Civil Unrest in Peru

Social conflict and civil unrest always seems to be at a low boil in Peru. Strikes and demonstrations are being planned by copper miners, workers in natural gas, and by Peruvian indigenous groups.

Unions at Antamina, Peru’s largest copper mine, plan to walk out today and strike due to a disagreement over wages. Bonuses for the miners are based on overall profits at the mine, and declining production and depressed ore prices have affected the miners’ total compensation. Workers at the mine had threatened to strike in 2009, but a showdown was avoided, as workers were given a one-time bonus. Silvio Brigneti, Antamina’s VP for Human Resources, admitted that production will decrease as a result of the strike, but added that the workers’ demands are unreasonable.

More bad news for Pluspetrol, as the main Peruvian natural gas workers’ union said that it was going to pull out of negotiations and vote on a strike within the next few weeks. Peru is Latin America’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas, and a strike would completely shut down production. 

Pluspetrol remains in the headlines, after its disagreements with Peruvian indigenous groups made international news a week and a half ago.

El País speculated about the rise in social conflicts that could come from last week’s report about the tremendous selling-off of Peruvian territory for mining, oil, and lumber developments. Meanwhile, the Peruvian government has decided to double down on its current strategy by streamlining the environmental permitting process. While this policy decision was taking to boost spending in the country, it certainly does not address the Munden Project’s concerns about the lack of a role played by local communities in project planning.