AMERICA/PERU - The activist who fought for the Amazonian forest, against the deforestation of his land killed

Friday, 19 September 2014

Lima (Agenzia Fides) - Edwin Chota, a leader of the Ashaninka community of the High Tamaya, in Peru, was killed along with three other members of his ethnic group, in an area on the border between Brazil and Peru. Edwin Chota, had received frequent death threats from illegal loggers, who he had tried for years to expel from the lands for which his community was seeking title. Illegal loggers were suspected in the killings. "Loggers threaten us. Intimidate us. And they are armed" said Edwin Chota in a letter he presented about a year to the government of Lima in which he highlighted that he and other leaders had received death threats for their fight against the deforestation of the forest. After many years of legal battles, Chota had obtained the certification of his native community, but his complaints against the illegal activities of loggers in his lands and those in the surrounding area had not received proper attention. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 19/09/2014)


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