Peru congress suspends land laws
Parliament suspends legislation that sparked violent Amazon protests.
‘Genocide’
| In video |
 Deadly clashes rock Peru in fight over jungle land |
Protests against the laws turned violent on Friday when police opened fire as they tried to break through a highway blockade manned by thousands of protesters.
Thousands of indigenous people, many armed with wooden spears, have vowed to continue their blockades on remote Amazon jungle highways to defend their ancestral lands from developers.
On Wednesday, Nicaragua granted political asylum to a protest leader accused of sedition after the protests.
Alberto Pizango had accused the government of Alan Garcia, Peru’s president, of “genocide” following Friday’s clashes.
Peru’s indigenous peoples say that Garcia’s government did not consult them in good faith before signing contracts that could affect at least 30,000 indigenous people across six provinces.