ABSTRACT
On 5 June 2009 I was surfing the internet to read the Peruvian newspapers. A serious clash in the northern town of Bagua between riot police and a crowd of Awajun and Wampis indigenous people dominated the front-page headlines (see Chapter 1 for more on Bagua). 2 Apparently, there had been several casualties. I immediately thought of my Awajun friends, some of whom I knew had been involved in the protest. A frantic online search for further details confirmed my fears; there had been a bloodbath and Santiago Manuin, the respected Awajun leader and a very close friend of mine, was among the victims. After several phone calls, I managed to piece together what had happened: a bullet had hit Santiago in the abdomen while he was attempting to negotiate the withdrawal of the protesters with the police. His condition was critical but the doctors hoped to save him.
