1. Various of workers marching down the streets of Lima carrying banners and flags as they protest against the government 2. Line of police officers guarding and monitoring the protest march 3. Mid of people carrying a large banner reading in (Spanish) "Let the crisis be paid off by rich people and not by the poor." 4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Olmedo Auris, Vice president of the General Federation of Workers of Peru (Confederacion General de Trabajadores del Peru CGTP): "Well this is a political response to the implementations of this government, which have brought about hunger and misery to the Peruvian people, and even more, repression. The problems are not solved fast enough, they (referring to the government) do not live up to their word, documents are signed, but things are never carried out, so the general population across many sectors of society feels let down." 5. Various of people marching 6. UPSOUND (Spanish) Protesters: "State of emergency, shame throughout the nation!" 7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose Ballesteros, Indigenous Leader: "The reason we have come here to the Plaza Dos de Mayo (in downtown Lima), is because unfortunately the government doesn't want to hear, and even more, pay attention to indigenous people. We want the government to derogate the legislative decree which threatens against Amazon territory and the people of Peru. " 8. Mid of protesters carrying banners down the streets of Lima as people chant: UPSOUND (Spanish) "They (referring to the government) will not be able to silence the popular protest" STORYLINE: Thousands of demonstrators including leaders of indigenous communities and union officials took to the streets of the Peruvian capital, Lima, on Wednesday, marching on Congress to demand the government repeal laws facilitating a free trade pact with the US. Protestors expressed their support for the country's indigenous populations who are demanding that President Alan Garcia's government revoke a set of laws they say will open their ancestral lands to private development and exploitation, including more drilling for oil, logging, mining and large-scale farming. The protestors also called for higher salaries for union workers and requested that the government repeal a series of demands made by the United States in order to approve a Free Trade Agreement between both countries. Olmedo Auris, Vice president of the General Federation of Workers of Peru, said the actions of Garcia's government has "brought about hunger and misery to the Peruvian people, and even more, repression." Jose Ballesteros, an indigenous leader, accused the government of forgetting about and not paying attention indigenous communities. "We want the government to derogate the legislative decree which threatens against Amazon territory and the people of Peru," he added. Last week they said they would withdraw a call for an insurgency against the government, but vowed to press ahead with their protests. The protests, against decrees aligning Peruvian law with a free-trade deal with the US, have affected production at oil wells owned by Argentina's Pluspetrol, French-English Perenco, Petroperu and Talisman. Garcia defended the laws as needed to help impoverished Peru develop. But Amazon groups say the laws would pave the way for their ancestral lands to be taken over by multinational companies. Earlier in the day, hundreds of indigenous peoples from the Peruvian Amazon threatened to block the entrance to the world-famous Machu Picchu ruins if the government failed to retract a controversial decree they say threatens their landrights. Fearing outbreaks of violence, the train company PeruRail announced they were suspending all services to the ruins as a precautionary measure. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bfe23e97acc10568a658a4e3503adc02 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 23 Jul 2015
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