Indigenous Peruvians seize oil-carrying vessels in Amazon

Indigenous Peruvians seize two river vessels transporting oil in an attack with canoes and petrol bombs in the Amazon, according to Canadian company PetroTa.

One of the vessels held since Tuesday has 40,000 barrels of oil on board, company official Jose Luis Medina told TV Peru.In March, Indigenous people occupied an oil pumping station in the Amazon to demand that state-owned firm Petroperu clean up areas damaged by a spill decades ago

Last November, they seized dozens of people on an Amazon River boat, took tourists hostage on another, and blocked all river traffic to protest a lack of government aid after an oil spill.Peru has been hit by a series oil spills in recent years, closing beaches and tourism businesses and robbing people of their livelihoods, including fishing.