"We've been led to financial ruin." Peru's poor Andean hamlets, backed by state, unleash anger at mines

Record ID: 1650968

  • Title: "We've been led to financial ruin." Peru's poor Andean hamlets, backed by state, unleash anger at mines
  • Date: 14th December 2021
  • Summary: CHALLHUAHUACHO, APURIMAC REGION, PERU (FILE - OCTOBER 14, 2021) (REUTERS) DEAD SHEEP LYING ON GRASS IN FRONT OF LAS BAMBAS MINE GENERAL VIEW OF LAS BAMBAS MINE CHUMBIVILCAS, PERU (FILE - OCTOBER 13, 2021) (REUTERS) MINING TRUCKS PASSING BY ON DUSTY ROAD VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENT, FELICITAS QUISPE, AND HER DAUGHTER, VERONICA MONTES, COVERING THEIR FACES FACE WHILE MINING TRUCKS PASSING BY FELICITAS QUISPE AND VERONICA MONTES HOLDING A DEAD SHEEP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT OF CHUMBIVILCA, VERONICA MONTES, SAYING: "This is how our sheep die because of the pollution, because of the diarrhoea that the dust that settles in the chaff, brings with it." VERONICA MONTES TOUCHING DRY CHAFF TO SHOW DUST ON IT / DEAD ANIMAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT OF CHUMBIVILCA, VERONICA MONTES, SAYING: "The mines are not doing anything? The (dust) pollutes us, kills our animals and decreases the productivity of our crops. What can we do? Unfortunately there is nothing (we can do) anymore. But it is our village, we have to be here no matter what. Where could we go with all of our children?" CHALLHUAHUACHO, APURIMAC REGION, PERU (FILE - OCTOBER 14, 2021) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF LA BAMBAS MINE ENTRANCE PISACASSA, COTABAMBAS, APURIMAC REGION (FILE - OCTOBER 13, 2021) (REUTERS) CHILD HERDING SHEEP TO CROSS ROAD IN FRONT OF MINING TRUCKS VARIOUS OF CATTLE FARMER, GABINO LEON, WITH SICK SHEEP LEON SHOWING DEAD SHEEP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARMER AND RESIDENT, GABINO LEON, SAYING: "The mining and the mineral wealth of Apurimac and Cotabambas goes before our eyes." JOURNALIST ASKING: "What is left for you?" "It leaves us with nothing, we are not suppliers. We are nobody. Practically in Pisacassa de Mara, we are nobody." HUANCANE BAJO, ESPINAR PROVINCE, CUSCO (FILE - OCTOBER 12, 2021) (REUTERS) MINING PITS BEHIND ADOBE HOUSES SICK RESIDENT, FRANCISCO MERMA, WALKING IN FRONT OF ADOBE HOUSES VARIOUS CLOSE UPS OF MERMA SHOWING RESULTS OF BLOOD ANALYSIS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SICK RESIDENT, FRANCISCO MERMA, SAYING: "We have nothing - no water, no electricity, we don't have basic sanitation - and that's how we live. We are neighbours of the (mining) company. But what is it good for? The company being near us is of no use to me." TIME-LAPSE OF GENERAL OF CATTLE MOVING IN FRONT OF THE MINE VARIOUS OF CATTLE FARMER, ELENA ALVAREZ, CLOSING A PEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CATTLE FARMER, ELENA ALVAREZ, SAYING: "Before (the mine), I used to produce milk and make money. Today I have nothing. Everything leaves my pocket. Now we've been led to financial ruin." JOURNALIST ASKING: "What happened with the milk - people don't want to buy it anymore?" "They don't want to buy it anymore because the animals need medical treatment almost every day. The went blind, they suffer diarrhoea because they had that mainly salty water. The animals get sick almost every day. (We have to) inject them medicine almost every day. This is why they (costumers) say that they don't want buy our milk. They don't want to take our milk." MINING PIT / HOUSE OF ELENA ALVAREZ VARIOUS OF ELENA ALVAREZ WALKING WITH HEIR DAUGHTER TOWARDS HER HOUSE VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF ANTAPACCAY MINE
  • Embargoed: 28th December 2021 15:21
  • Keywords: Peru environment mining poverty
  • Location: CHALLHUAHUACHO, PISACCASA, APURIMAC, HUANCANE BAJO, ESPINAR AREA & LIMA, PERU/ INTERNET
  • City: CHALLHUAHUACHO, PISACCASA, APURIMAC, HUANCANE BAJO, ESPINAR AREA & LIMA, PERU/ INTERNET
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: Pollution,Environment,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001F80H4CN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Gabino Leon is angry, and he is not alone.
    The farmer in Peru's southern Apurimac region watches each day as hundreds of trucks carrying copper roar past his adobe home, kicking up dust on a potholed dirt road that has become a lightning rod for protests hitting the world's no. two producer of the metal.
    Leon's rage - echoed in hundreds of small hamlets around the South American nation, Reuters reporting shows - is because, he says, he sees little benefit from that mineral wealth on his doorstep and blames mining for damaging his livelihood as a subsistence farmer.
    "All the wealth of Apurimac goes before our eyes," Leon told Reuters at his home, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from MMG's Las Bambas mine, which started production in 2016 and supplies some 2 per cent of the world's copper. "But it leaves us with nothing."
    Communities around Peru have long been sceptical of the benefits of mining to their lives.
    But they are growing bolder about their demands under socialist President Pedro Castillo, who came to power in July pledging to shake up the mining sector and redistribute copper profits more fairly.
    Reuters travelled hundreds of miles along the mining corridor, through the mineral-rich regions of Apurimac and Cuzco, as well as a separate mining highway in Ancash. Interviews with over 60 people from local communities revealed the main complaints: pollution affecting water sources, a lack of infrastructure or jobs, and dust from trucks locals blamed for killing crops and animals.
    Peru's President Pedro Castillo has ordered local officials to go easy on protesters and has not imposed martial law to maintain order, a tool often used by presidents in the past.
    Mining protests have increased since Castillo came to office, and most take place in Andean localities where he received overwhelming support, according to a report by the non-profit Observatory of Mining Conflicts set to be published on Tuesday. In the province of Cotabambas, home to Leon and Las Bambas, Castillo won 91 per cent support.
    Las Bambas has said it will suspend operations if a new blockade of the mining corridor is not resolved.
    Last month, London-listed silver miner Hochschild saw its shares plummet over 50 per cent after a Peruvian government official said two of its mines would not be granted extensions after the local community complained they had polluted the water. Hochschild said in a filing that it "categorically rejects" the accusations.
    Executives and the government have since said they are in dialogue.
    Blockades of the mining corridor in recent months have also hit Hudbay Minerals Inc's Constancia and Glencore's Antapaccay copper mines, with protests further north temporarily halting operations at Antamina, owned jointly by BHP , Glencore, Teck Resources and Mitsubishii.
    Major mining firms told Reuters that they pay large amounts in taxes, create local employment, and deny that their mines or trucks create harmful pollution.
    But the tensions have put Peru on edge. They raise questions over the future of investment in a country where the economy is dependent on mining income, even as global copper prices soar near record highs.
    Peru's mining firms say they pay their dues.
    Las Bambas has paid 4.9 billion soles ($1.21 billion) in taxes since 2016, it said in a presentation in September.
    Its operations represent some three quarters of the economy of Apurimac, a region of 406,000 people.
    Yet, Apurimac's poverty rate has barely fallen since the mine started operating - it was 35 per cent in 2020, with small gains being undone by the pandemic.
    The figure is above-average for Peru.
    Meanwhile, Castillo, who on the campaign trail slammed mining firms for "pillaging" the country's wealth, is pushing Congress to raise taxes on mining.
    A complaint shared by dozens of farmers that Reuters spoke to is the dust.
    It can be felt viscerally in the air near the mining corridor, which for long stretches is an unpaved dirt road.
    Many in the Apurimac and Cuzco regions it traverses live as smallholder farmers and say the dust harms their produce and their health.
    "(The dust) pollutes, it kills our animals, it decreases the productivity of our crops," said Veronica Montes, as 53 trucks passed her adobe home.
    The Las Bambas mining firm has backed the national government's plan to pave sections of the road and potentially build a railway to carry the metal to the coast.
    In Alto Huarca, further south, residents live in the shadow of Antapaccay's pyramid stack of dry tailings.
    Elena Alvarez said the mine had polluted a river which she used for drinking water for herself and her farm animals, affecting her health, her cattle, and her finances.
    "Before the mine, I used to produce milk and make money, now we've been led to financial ruin," said Alvarez, who has no mains electricity or plumbing.
    Antapaccay chief executive Carlos Cotera denied the mine had polluted the local water.
    "Mineral content in the water, which is a real problem, is related to the natural presence of these minerals in the soil, and not due to the mining operation," he said in a statement to Reuters.
    He added there were issues around mining profits benefiting communities. "We think that the current distribution system has not been able to reduce social divides."
    The government takes an active role to mediate conflicts between companies and local communities, but truces can be tough to negotiate and brief.
    On Monday (December 13), protesters from Chumbivilcas province rejected MMG's latest offer on a deal to avoid a shutdown of Las Bambas, sparking counter-protests from mine workers worried about their jobs.
    The community had reached a deal for more transport jobs at Las Bambas in October, but blocked the road again because they say the number of jobs on offer is too low.
    A three-hour drive along the mining corridor, Leon, the farmer, heard about the protests and thought it might be time for his Cotabambas province to take a similar approach.
    (Production: Carlos Valedez, Eva Weininger)
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