Fuerabamba accepts dialogue, but PCM proposes another date

The community members of Fuerabamba and Huancuire, in Challhuahuacho, yesterday sent a letter to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM) in which they expressed their willingness to dialogue today, as the premier, Aníbal Torres, had initially proposed. However, the meeting will not take place, the PCM changed its proposal for May 10.

The opening took place just over a week after the violent eviction of the MMG Las Bambas company, territories that had been occupied by the community members since April 14. Discrepancies in date and place could prevent the appointment from being made.

“The ball is in the court of the government. Despite the position of the communities that the state of emergency be lifted, they are providing solutions,” Luis Muñoz, an advisor to the Fuerabamba community, said earlier.

Another aspect that must be overcome is the place. Prime Minister Aníbal Torres invited, in his first letter, that the meeting be in Lima or in the community hall of Tambobamba, capital of the province of Cotabambas (Apurímac). The community members propose that it be in Pumamarca, a community of Tambobamba.

The lawyer explained that the communities did not agree to talk in Lima for fear of being imprisoned. In the last letter, the PCM insists that the meeting be in the city of Tambobamba. “We will have to evaluate tomorrow (today), the community will decide whether to accept it or not,” answered the president of the Fuerabamba community, Edison Vargas.

Advance

Days before, the government’s invitation to dialogue was rejected. The community members conditioned the meeting. They asked that the norm that establishes the state of emergency in the districts of Challhuahuacho and Coyllurqui for 30 days, in force since April 28, be repealed.

If the meeting takes place, the community members will insist on the request to lift the state of emergency. According to Muñoz, the dialogue table was in process and the restrictive measure did not correspond.

Yesterday, an advance party from the PCM tried unsuccessfully to meet with the community board. “The community decided that the meetings will be public and with everyone, that is why we did not accept the invitation they gave us. We told them to come (where they are gathered), but they didn’t want to,” said the president of the Fuerabamba community, Edison Vargas.

After the eviction, the outsiders settled in the Huaicorranrra sector of their property, very close to the mine entrance.

Las Bambas continues without being able to resume operations since April 20.

Economic losses continue

Representatives of Challhuahuacho hotels warn that each day that Las Bambas is shut down generates a loss of S/ 60,000.

Entrepreneurs from other sectors also asked the government to resolve the conflict, since the businesses are empty. The regional governor of Apurímac, Baltazar Lantarón, lamented that they stop receiving more than S / 3 million daily due to the stoppage of the mining company.