Perú: Crece consenso en torno a jornada de protesta en rechazo a Conga el 29 de agosto

Servindi, 5 de agosto, 2013.- El Frente Único de Defensa de los Intereses del Pueblo (FUDIP) de la provincia cajamarquina de Chota confirmó su participación a la jornada de protesta en contra del proyecto Conga y las empresas mineras que atentan contra las cabeceras de la cuenca, programada para el jueves 29 de agosto.

Otras grupos que han confirmado su participación a la jornada de lucha son los frentes de de defensa, rondas campesinas y otras organizaciones de las provincias de Hualgayoc, San Miguel, Cajamarca, Santa Cruz, y otras de la región.

Miguel Delgado Saldaña, presidente del FUDIP Chota, anunció que la participación de esta organización será concretamente en el centro poblado El Empalme para apoyar a los comuneros del distrito de Chugur, en la provincia de Hualgayoc.

En esta zona es donde se pretende ejecutar el proyecto minero a tajo abierto Tantahuatay para la extracción de oro y cobre, y que estaría a cargo de la empresa Coymolache.

Hualgayoc, Chugur y Catilluc provincia de Hualgayoc y San Miguel del departamento de Cajamarca.

Según Delgado Saldaña, el proyecto extractivo Tantahuatay amenaza a un promedio de 28 lagunas, parte de cuyas aguas abastecen a Yuracyacu, Negropampa, Silleropata y otras zonas de Chota.

Manuel Ramos Campos, dirigente de las rondas campesinas del distrito de Bambamarca, fue uno de los primeros en dar a conocer la medida programada para el 29 de agosto, hace algunos días.

En aquella ocasión indicó que iniciarán una campaña para recolectar víveres que serán trasladados hasta el campamento donde permanecen los denominados “guardianes de las lagunas”.

De igual manera señaló que se recolectará dinero para comprar los medicamentos que requiere el rondero Elmer Campos, quien quedó parapléjico luego de que fuera abaleado por la policía en las protestas de noviembre de 2011.

Por su parte, Milton Sánchez Cubas, presidente de la Plataforma Institucional Celendín (PIC), anunció que la organización que preside decidirá si se une a la jornada de lucha luego de que se evalúe la misma en sus bases.

Recalcó que la medida se daría en respuesta al empresario minero Roque Benavides, presidente de la empresa minera Buenaventura, socia de Newmont para el proyecto Conga, quien afirmó que el proyecto no está suspendido.

 

Fuente: SERVINDI - http://servindi.org/actualidad/91406

Libro: "Mas Alla de Conga" - Jose de Echave - Alejandro Diez

Libro: "Mas Alla de Conga" - Jose de Echave - Alejandro Diez by Mi Mina Corrupta

Cajamarca: Protestas en Chota continuan en rechazo a proyecto minero #Conga

Actividad minera no paga por el agua que utiliza

La minería en el Perú no paga ningún tipo de tarifa por el agua que utiliza para sus operaciones por lo que es necesaria una ley para que exista este aporte por parte de las empresas mineras, aseguró el jefe de la Autoridad Nacional del Agua (ANA), Hugo Jara.

“La minería sólo está pagando lo que es el canon, pero no hay un precio por el agua. Hay una iniciativa en el Congreso para que exista un canon hídrico pero son ingresos que irían a la región o las comunidades. Las mineras sólo pagan por lo que corresponde a la autorización pero no por el uso, ni por el volumen”, refirió.

En ese sentido explicó que la principal usuaria del agua en el Perú es la agricultura y a esta actividad sí se le han establecido tarifas específicas. La actividad minera utiliza cerca del 1.8% del agua del país.

Por ello, Jara dijo que este uso debería tener una tarifa en base a la rentabilidad de la actividad económica, donde no solo entraría la minería sino otras actividades que hacen uso de los recursos hídricos como las hidroeléctricas.

“Yo no creo que les vaya a afectar a ellos un pago por el agua, que lo asuman dentro de sus costos por la alta rentabilidad que tienen”, añadió.

De otro lado, la ANA viene promoviendo y apoyando la creación de los Consejos de Recursos Hídricos de Cuenca como los órganos que, a iniciativa de los gobiernos regionales, buscarán una participación de todos los actores involucrados en la gestión del agua.

Entre estos actores figuran los gobiernos regionales y locales, la sociedad civil, el sector empresarial, las organizaciones de usuarios, comunidades campesinas, comunidades nativas, entre otras.

Con esta iniciativa la ANA espera que se eviten los conflictos sociales relacionados con el agua y articular la participación en las decisiones públicas de todos los usuarios de los recursos hídricos del país.

RPP

Peru: national mobilization for water, against Conga mine

Opponents of the US-owned Conga mining project in Peru's northern Cajamarca region launched a cross-country National March for Water on Feb. 1, some 500 participants symbolically departing from Laguna Cortada, one of the high mountain lakes to be threatened by the proposed mine. The march hopes to arrive in Lima Feb. 10 in time to convene a National Forum on Hydraulic Justice. A hundreds-strong solidarity march was also held in Arequipa, capital of the southern region of that name which has been the scene of recent protests over mineral development. Organizers expect thousands to join the march on its way to Lima.

But organizers charge a campaign of harassment by the authorities and supporters of the mine. On Jan. 19, a coordinator of the march, Irma Pflucker, was detained by the police on charges that she had used a counterfeit coin at an Internet cafe. Leaflets have also been widely distributed in Cajamarca charing that march leaders Marco Arana and Wilfredo Saavedra are profiting from money donated to fund the march. Peru's government has meanwhile announced a package of social and infrastructure projects for impoverished Cajamarca region aimed at placating the protest movement.

In another anti-mining action, on Feb. 2 campesinos from Llusco, Chumbivilcas province, Cuzco region, erected a protest encampment at the worksite of ANABI mining company, whose operations they say threaten the headwaters of the Molino and Santo Tomás rivers. They are also demanding that the company ARES halt its mineral exploration program in the nearby communities of Azuca and Crespo. (Peruvian Times, Con Nuestro Perú, Feb. 3; Global Voices Online, La Republica,La Republica, Feb. 2; La Republica, Marcha Nacional del Agua website, Jan. 31; La Republica, Jan. 21; WSJ, Jan. 13)

Meeting with potential mineral investors in Madrid Jan. 27, Humala sparked outrage back at home when he compared Cajamarca's regional president Gregorio Santos, an adherent of the leftist Patria Roja party and outspoken opponent of the Conga mine, to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. In remarks clearly intended to evoke memories of the Shining Path insurgency, Humala said, "We cannot accept a Pol-Potist regime in which a regional government restricts the liberties of the populace."

Santos quickly responded: "This is an extreme comparison which President Humala has made. My hands are not stained with blood, nor my party or the movement that has brought me to the regional presidency. I am not and have never been charged with forced disappearances and violations of human rights." This was a barely veiled reference to the Madre Mia scandal, in which Humala was charged with the extrajudicial execution of a campesino couple in a village of that name in 1992 when he was an army captain. Humala was cleared of the charges in a 2006 trial. (Perú21, Cinabrio blog, Spain, Jan. 27)

December's cabinet shake-up instrumented by Humala is increasingly being seen as a tilt to the resource industries. Among those dismissed were Environment Minister Ricardo Giesecke and Energy and Mines Minister Carlos Herrera, who had pledged to take a harder line with extractive industries. Their departure was followed by the resignation of several other officials, who charged that Humala had abandoned the left wing of his nationalist Gana Perú coalition.

Giesecke had especially raised questions about the environmental impact study for the Conga mine, which had been approved under the previous administration of Alan García. Calling for a review of the EIS, Giesecke said in November: "Getting rid of the lakes would be like dynamiting the glaciers in the Andes, we'd be creating a problem that impacts the ecosystem." (Perú21, Jan. 18; Peruvian Times, Jan. 11; Reuters, Nov. 4)

Suspicions were deepened by recent press revelations that Giesecke's replacement as environment minister, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, had between July and October of last year met with Yanacocha, local subsidiary of the Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corporation that wants to develop the Conga mine. Pulgar Vidal was approached, in his own words, to "improve relations with the regional and local authorities" over the mining project. (IDL-Reporteros, Peru, Jan. 21)

See our last posts on struggles for water in Peru and the global mineral cartel.
 

Fuente: http://ww4report.com/node/10796

 

Peru: martial law lifted as Cajamarca agrees to end civil strike

Peru's President Ollanta Humala called off the state of emergency in four provinces of Cajamarca region Dec. 16 after local leaders agreed to suspend their civil strike against Newmont Mining Corp.'s $4.8 billion Conga gold project. Prime Minister Oscar Valdés will lead a "high-level committee" to Cajamarca Dec. 19 to meet with regional officials and community leaders. Cajamarca's regional president Gregorio Santos announced suspension of the paro in the face of growing pressure; the state of emergency had blocked bank accounts and other financial services in the region. Village mayors and community leaders have agreed to comply with the suspension pending the outcome of talks.

Colorado-based Newmont suspended work at its Minas Conga mine, Peru’s biggest investment project, on Nov. 30 after villagers launched protests over impacts on local water sources. The Lima government said Dec. 11 it will conduct a further review of the project’s environmental impact. "This marks a new phase in the debate," Santos told Lima's Canal N. "It's important they admitted the mining company's environmental study has major limitations."

A Newmont spokesman said the company is "willing to play a constructive role in the dialogue sponsored by the government, and we will participate as directed by them. The company pointed out that its 13-year environmental study was approved by the Energy & Mines Ministry last year.

Peru's government is looking to Newmont to stop a decline in mineral output from aging and depleted mines. Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Gold Fields and China Minmetals Corp. have cut back investment in copper and gold mining projects in Cajamarca because of the protests, central bank president Julio Velarde warned. "There’s a slowdown in the projects located in Cajamarca," Velarde told reporters in Lima. "What could be the most exceptional decade in terms of mining investment, might not be so because of the fears of some investors."

Newmont stock, which had fallen by 9.5% since the protests began, gained 1.2% to $62.47 on news of the strike suspension in Cajamarca. (La Republica, Los Andes, Bloomberg, Dec. 16)

See our last posts on Peru and the mineral cartel.