News Archives » peru
Protect the Amazon for the Achuar May 25th, 2012
Two Oblates are working among the Achuar people who live in the Peruvian Amazon. They have been holding meetings with the people to get to know their culture, their traditions and to learn from them about their relationship to the land. The Achuar don’t celebrate Earth Day once a year, every day is EARTH DAY.
Their life is deeply connected to their land and nature. What a sad day it would be to lose all they have learnt from the land and not hear again the sound of the birds and enjoy this lush forest and beautiful waterfall that inspires dreams. Petrol companies would destroy this natural beauty and the ways of life of this peaceful loving people forever.
Shareholders, NGOs, raise questions about Newmont Mining’s social and environmental risks at company’s Annual General Meeting April 26th, 2012
Shareholders and NGOs at the Newmont Mining annual meeting in Wilmington, DE on Tuesday, April 24, questioned company senior management and the Board of Directors about the operational and reputational risks Newmont faces in Peru, and emphasized the need for the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local communities where Newmont operates. In addition, the group strongly encouraged additional disclosure by the company on its environmental and social guidelines and practices, including Board oversight of these issues. The Missionary Oblates are involved in the dialog with Newmont, with particular concerns about the company’s operations in Peru, the Congo and Indonesia.
In 2007, in response to a shareholder proposal filed by members of The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), Newmont agreed to conduct a global review of its policies and practices related to community opposition in its mining operations. At this year’s annual shareholder meeting, the lead proponent of that proposal, Julie Tanner, Assistant Director of Socially Responsible Investing at Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), expressed frustration over Newmont’s lack of disclosure on the implementation its Community Relations Review (CRR).
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Threat to Water from Mining in Peru Mobilizes Masses February 5th, 2012
Thousands of Peruvians from the Amazon to Lima have mobilized against a serious threat to the water in the Cajamarca region of Peru. Residents there, mostly indigenous peoples, are deeply concerned about the threat to their water from a proposed mining development by the American company, Newmont Mining. Oblates in the US have engaged Newmont about the impact of their operations on communities where they have mining operations. The Yanacocha mine has been a priority in those conversations though the recent turmoil in the Cajamarca region is related to the proposed development of Minas Congas and extension of the Yanacocha project. The Oblates in Peru are supporting the March for Water that has been organized by civil society in the impacted areas.
The movement claims “the right to be consulted, to be respected and heard in decisions about its development model, for socially-just participation in economic growth, the prohibition of mining in the headwaters of rivers, and a stop to mining with cyanide and mercury that is causing so much damage to land and water.” The marchers are proclaiming their human right to water, and drawing support from churches and civil society alike in a several day march from Cajamarca to Lima. The Great National Water mobilization began on February 1st and will conclude with a convocation in Lima on February 9-10.
Read a full description of the mobilization (in English translation):
“SMALL STREAMS MAKE THE GREAT RIVER OF LIFE”: THE GREAT NATIONAL WATER MOBILIZATION”
Materials in Spanish are also available under News in the Spanish section of this website
Recrearte 2012: A Significant Experience in the Peruvian Jungle February 3rd, 2012
Oblates in Peru are working with children of the indigenous kichwa in the Amazon, whose communities are threatened by intensifying economic activity: oil exploration, increased illegal logging, pollution related to informal gold mining, commercial fishing operations, and the social ills that follow, including an increase in drug dealing. There is an increasing lack of teachers at all levels. Read the encouraging story of their recent RECREARTE Project.
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