After a hostage crisis in which one of armed group Shining Path's (Sendero Luminoso 鈥 SL) factions abducted gas workers employed by a major multinational, a counter-insurgency operation was launched in the Apurimac-Ene River Valley (VRAE).
The stand-off was reported by the international media. But what has been largely ignored are the human rights abuses against VRAE civilian communities are being committed by the Peruvian military.
Peru
Tintaya is an open-cut copper and gold mine 4000 metres high in the district of Yauri, Espinar province, southern Peru. It is a spectacle of modern industrial devastation that contrasts jarringly with the timeless beauty of the surrounding altiplano landscape.
Finally, after years of aggravated environmental abuse, the mine's owner, Swiss-based Xstrata, will be investigated by Peruvian authorities.
After the discovery of large deposits, a copper mine was established at Tintaya in the mid-1980s. Extractive operations were hugely expanded when BHP bought the site in 1996.
Cajamarca, a town with tragic associations in Peruvian history, is the setting of another devastating imperialist onslaught.
In 1532, a band of Spanish conquistadores ambushed the Inca king Atahualpa in the central plaza of this Andean town.
The brutal spirit of conquista is alive and well in contemporary Cajamarca, in the form of the US-based Newmont mining corporation, an outfit with a slick PR machine and a very dirty environmental and human rights track record.
It鈥檚 another statistic showing up the criminal absurdity of Plan Colombia and Washington鈥檚 鈥渨ar on drugs.鈥
Last year, according to recent United States Drug Enforcement Administration sources, Peru produced about 325 metric tonnes of pure cocaine, surpassing Colombia鈥檚 output of 275 tonnes.
For the first time since the early 1990s, Peru has emerged as the world鈥檚 leading cocaine producer. Bolivian production is also reportedly up.
In its traditional, folk medicinal form, coca is a blessing that dispels ailments such as indigestion and altitude sickness with remarkable efficacy.
Between 80 and 100 people gathered for an open-air general assembly in Perth on October 22. It began at 11am and finished around 5pm. The main purpose of the assembly was to make plans for establishing a Perth occupation at the end of the Chogm Protest (taking next Friday, October 28) that would last at least throughout the CHOGM summit. There was quite a constructive discussion and a lot of enthusiasm to begin an occupation next weekend. Eleven working groups were established.
In the aftermath of Ollanta Humala鈥檚 June 5 victory in the Peruvian presidential election, the 鈥渋nvestment community鈥 and the international business press reacted with the hysteria of thieves who think they have heard a distant siren approaching.
Their first impulse was to cut and run. Peruvian stocks plunged amid fears that this 鈥渞adical leftist鈥 would put an end to the 鈥済ood times鈥, levelling higher taxes on mining profits and perhaps nationalising key export industries.
In the final days of Alan Garcia鈥檚 rancid presidency, crimes against the Peruvian people are still being committed.
The department of Puno, bordering Bolivia in the country鈥檚 south-east, has now been added to a long list of locations where anti-mining protesters have been gunned down by security forces.
On June 25, six indigenous activists were reportedly killed and dozens more wounded when Peruvian police opened fire on a 4000-strong crowd occupying the Manco Capac airport in the city of Juliaca.
Peruvian stocks lost a record 12% of their value as local and global investors jettisoned mining shares after left-leaning nationalist Ollanta Humala won the second round of Peru's presidential elections on June 5.
The multi-billion dollar plunge reflects the fear and hostility that 鈥渕arket forces鈥 instinctively bear toward an expression of the popular will in 鈥渄eveloping鈥 resource-rich nations like Peru.
Humala defeated the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori with 51.3% of the vote. Keiko is the daughter of jailed ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori.
Corporate media outlets claim Peru鈥檚 mining boom is doing wonders for the country鈥檚 economy, creating opportunities and making everybody richer.
Quite a few Peruvians, mostly situated in the bubble-world of Lima鈥檚 wealthy areas, have been drinking the neoliberal kool-aid.
Someone must have forgotten to tell those troublesome recalcitrants out in the provinces that the despoliation of their lands is good for them.
Only days before Peru鈥檚 general elections on April 10, three protesters were killed and dozens injured by firearm-wielding police near the southern city of Arequipa.
The protesters were taking part in a community uprising against the Tia Maria copper mine proposed by Mexican-based, US-funded Southern Copper. The company has one of the worst environmental track records of any mining company active in Peru.
Fearing that the mine would irredeemably contaminate local water, the residents of Islay took to the streets, despite realising it would put their lives at risk.
Peruvians went to the polls to elect a new president on April 10.
In a first round result reminiscent of the 2006 election, the electorate has sent the previously languishing 鈥渓eft-nationalist鈥 candidate Ollanta Humala (of the Gana Peru alliance) through to the presidential runoff on June 5.
As in 2006, Humala will face a candidate representing elite interests: Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of ex-president and architect of Peru鈥檚 neoliberal development model, Alberto Fujimori.
Opinion polls are predicting that the likely winner of the April 10 Peruvian presidential election will be Alejandro Toledo. The candidate of Possible Peru, Toledo was the neoliberal president from 2001-06.
After the narrow victory of the moderate left candidate Susana Villaran from Social Force in the Lima mayoral elections last year, it was predicted that the left鈥檚 prospects might improve nationally.
So far this has failed to materialise, owing partly to a redoubled effort by the elite and its foreign backers to promote Toledo.
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