.

Mr Toledo insisted that the Camisea project "respects the environment, ancestral cultures and our people" and said he would not let "extremists" paralyse Peru's development.

On Thursday, 14 celebrities made public a letter they sent to US President George W Bush, urging him to withhold funds from the project. The signatories included Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon, comedian Chevy Chase and musicians Ruben Blades and Sting.

The letter called for "immediate steps to ensure that our tax dollars not contribute to the wholesale destruction of one of the planet's most biodiverse and remote rainforests and to the demise of vulnerable indigenous populations".

Last month the US Export-Import Bank voted against providing a $214m loan for the Camisea project, which is expected to cost $1.6bn.

Peru plans to extract gas from an Amazon field 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) south of the capital Lima - a remote area of virgin rainforest and isolated tribes.

Two 800km pipelines - now 70% built - will then deliver the gas to a terminal on the edge of the Paracas coastal nature reserve, with a spur extending to Lima.

In their letter, the celebrities voiced concern that "much of the gas extracted from Camisea is destined for electricity markets in California".


The Kugapakori-Nahuas and the Yora tribes lost more than half of their population to violent confrontations and simple diseases like the flu as a result of contact with loggers and oil workers.
http://www.ogmios.org/145.htm

August 29- U.S. funding is denied for huge natural gas project in Peru-
The U.S. Export-Import Bank, citing potential damage to Peru's rain forests and indigenous people, rejected $213.6 million in loan guarantees for a giant natural gas project involving two Texas-based energy companies with close ties to the Bush administration. (Halliburton and Hunt Oil)
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-08-29/s_7892.asp

Amazon destruction speeds up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3024636.stm

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