Tintaya Copper Mine

THE MESA DE DIàLOGO: TALKS BETWEEN BHP-BILLITON AND COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY THE TINTAYA COPPER MINE

Speaking out at a Mesa meeting at the Tintaya Copper Mine.

By: Diego Nebel/Oxfam

In July 1999, a group of indigenous and peasant farming communities affected by mining activities in the department of Cusco, Peru, joined forces and organized the Regional Coordinator of Communities Affected by Mining, or CORECAMI-Cusco. Less than two years later, with the support of Oxfam America, the organization has begun a dialogue process that will allow it to find solutions to a conflict that began in the 1980s between the communities and the BHP-Billiton mining company.

These communities, primarily inhabited by descendents of the Cana indigenous peoples, are located in the province of Espinar in the highlands of southern Peru where the Tintaya Copper Mine, one of the largest mines of the Australian-English corporation BHP-Billiton, is operating.

Community leaders from the villages surrounding the Tintaya copper mine demanded that the company open up a "transparent process of negotiation," and requested assistance from the National Coordinator of Communities Affected by Mining in Peru (CONACAMI) and Oxfam. Efforts by Oxfam America and Oxfam Australia-Community Aid Abroad helped convince BHP-Billiton to engage in dialogue with the communities.

The dialogue process, known as the Mesa de Diàlogo (dialogue round table) aims to deal with the issues of greatest concern for the communities' inhabitants:

the mechanisms used by the mining company to acquire land;
environmental contamination that affects the small communities located around the mine;
reparation for human rights violations.

The Beginning of the Dialogue
The first formal meeting between representatives of the BHP-Billiton mining company and the community organizations, CONACAMI and CORECAMI-Cusco took place on February 6, 2002. They agreed that the Mesa de Diàlogo should be a "voluntary, collaborative, and open process of dialogue to find development opportunities in BHP-Billiton's zone of influence in Espinar Province."

The Tintaya Mesa de Diàlogo has met on more than six occasions since then and has formed four work commissions that attend to the following areas in more detail: land, environment, sustainable development, and human rights.

The Members of the Tintaya Dialogue Roundtable:

The Tintaya affiliate company of BHP-Billiton
CORECAMI-Cusco
CONACAMI-Perú
The Espinar Provincial Municipality
CooperAcción
Oxfam America