Though violent protests no longer dominate Peruvian
headlines, the social conflict over the large copper mining project Tía María
has not ended. Peruvian Interior Minister José Luis Pérez Guadalupe had told
reporters that the government would consider extending the state of emergency
in order to guarantee peace and security in the area.
But recently, Richard Ale Cruz, the mayor of the province of
Islay, where the project is located, rejected
the possibility of an extension for the State of Emergency declared by the
Peruvian government on May 22nd. He also called on the government to
unfreeze the province’s bank accounts. Ale denied claims that the Peruvian
terrorist organization Sendero Luminoso had infiltrated the protestors,
asserting that they are all locals and farmers’ children.
In other mining related news, La
Republica published a short piece on environmental fines on mining
companies. Apparently, the fines totaling
$1.4 million soles have not been able to be collected.
In oil-related news, there are new
developments in the controversy over Perúpetro’s awarding of the Lot III of
the Talara oil field to Graña y Montero Petrolera (GMP). Earlier, La Republica
had uncovered that although GMP was awarded rights to develop the field and had
a signed contract with Perúpetro, it did not meet the basic technical
requirements to do so.
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