Indigenous leaders from an oil-polluted region of the northern Peruvian Amazon are hailing an agreement they reached this month after months of negotiation with the government to ensure clean up of the sites as well as improved health care and other services. The accord, signed March 10 in Lima, Peru’s capital, will allow the auction of a controversial oil lease to go ahead, though indigenous leaders caution that they will remain “very vigilant” to see that the terms of the agreement amount to more than mere promises. The indigenous leaders and officials from over a dozen government agencies signed off on a 19-point action plan that clears the way for Peru to put Block 192, formerly known as 1AB, up for bidding. The... [Log in to read more]