Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Peru prime minister says planning to quit after clashes
Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:30pm EDT

LIMA, June 16 (Reuters) - Peruvian Prime Minister Yehude Simon said on Tuesday he plans to quit as opposition leaders demanded President Alan Garcia fire him for failing to avert deadly clashes between police and indigenous groups.

Simon said he will stay in his job leading Garcia's cabinet long enough to persuade Congress to repeal two controversial laws that tribal groups say would speed destruction of the Amazon.

Tribes have said they would call off lingering protests if legislative decrees 1090 and 1064, which they fear would turn the rain forest over to foreign mining and energy companies, are struck down. [ID:nN06294730]. Congress is expected to vote to repeal them in the next few days.

"Obviously, I am going to go for sure as soon as all is calm, in the coming weeks," he said on RPP radio, a day after apologizing to indigenous leaders and saying the government failed to win their support before passing the laws.

In the worst crisis since Garcia took office in 2006, at least 34 people died in police raids ordered 11 days ago to break indigenous blockades of roads and rivers in the rain forest that started in April. Both police and protesters died.

Before the bloodshed, Simon, acting as the government's lead negotiator, pleaded for weeks with tribes to lift their blockades. But he refused to review the disputed laws that were designed to lure billions in foreign investment to Peru.

Since the clashes, the government has backtracked to avert more violence. On Monday, Simon signed a pact with indigenous leaders in which he promised to ask Congress to overturn the laws.

Garcia, whose approval rating is at 30 percent, issued a series of decrees last year using special powers Congress gave him to implement a free-trade agreement with the United States. Tribes say he went too far and wrote laws that undermine their control over land and natural resources.

The government initially said revoking any of the laws would violate the free-trade deal, but Peru's trade minister later said the U.S. government agreed to support any changes if they helped avoid more conflict.

Simon, a former left-wing activist, was named prime minister last October to help Garcia improve relations with groups representing the poor. Left-wing and right-wing opposition leaders have called for his resignation following the fights. (Reporting by Teresa Cespedes and Terry Wade; Editing by Sandra Maler)

© Thomson Reuters 2009.