6 July 2011 | News | Resisting neoliberalism | Extractive industries
On the Road
Caravan in defense of water and against mining organized in Peru
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Last Saturday began a mobilization in Peru called “Community Caravan in Defense of Water and the Agroexporting Model”. The caravan, where several social organizations and politicians participate, will end next Friday.
The caravan is organized by the Provincial Federation of Peasant Communities of Ayabaca (Feprocca) and by the Committee of Rondas de Hualcy. It is part of the “Mining Free Zones Campaign”, promoted by the Sustainable Development Front of the Northern Peruvian Border (FDSFNP), Muqui- Red de Propuesta y Accion (CooperAccion) and the Technical Academic Commitee for the Assessment of Environmental Problems (Catapa).
According to Biodiversidad news agency, the caravan aims to “promote the preservation of natural areas and avoid the generation of socio-environmental conflicts caused by the imposition of mining activities within the community territories”. For that reason, the participants of the mobilizations are expected to be in touch with peasant communities they will visit during the caravan, to learn about their strategies to resist the model that is trying to be imposed on them.
The campaign aims to focus the Peruvian society and authorities’ attention on the impacts caused by mining in the Northern Peruvian provinces, since 25% of the lands were granted to companies for mining exploitation purposes.
There are 20 million hectares of land in Peru, nearly 16% of their territory, occupied by mining concessions, economist Jose de Echave, of Red Muqui, told Pulsar news agency: “This growth has taken place thanks to a legal framework that favors investments to the detriment of the community’s interests”.
In the area where the caravan is taking place, the biggest struggle is being held against Rio Blanco project (Majaz mining corporation), an initiative associated with serious human rights violations, including deaths and reports of kidnapping and torture of people who oppose the project. Also, according to Biodiversidad, in a community consultation carried out in 2007, 97% of the local population expressed their opposition to mining in the region.
The organizers of the mobilizations that are part of the “Mining Free Zones Campaign” call the attention on the risks that mining represents for the water supply of the communities, since it pollutes its main water streams”.
