Peru tries to expel Paul McAuley "Incendiary gringo priest"

[nemesis]

Interesting article about a Catholic priest who is supporting the tribal peoples in Peru to resist the devastation of their lives by oil companies and who has thus incurred the wrath of the Peruvian authorities.

I appreciate that this might sound a bit like the "great white saviour" cliche but, from the article, it does seem like he's putting himself in a dangerous situation to support tribal people and doing a lot to help them.  He appears to be a good ally.

I do not know if anyone else has heard anything about him and I would be interested to know more.

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/americas/peru+tries+to+expel+aposincendiary+gringo+priestapos/3710397

[educatedindian]

Most likely the govt is making him a scapegoat. Their behavior is pretty horrifying, an outright massacre of demonstrators they committed a few months back, followed by charging the demonstration leaders with terrorism.

I hadn't heard of McAuley before you brought this up. This site shows him as the head of the Loreto Environmental Network. It lists all the groups that have signed letters of support for his case, mostly Catholic social justice or liberation theology groups, but also think tanks, human rights groups, and a professor.
http://www.redambientalloretana.org/

[nemesis]

Thanks Al

I sometimes feel overwhelmed with anger and sadness that the horrors of genocide (it seems to me that this is what it is is) are still continuing, largely unnoticed, in various places the world.

It is also sad, but true, that European people usually have more clout internationally than tribal people living in non-industrial environments for obvious reasons including language, literacy, connections to the outside world, not facing racism, etc.

Speaking personally, I do think that, once we are aware of such terrible injustices, it is our duty to help tribal people facing genocide. It seems to me that this priest is risking his safety, possibly his life, to help his friends and this means that he is a good man. 

The link you provided is interesting and I will check it out thoroughly.