Environmentalists, human rights advocates and church workers are speaking out in defense of a British Catholic missionary here whom Peru’s government has threatened with expulsion. On July 2, Peruvian immigration officials informed Brother Paul McAuley, a member of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching order, that his residency had been revoked, and gave him seven days to leave the country. Authorities attribute the order to McAuley’s participation in public protests, apparently referring to his involvement with an environmental group in the northeastern city of Iquitos, where he works. The group, called Loreto Environmental Network, has challenged the government’s aggressive push for timber and oil and gas concessions in the region. On July 7, a judge in Iquitos granted McAuley’s habeas corpus petition... [Log in to read more]