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A30 world news
Diamars 15 maart 2022

Peru’s ‘worst ecological disaster’ slams small-scale fishing

(AP) — Walter de la Cruz ise was still valid. hopes, have not borne fruit.
scrambled down a large More than a month after that
sand dune in the fog to Many fishermen here don’t visit, state aid does not exist.
reach a rock overlooking have a certificate or papers
the Pacific Ocean, where to prove it is their livelihood. The fishermen have pro-
he has fished for three de- De la Cruz doesn’t. But he tested with their empty nets
cades. He cast a hook into knows that he has been com- in front of the Repsol refin-
the waters off Peru’s coast ing here with a basket to be ery and blocked roads, but
several times, with no filled on his back for 30 years. they still have no answers to
luck. One attempt yielded He normally sells or trades key questions such as: Who
a piece of plastic stained the fish with the owners of caused the oil spill? And how
with oil. restaurants or local home- long before they can return
makers, and take some home to fishing?
De la Cruz, 60, is one of to his wife to prepare in dish-
more than 2,500 fishermen es that can be sold to neigh- Repsol, a Spanish company,
whose livelihoods have been bors. has said huge waves created
cast into doubt as a result of by a volcanic eruption in
a large crude-oil spill at the tain told the South American De la Cruz said he knew im- De la Cruz said he felt “bro- Tonga caused the spill and
Spanish-owned Repsol oil country’s Congress that oil mediately that the oil spread- ken” when he saw his work that the fault lies with the
refinery on Jan. 15. spilled into the ocean for at ing over more than 106 space swarmed by journal- Mare Doricum oil tanker. In
least eight minutes. square kilometers (41 square ists reporting on the oil spill. response, the company that
Peru has characterized the miles) — an area larger than He wanted to tell them and owns the tanker has asked
spill of 11,900 barrels in front Peru — which has a vast in- the city of Paris — would halt the authorities what he felt, that Repsol not disseminate
of a Repsol refinery as its formal economy — does not for the first time the activity so he took a blue ink marker “incorrect or misleading”
“worst ecological disaster.” have exact data on the num- carried out for centuries on and wrote on a piece of card- information as the investiga-
A report by United Nations ber of fishermen affected, or Peru’s Pacific coast. board, “Fishermen we need tion continues.
experts estimates it involved of the people on the docks help please.”
about 2,100 tons of crude, and ports who depend on the Shortly after the spill, the Edward Málaga, a microbi-
well above the 700 tons the fishing industry, including government announced that Peruvian President Pedro ologist and legislator from
International Tanker Owners restaurants, food vendors, it was looking into giving fi- Castillo visited the area, the centrist Morado party
Pollution Federation Limited and those who rent sun um- nancial aid to those affected. passed by De la Cruz, and who has toured the polluted
considers the threshold for a brellas or boats. Authorities took three weeks promised to help. After look- area and spoken with Peru’s
large spill — and an unprec- to come up with a list of 2,500 ing at the puddles of oil, he’d government and Repsol offi-
edented amount for the type One thing is for sure: The af- fishermen whom they would shaken his head and said: cials, said political instability
of crude that leaked. The oil fected artisanal fishermen are help. Two weeks after that, “This can’t be.” is causing paralysis and disor-
was extracted from Buzios, among the most economi- the government said it would der in Castillo’s government
the world’s largest deep wa- cally vulnerable in Peru, har- now be Repsol who would On another beach, Castillo and hindering a response.
ter oil field and the most pro- vesting small amounts of fish give as much as $799 to each had picked up oil-soaked
ductive in Brazil. very close to the coast, some- of the 5,600 people affected sand and acknowledged the Since the ecological disaster
times from small boats and to compensate them for the impact of the spill. “What is in mid-January, there have
The spill happened when the sometimes from the shore, income they’ve lost because the use of giving nets if they been three Cabinet shuffles
Mare Doricum, an Italian- said Juan Carlos Sueiro, an of the spill. The Presidency no longer have a place to and three different environ-
flagged tanker, was unloading expert on the economics of of the Council of Ministers fish?” he said. ment ministers. One of them
oil at the La Pampilla refinery, fishing with the international did not respond to a question was an inexperienced school-
just off Peru’s coast north of conservation group Oceana. from The Associated Press But those presidential words, teacher from the ruling party
the capital. The ship’s cap- about whether the aid prom- which ignited De la Cruz’s who barely lasted a week.

Julian Assange denied permission to appeal by UK’s top court

(AP) — Britain’s top arguable point of law.” The case is now expected to Monday’s news narrows As- Assange’s British lawyers,
court on Monday refused be formally sent to British sange’s options, but his de- Birnberg Peirce Solicitors,
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, 50, has sought for Home Secretary Priti Patel, fense team may still seek to said they can make submis-
Assange permission to ap- years to avoid a trial in the who will decide whether to take his case to the Europe- sions to the Home Secretary
peal against a decision to U.S. on a series of charges grant the extradition. an Court of Human Rights. within the next four weeks,
extradite him to the U.S. related to WikiLeaks’ publi- Nick Vamos, the former head ahead of her making any de-
to face spying charges. cation of a huge trove of clas- A British district court judge of extradition at the Crown cision.
sified documents more than a had initially rejected a U.S. Prosecution Service, said As-
The court said it refused be- decade ago. extradition request on the sange’s lawyers can also seek American prosecutors say As-
cause the case “didn’t raise an grounds that Assange was to challenge other points that sange unlawfully helped U.S.
likely to kill himself if held he had lost in the original dis- Army intelligence analyst
under harsh U.S. prison con- trict court decision. Chelsea Manning steal clas-
ditions. U.S. authorities later sified diplomatic cables and
provided assurances that the Barry Pollack, Assange’s military files that WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks founder wouldn’t U.S.-based lawyer, said Mon- later published, putting lives
face the severe treatment that day that it was “extremely at risk.
his lawyers said would put his disappointing” that Britain’s
physical and mental health at Supreme Court is unwilling But supporters and lawyers
risk. to hear the appeal. for Assange argue that he was
acting as a journalist and is
In December, the High “Mr. Assange will continue entitled to First Amendment
Court overturned the low- the legal process fighting his protections of freedom of
er court’s decision, saying extradition to the United speech for publishing docu-
that the U.S. promises were States to face criminal charg- ments that exposed U.S.
enough to guarantee that As- es for publishing truthful and military wrongdoing in Iraq
sange would be treated hu- newsworthy information,” and Afghanistan. They argue
manely. he said. that his case is politically mo-
tivated.