Photos Reveal 'Amazon Tiananmen'

Curfew in place after clashes kill dozens of indigenous people, police

(NEWSER) - An uneasy peace has returned to northeast Peru after 3 days of clashes between indigenous people and security forces that left dozens dead, CNN reports. A curfew is holding, and both police and protesters say they want to settle their dispute through nonviolent means. The leader of the indigenous rights group that began the protest has fled to the Nicaraguan embassy in Lima. More»

(NEWSER) - The Peruvian Army has imposed a curfew and set up checkpoints following deadly clashes with indigenous tribes protesting plans to drill for oil and gas in ancestral homelands in the Amazon region, reports the BBC. Dozens of people, both police and protesters, were killed in the clashes that mark the biggest outbreak of violence since the Shining Path insurgency in the 1990s. Indians armed with wooden spears continued to black roadways today. More»

Uncontacted tribe missing after traffickers overrun lands

(NEWSER) - Authorities in Brazil fear that a "lost" tribe deep in the Amazon has been wiped out after encountering the outside world at its worst. The tribe, which had never previously been contacted by outsiders— and was photographed earlier this year aiming bows and arrows at a plane flying over their homes —is missing, and authorities believe they were either massacred or forced to flee deeper into the jungle by drug traffickers moving over the border from Peru, LiveScience reports. More»

Decision hailed as major victory for indigenous people

(NEWSER) - Peru's Congress has revoked two laws that led to bloody clashes between police and indigenous protesters, CNN reports. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of ditching the laws that opened up the country's Amazon region to mining, logging, and oil companies. Dozens of people died earlier this month when police moved in on indigenous people blocking roads to protest the exploitation of their ancestral lands. More»

Warriors aim arrows at aircraft

(NEWSER) - One of the last remaining Amazon tribal communities yet to have contact with the outside world has been photographed from the air, reports the BBC. The photos show startled, red-painted tribesmen aiming arrows at the aircraft overhead. Members live in thatched huts near Brazil's remote Peruvian border. More than half the world's 100 uncontacted tribes live in Brazil or Peru. Brazil's government took the photos as part of a push to protect the tribes. More»