conacami, friends of the earth
international, civil association labor,
project underground
lima, 16 september 2003
persecuted peruvian farmers oppose
meeting of ministers with mining giants
Peruvian communities denounce tomorrow’s
gathering of mining ministers and the mining
industry as an illegitimate forum to discuss
its theme of sustainable development for the
Andean region. The communities plan to march
to the meeting in protest.
Ministers from South America´s largest
gold producing countries including Bolivia
and Peru, will meet with mining industry
leaders like Newmont, BHP Biliton, and
Anglo-American at the XXVI Mining Convention
in Arequipa, Peru.
This comes at a time when Peruvian
communities have yet to see the benefits of
mining and continue to experience devastating
environmental degradation and human rights
violations as a result of the operations.
´Ín recent years, the persecution of
community leaders seen a steep rise. As
recently as in July, four community leaders
in Cajamarca were killed while defending
their land´ said Miguel Palacin of CONACAMI,
the country`s national organization of mine
affected communities. ´The state should
secure the rights of its citizens instead of
protecting industry he added.
In a recent declaration, farmers called
for the state of Peru to recognize their
right to self determination. The declaration
was drafted last week in Cajamarca, home to
South America´s largest gold mine
Yanacocha.
Recently, Newmont-owned Yanacocha was
reported to employ police force as farmers
denied the corporation entry to their land
where it was attempting to tress pass.
´Newmont´s mining operations around the world
have a long legacy of creating these types of
conflicts´, commented Diana Ruiz of Project
Underground. She added: ´Multinationals such
as Newmont continue to a double standard to
further its profits´.
The Yanacocha mine is heavily supported by
the World Bank. The declaration states that
the communities want to see and end to
funding for such destructive mining
operations.
All over the world, people are calling for
financial institutions to immediately
withdraw from extractive industries´,
commented Janneke Bruil of Friends of the
Earth International. She added ´The World
Bank´s tax payer money has no place in
practices that violate basic human
rights.´
On September 17th, a large group of
campesinos will descend upon Arequipa to
voice concerns and their disagreement with
the Mining Convention.
´Mining policies should not be discussed
without the participation of the communities
that will be affected´ said Gladys Marquez of
Labor- Friends of the Earth Peru. She
continued: `That is the only way to avoid
conflict´.
For more information, contact:
Miguel Palacín, CONACAMI Peru, (51) 470 58
54, (Spanish)
Gladys Marquez, Labor Peru, (51) 961 15 40,
(Spanish)
Janneke Bruil, Friends of the Earth
International, (57) 310 309 0866, (Spanish
and English)
Diana Ruiz, Project Underground, (Spanish
and English)
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