14 DAY TRIAL // Just this week, the region of Cajamarca, Peru, fell under international spotlights as a result of a violent protest carried out here against gold and copper mining.
Apparently, 3 people were killed and 21 others were injured while trying to take a stand against a new project aimed at building a new mine in this part of the world.
Thus, the mining giant Newmont intends to invest nearly $4,8 million (roughly €3.8 million) in digging for gold and other valuable metals right in the middle of a most appealing landscape.
As environmentalists explain, the mining industry is a rather dirty business, which means that both the environment and the health of the people living in communities nearby will be negatively affected by this project.
Nearby lakes and streams are the most likely to be polluted, seeing considerable amounts of water will be needed to wash away ore, which is basically an incredibly harmful chemical compounds used in extracting precious metals.
This means that local residents might soon be left without the water sources they need for growing their crops or simply for drinking.
On Earth explains that the citizens of Peru have been voicing complaints against this new Conga mine for quite some time now, but that is it only recently that things have taken a turn for the worse.
The same source explains that this is due to the President of Peru, Ollanta Humala, officially giving the go-ahead for said mining project.
What started off as simply as “writings on the wall” – Peruvian citizens used graffiti sprays to write “Conga No Va!” (“No to Conga!”) on various buildings – soon turned into full blown acts of violence.
In order to control the crowds, the police had to use brute force, in spite of the fact that many of the protesters were women.
For the time being, it is still impossible to predict what the outcome of this protest will be.