Peruvian indigenous community warns of the presence of drug trafficking | News

The leadership of the Peruvian indigenous community Flor de Ucayali, located in the province of Coronel Portillo (Ucayali), warned on Monday about the threats they have received from groups linked to drug trafficking.

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The community requested, in a statement made public through the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle (Aidesep), the urgent intervention of the authorities to guarantee the life and safety of the families.

According to the complaint, "these threats have been made in response to the operations of the Special Project for the Control and Reduction of Coca Cultivation (Corah) in the aforementioned community to destroy the coca maceration wells and confiscate the machinery used for the production of narcotics.

The community expresses that, despite "the threats and the defenseless situation of the community members, who are abandoned and without any type of protection, in a meeting with the community authorities, the Corah executives stated that it is not their role or obligation to protect the population after their interventions".

The indigenous people express concern because, despite the "apparent calm now, we don't know what can happen in the future," warned one of the community members.

In this sense, the note recalls that last May the head of the Flor de Ucayali native community reported on the seriousness of the situation in her community and requested effective action from the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Daniel Maurate, on the occasion of his participation in the National Meeting of Indigenous Defenders.

In that conclave they demanded that "The State must intervene in a multisectoral and strategic manner in areas where there is no presence of state institutions with investment programs and projects for organic agriculture and sustainable use of natural resources."

In July 2022, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights ordered protection measures for the Flor de Ucayali native community. However, these measures were never effective and, on the contrary, drug trafficking continues to advance in the community, representing a serious threat to families.