State negligence explains the current scenario of social conflicts in the mining sector

The current scenario of social unrest, mainly in the south of the country, It is explained by the state’s absence to timely meet the demands of the populationthe little communication or lack of transparency related to extractive activities and the expectations of citizens for a change in the extractivist development model that only benefits large companies, this is what the specialists from the Observatory of Mining Conflicts (OCM) consider.

Paul Maquet, spokesman for CooperAcción, stressed that, in order to understand the current panorama of social conflicts, it is opportune to remember that the mining areas of the southern Andes of the country voted en masse for the “no more poor in a rich country” program championed by Pedro Castillo.

“In the districts of the so-called ‘mining corridor’, where citizens see every day how wealth leaves in trucks heading abroad (while poverty, lack of services and pollution remain), more than 90% of the votes. It is not surprising that it is precisely these areas where a strong social response to the political crisis has been awakened”said Maquet during the presentation of OCM report no. 31.

According to the report, the permanent conflict in the so-called southern Andean corridor it is also due to the fact that it is a road of more than 400 kilometers poorly built and that has not respected current regulations, which crosses four high Andean provinces in the Apurímac and Cusco regions, with dozens of populated centers and peasant communities that receive the impacts, both from the extraction area and from the transport of minerals.

According to David Velasco, director of Fedepaz, another characteristic that explains the current scenario of conflict is the great fragmentation of agendas and demands.

“In this scenario, unlike other times, it is very difficult to think of organizations that can articulate demands from various territories and represent them,” said Velasco.

Illegal mining continues to gain ground

Informal or openly illegal mining continues to gain ground. The report warns of the advance of the gold in the amazon, that continues to penetrate new sectors, at the same time that it generates tension, violence and confrontations with indigenous peoples.

In recent months, illegal miners, taking advantage of high mineral prices, have been mining copper. According to the report, The first semester has also seen how informal mining disputes territory with formal mining. There is an overlap of concessions.

One of the most worrying trends in recent months is the expansion of the informal mining or illegal. The report warns that this is no longer only gold or non-metallic, it has also begun to incorporate other metals, especially copper, since the current prices of this mineral cause its small-scale exploitation to become a very attractive activity. .