A two day stike in response to the US military setting up a base in the area shut down Ayacucho on July 8th and 9th. Most businesses closed, and all motorized transportation stopped. Marches ended in the burning of US flags in the main square, while the crowd chanted ¨fuera Norteamericanos de Ayacucho,¨ meaning ¨go away North Americans of Ayacucho.¨ The US says that the military is only there for humanitarian aid work, but the people fear that their real motives include expanding the drug war and opening the door for US corperations who want to exploit the Amazon and look for oil.

A two day stike in response to the US military setting up a base in the area shut down Ayacucho on July 8th and 9th. Most businesses closed, and all motorized transportation stopped. Marches ended in the burning of US flags in the main square, while the crowd chanted ¨fuera Norteamericanos de Ayacucho,¨ meaning ¨go away North Americans of Ayacucho.¨ The US says that the military is only there for humanitarian aid work, but the people fear that their real motives include expanding the drug war and opening the door for US corperations who want to exploit the Amazon and look for oil.