Loreto Strike Continues: Protesters Threaten Escalation if Government Fails to Respond

A 48-hour regional strike in Loreto, Peru, entered its second day with protesters warning of intensified actions if the central government fails to address their core demands. The ongoing protest has led to blockades in various parts of Iquitos, involving transport unions, social organizations, and indigenous communities.

Protesters expressed frustration over what they called a "lack of respect" due to the absence of high-level officials from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM). They sought representatives with decision-making authority to discuss pressing issues. The strike's main grievances include calls for reduced fuel prices, decisive action against illegal mining, the integration of Iquitos into the National Interconnected Electric System (SEIN), and solutions to persistent electricity outages.

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It is a lack of respect if the PCM does not come.

Demands also extend to improvements in health and education services, as well as the protection of Amazonian rivers. Indigenous leaders, like Harodi Figueroa from the Curaray river basin, have also denounced threats against community leaders and demanded action against alleged illegal mining activities, citing the presence of Colombian and Brazilian miners and significant river contamination. Figueroa stated, "We will continue until they are evicted."

The PCM has communicated its willingness to establish a dialogue table, but unions have questioned the proposed timing and the level of the official initiating the talks. As the situation remains tense, blockades persist in Iquitos and on the Iquitos-Nauta highway, with demonstrators vowing to continue until concrete agreements are reached.

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We will continue until they are evicted.