Workers protest in Peruvian capital to call for end to mine standoff

Record ID: 1671179

  • Title: Workers protest in Peruvian capital to call for end to mine standoff
  • Date: 3rd May 2022
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (MAY 3, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LAS BAMBAS MINING WORKERS AND FAMILIES MARCHING ON STREET PROTESTER SHOUTING THROUGH MEGAPHONE (Spanish): “Pedro (Castillo) listen, solve the conflicts.” PROTESTER WEARING MASK SHOUTING AS HE WALKS PROTESTER WALKING WITH BANNER READING (Spanish): “(President) Castillo, solve the Las Bambas social conflict. 9,000 workers will lose their job. We lost 16 co-workers in Huallpachaca already.” PROTESTER HOLDING BANNER WITH PRESIDENT CASTILLO’S PORTRAIT READING (Spanish): “(President) Castillo, where are you at?” (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LAS BAMBAS MINER, JORGE LUIS MOYA, SAYING: “These aren’t new situations. It's been dragging on for years and it affects us financially. The state loses almost 5.2 million soles (1.2 million dollars) a day just by halting production due to these stoppages. We’ve been affected as last year's multiple stoppages in different communities are being reflected this year. We demand the state takes firm decisions, decisions to be able to work safely." PROTESTER MARCHING AND SHOUTING THROUGH MEGAPHONE PROTESTERS MARCHING WITH PERUVIAN FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GENERAL SECRETARY OF LAS BAMBAS MMG WORKERS UNION, ERICK RAMOS, LUNA SAYING: "Our fear as workers, among the colleagues who work in the contracting companies, is that they will start firing people, applying a kind of perfect temporary suspension to us: we don't work, they don't pay us. Isn't that what the President (Pedro Castillo) talked so much about?, 'no more poor people in a rich country.' Nevertheless, he is letting 9,000 workers lose their jobs." VARIOUS OF MINERS AND FAMILIES MARCHING
  • Embargoed: 17th May 2022 22:25
  • Keywords: Las Bambas mine Peru President Pedro Castillo mining workers protest
  • Location: LIMA, PERU
  • City: LIMA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001558503052022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Hundreds of workers from a massive copper mine took to the streets of Peru's capital on Tuesday (May 3), waving flags and chanting slogans that demand the government find a solution to a grinding conflict that has temporarily shuttered the project.
    The conflict over the Las Bambas mine, one of the world's biggest sources of copper and a large contributor to government coffers, has spurred growing uncertainty over the South American country's key mining sector.
    The protesting workers snaked through Lima's downtown as they approached the Congress, worried they might lose their jobs if the conflict is not resolved soon.
    The government declared a state of emergency in the area near the mine on April 27, about two weeks after anti-mine protesters from two local indigenous communities camped out on the property of the mine, which is owned by China's MMG Ltd.
    The protesters argue the mine has not fully honored its past commitments.
    Peru is the world's second-largest copper producer and Las Bambas alone accounts for 2% of the global supply of red metal.
    The unrest dates back to shortly after Las Bambas launched operations in 2016, with locals blocking key roads. But the conflict escalated as the company was forced to shut down the lucrative asset late last month.
    (Production: Carlos Valdez, Sergio Rodriguez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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