Once again the inhabitants of the Puno region have taken to the streets in protests, this time against the contamination caused by the mining of minerals.

Right now, not only strikes, marches and roadblocks [es] are taking place, but also violent confrontations [es] that have left 6 people dead [es] and police vanished during an attempt by the protesters to seize the Inca Manco Cápac Airport in Juliaca [es].  (They also attempted to take over one of the Police stations in Azángaro).

Despite recent offers from the Central government to cancel the early concession of the hydro-electric project in Inambari [es], and the last minute signing of joint supreme decisions and urgent decrees [es] aimed at appeasing the highly strung attitudes of the people of Puno, the protests in Puno did not stop, but simply came to a pause.

Confrontations at the Juliaca airport. Photo: Enlace Nacional.

Social conflicts

Also, in Puno there are many social conflicts that should have been resolved for some time now, between the population and the government as well as the interests of other communities.

These conflicts include issues diverse and controversial, like the huge mine represented by international companies and promoted by the central government; small manual mining, a source of work for thousands of residents of Puno that has become a predator to the environment; and the claims of the countryside residents, who reject any kind of mining activities or extraction industry for fear of the possible contamination of the environment as perceived from their lifestyle based on agriculture.

The situation is further complicated by the local authorities who, with a few exceptions [es], adhere to the central government's propositions and don't empathise with the protests of the residents.

The crisis exploded anew on June 24 [es] (the day that Peru celebrates Campesino Day or “the day of the peasant”), when residents of the peasant communities of Azángaro took the streets of Juliaca [es] to demand that something be done to recuperate the ecosystem of the Ramis River [es], that has been seriously affected by informal mining [es].

Javier Torres Seoane [es] pens a tight summary of this recent conflict, disassociating it with the protests of the Aymara a few weeks ago:

La protesta en Juliaca era contra la contaminación del Rio Ramis, producto de la minería informal. No tenía nada que ver con la agenda de los pobladores aymaras, ni de otras provincias de Puno contra las concesiones mineras. En el 2007 se creo una comisión multisectorial para atender el tema y como de costumbre no se hizo absolutamente nada…

Yasmin Urrego [es] comments on Facebook:

Increible :”El 70% del territorio de Puno está concesionado. Todas estas concesiones han sido autorizadas de forma inconsulta”. Provincia de Melgar, existen 423 concesiones; Melgar es la capital ganadera del Perú y capital mundial de la alpaca. En Melgar se realizan 2 ferias nacionales, 6 ferias regionales y 80 ferias locales. Eso ha hecho que la población reaccione y proteste.

The parish priest of Juilaca and Human Rights Activist, Luis Zambrano, declared in an interview in the blog Debatik [es]:

Todos los puneños no están en contra de la minería. De hecho hay la formal y la informal. Los de la minería informal, que son varios miles, procedentes sobre todo de Juliaca, como, por ejemplo, en la Rinconada, buscan el oro incansablemente y contaminan terriblemente los ríos y, al final, el lago Titicaca . Los de la formal, aunque tienen el permiso del gobierno central, también contaminan los ríos. Quienes se oponen a la minería no lo hacen por capricho, sino por defender su vida (nuestra vida) y la de la “Pachamama”.

As such, the government has declared three days of official mourning [es], from June 25.

The issue has been well discussed on social networks, as seen for example in these tweets, which are only some among hundreds that have flooded Twitter in Peru.

Aldo Santos (@santoslado) clarifies:

Las protestas por la contaminación de minería ilegal al #RioRamis tienen + d 12 años ¿cuántos gobiernos pasaron y qué hicieron? #Juliaca

Rolando Alles (@allesnew) observes:

Ayer RMP [Rosa María Palacios, periodista de TV] leía carta d puneños indignados c/la protesta. Este video muestra lo contrario, mayoría sintoniza c/la protesta ow.ly/5q4VG

Carlos Andrade (@AndradePareja) comments:

En el día del campesino nace el Juliacazo con 6 muertos a la fecha, Region Puno de luto por sus caidos

Carlos Huamán Tola (@Manicoinca) asks of the presidential vacancy:

En mi opinión, creo que no hay que esperar al 28 de julio para pedirle a Alan García que entregue el mando.

Others seem to suggest the presence of the elected president Ollanta Humala in the zone, such as journalist Milagros Leiva (@MilagrosLeivaG):

@elestigmadecain De acuerdo contigo, pero también existe un líder natural en esa zona y se llama Ollanta Humala. No lo olvides…

Before these proposals, others comments, like @chilkano:

Gente q exige q Humala vaya a Puno y no dice nada de Alan y Cipriani.

Ricardo Marapi (@ricardomarapi) laments:

Una masacre como la ocurrida en Juliaca, en otro país causaría miles protestando en las calles y la salida de un presidente. Acá #aguatibia

Others on the other hand think that the government ought to be harsh, like JesusCubaValladares [es]:

Lamentablemente no puedo ser ajeno a lo que esta pasando en Puno. A ver analizando friamente: cuando carajo la gente de las provincias mas necesitadas del Perú van a dejar de joder y que entiendan de una vez que sin inversión privada no van a progresar. IGNORANTES!!!!

Although the new government will try to resolve many of these problems, no doubt that President elect Ollanta Humala will face many great social and political challenges in this region, in which he received that largest number of votes. In the words of investigative reporter Raúl Wiener [es]:

El nuevo presidente debiera leer muy claramente el mensaje. Las provincias que también han ganado las elecciones y que han puesto a quien consideran su presidente en Palacio de Gobierno en Lima, ya no se van a quedar en sus lugares esperando la llegada de las comisiones llamadas de “alto nivel” para que vengan a discutir sobre sus problemas…