Peruvian Protests Against Mining Pollution Expand

As the tense stand-off between Peru’s Humala Administration and the population of Cajamarca over central government support for gold mining against the wishes of the residents, protests over misbehavior by international corporations in Peru is spreading.

On August 6, protesters in Yungay province, Anchash region began taking action against a mining operation that is polluting Huascaran National Park with cyanide, with the local leader complaining that the Humala Administration has shown “no interest.”

This is not the first problem in the Anchash region this year with pollution by mining corporations. A pattern of central government cooperation with international corporations at the expense of local residents is becoming steadily clearer, and the predictable result is rising instability as the population struggles to be heard."

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Points to Watch:

• Peruvian Policy Brutality
• Central Government Treatment of Espinar mayor Óscar Mollohuanca - illegal arrest, returning to negotiating table after being released
• Peruvian Villagers Poisoned by Mine Waste 'Accident'
• Cajamarca strike, Aug. 21
• Centrral government treatment of Cajamarca regional president Gregorio Santos, who is being threatened by officials favoring international corporate investment as a troublemaker rather than a defender of the legitimate interests of the local people and being marginalized to curry favor with international mining corporations

Neo-liberal Crisis Threatens Peru

Crisis threatens Peru, with presumed populist Humala taking a corporatist stand. Rhetoric is hardening on both sides, and no one appears able to define the struggle between the rural poor and international gold mining interests in a positive-sum manner.