Peru tribal leaders vow to halt oil output unless indigenous rights respected

Amazon leaders accuse government of blocking consultation on 30-year contract with Canadian oil firm and have given ministers 20 days to apply law

Indigenous leaders from the area around Peru's largest oil field have threatened to block the government from accessing their territories and halt oil production unless an indigenous rights law is applied within 20 days.

The tribal leaders, who hail from four Amazon river basins, accuse the government of refusing to carry out a consultation process even though it is negotiating a new 30-year contract for oil block 192 with Frontera Energy, a Canadian firm, whose current contract expires in early 2019.