Peru Searches for Solutions to Mining Conflicts
31 August 2005
Proposals for better environmental monitoring and dialogue could reduce disputes.
With a large proportion of Peru’s export revenues coming from gold, silver, copper, and other metals, mining is a significant source of wealth for a country with half the population living in poverty.
However, mining wealth comes with a price: Peru’s Public Defender’s Office (a government ombudsman agency that protects the rights of citizens) estimates that there have been 62 conflicts related to mining operations between 2003 and 2005, with about a third still unresolved. Many of these conflicts involved protests and confrontations between people and mining companies, and have required police intervention.
Mining is now a polarizing issue in Peru. On one side are social organizations which object to the imposition of mining operations in areas without consultation with local people, who stand to be displaced or suffer from pollution, and rarely enjoy any of the wealth generated by the mines. Protesters are blocking roads, and even destroying mining company property to pressure corporations and the government to stop mining, or negotiate compensation for those adversely affected by mining.
On the other side are mining companies and some media outlets claiming that mining is essential for the development of Peru, and that the conflicts arise from an “anti-mining campaign” led by social organizations and some sectors of the Catholic Church. They demand that the crisis be resolved with a “firm hand” by the government, and promote measures that range from applying sanctions against the NGOs, criminal legal action against community leaders, pressuring the Catholic Church, to the militarization of the mining areas.
A growing number of institutions, social organizations and citizens are demanding a debate on mining industry reforms. Discussions revolve around policy and practice changes conducive to promoting socially responsible investment that is respectful of community rights and compatible with development.
Some of the most recent conflicts include protests against the Majaz mining company, a subsidiary of the UK-based Monterrico Minerals, in the Piura region of northern Peru. The Las Bambas area in central-southern Peru has also seen peaceful protests carried out by people concerned about explorations by the Swiss mining company Xstrata.
Government Proposals
Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines announced that in October it will start requiring mining companies to submit plans for establishing and improving community relations in areas where they are operating mines. It also created a regulation requiring companies to submit pollution control plans for mines within one year of closure.
The Public Defender’s Office has proposed ways of reducing conflicts and making mining compatible with sustainable development, which would require such changes as
- An independent environmental authority, separate from the Ministry of Energy and Mines
- Adjusting maximum acceptable contaminant levels to international standards
- Improving public participation and consultation mechanisms
- Spending of mining taxes and royalties in areas affected by mining
- Fostering a changes in corporate behaviors
Oxfam Favors Dialogue
Oxfam is participating in the Mining Dialogue Group, a national discussion forum on mining issues involving the government, the mining companies, and members of civil society. Oxfam also supports local and national organizations promoting mechanisms that enable the communities affected by oil, gas, and mining industries to exercise their right to express their concerns and proposals, and have them heard and taken into account.
Oxfam believes that collaborative dialogue among all sectors is the most effective way to reach a solution to the mining crisis in Peru. We support initiatives based on the promotion of rights and the use of non-violent methods--by communities as well as mining companies and authorities. Oxfam believes that the use of violence, as well as efforts to blame and punish groups for an alleged conspiracy against mining, will only serve to make the conflicts worse.
