PERU: Humala changes tack on water versus gold
At the close of 2011 the public ombudsman’s office, Defensoría del Pueblo, reported that there were 149 active ‘social conflicts’ across Peru, of which 56 were about ‘socio-environmental’ issues. Among the most recent was the one that has since had the highest profile: the protest against Minera Yanacocha’s US$4.8bn Conga gold and copper project in Cajamarca, which is seen as threatening the surrounding area’s water supply through the displacement of four lakes. The project was approved in 2010 and was scheduled to start producing in 2015; Yanacocha’s main shareholder is the US firm Newmont Mining.
Protests against Conga built up steadily until they erupted last December during a week of violent clashes with police. The vandalisation of the firm’s property by rioters prompted President Ollanta Humala to impose a 60-day state of emergency. The situation became politically charged when the governor of Cajamarca openly sided with the protesters and issued a decree declaring the Conga project “non-viable”.
In January the chief national prosecutor asked the constitutional court to declare the decree unconstitutional, while the interior ministry filed charges against the leaders of the protest, including the governor. This did not deter the protesters who, in early February, launched a ‘national march for water’, which attracted thousands, not only from Cajamarca but also from others joining along the way to Lima through La Libertad and Ancash - or making their way separately from Ayacucho, Ica, Huancayo and Moquegua. In the capital they presented a list of demands that, in addition to the cancellation of the Conga project, included legislation establishing the “intangibility of the headwaters of basins” and banning the use of cyanide and mercury in mining.
On the latter it is worth noting that the use of mercury is prevalent among artisanal miners; it affects the miners and their families through inhalation, while residues can be absorbed by plants and animal life even at a distance from the sites. In late February the government issued a decree penalising illegal mining with prison terms of up to 10 years.
Indigenous organisations demanded that the government amend the new mining law, approved last September and due to come into effect in February. The law extends the obligation of prior consultation with indigenous communities on projects that might affect them, making their prior consent a condition. They also want the amendment to be made retroactive. They warned that if the government did not initiate the amending process within 30 days, they would seek an injunction from the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.
The government has already said it will not give the indigenous communities the right to veto projects and will not make the law retroactive. It has said, on the other hand, that it will have Conga’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) reviewed independently. The protesters say they will conduct their own study and have announced a major new wave of protests starting in early June.
Worth noting: a survey by the polling firm GFK, released in early May, showed that the proportion of respondents opposing the Conga mine countrywide had fallen from 41% to 36% over the previous month; those approving the project had risen from 48% to 54%.
Peru’s mining industry accounts for 15% of the country’s GDP. Last year mining exports brought in a record US$27.5bn - or 59% of all export earnings. The September law had changed the tax régime for mining companies, replacing the old rate of 1%-3% of sales with a new one of 1%-12% of operating profits and adding a windfall tax of 2%-8.4% of net profits. The additional revenue from these changes, the government said, is to be used for social and physical infrastructure.
Violence in Cusco
President Humala, who during his electoral campaign stated that for him “water is more important than gold”, has swung around to attributing political motives to the protesters, most recently after protest actions (in May) in Espinar, Cusco, turned violent and left a toll of two dead and about 100 injured (70 of them police officers, according to the government).
The protests were against Xstrata, proprietor of the Tintaya copper mine, and focused on reports that a study conducted late last year had detected high concentrations of arsenic, aluminium, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and other metals in the Salado and Cañipía rivers, from which seven communities draw their drinking water. The protesters are demanding compensation: the concentration levels have been classified as non-lethal, but a risk of chronic intoxication has been underlined.
On 28 May the government imposed a 60-day state of emergency in the province of Espinar. The mayor of Espinar, who joined the protests, was arrested. Humala, away addressing the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva, denied charges that he was ‘criminalising’ protests; Prime Minister Oscar Valdés Dancuart said it was simply applying the law, while Interior Minister Wilver Calle Girón, a retired general until recently serving as deputy minister for defence policy, said that police in Espinar had been “obliged to respond with force” when they came under attack by protesters.
Two other protests
On 30 April several hundred protesters in Orurillo in the Melgar province of Puno, demanding the closure of the La Poderosa mine, administered by the Ciemsa consortium, set fire the company premises. The protesters claim that the underground silver, gold, zinc and lead mine is polluting the Huacoto River. The government rushed police reinforcements to the area, while the protesters have been announcing an “indefinite” mobilisation.
Throughout May, protesters in La Oroya, Junín, demanded the reopening of the copper, zinc, lead and silver mine run by Doe Run Perú, closed down in 2009 due to financial difficulties and still due to present an environmental management study proving that it had overcome the problems that had earned it inclusion in the list of the world’s most polluted places.
The company’s creditors have appointed a liquidator, but discussions were still taking place in May on a restructuring plan that could allow the mine to continue in operation — an outcome the government is supporting. Energy & Mines Minister Jorge Merino summed up the official stance saying, ‘The government’s position is to support the resumption of operations at La Oroya because we believe we must protect the workers, ensure respect for the environment and, above all, safeguard the health of La Oroya.’
The Oroya miners’ union has objected to the creditors’ choice of administrator, on the ground that it has in the past been fined for irregularities. Congress has been studying draft legislation that would extend the deadline for the presentation of the required environmental adequacy and management programme (Pama in the Spanish acronym). However, the situation is complicated by the fact that Doe Run is suing the Peruvian government for compensation, for allegedly having breached the non-discrimination provisions of the free-trade agreement between the US and Peru.