CNS STORY: Mining referendum has emotions running high in northern Peru

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CNS Story:

PERU-MINING Sep-12-2007 (670 words) xxxi

Mining referendum has emotions running high in northern Peru

By Catholic News Service

HUANCABAMBA, Peru (CNS) -- Conflict over a nonbinding referendum on mining in northern Peru has emotions running high in a Catholic diocese.

The Sept. 16 vote is scheduled for three districts with a combined population of more than 22,000. They are located in the Diocese of Chulucanas near the Rio Blanco concession held by the Majaz Mining Co., in which the largest shareholder is the Chinese Zijin Consortium. The referendum will consist of a single question -- whether residents want to allow mining for metals in their districts.

Emotions are running high over the issue: People who favor mining have been branded as traitors by other members of their communities, while those who oppose mining have been called terrorists or accused of favoring poverty over development.

Bishop Daniel Turley Murphy of Chulucanas, an Augustinian missionary and a native of Chicago, fears a return to the violence that marked protests over the mine in 2004 and 2005. During those protests, when he tried to intervene to promote dialogue among the government, the mining company and representatives of the communities near the mine, an advertisement in a newspaper referred to him as a terrorist.

"As bishop, my position is that there should be dialogue, not violence," said Bishop Turley. "But I am afraid there is going to be violence."

Even calls for discussion of the issue are misconstrued, the bishop told Catholic News Service.

"The word 'dialogue' is like poison now," he said.

The rural highlands of the department of Piura, near the Ecuadorean border, are among the poorest areas of Peru. Supporters of the Rio Blanco mining project say it will bring cash and jobs to the region; opponents say it will damage the environment and contaminate water supplies.

The proposed mine, which would produce copper and molybdenum, is located in the clouds near the top of the continental divide of the Andes. Farmers downstream on the eastern slope of the Andes worry that the open-pit mine will disrupt water supplies and that acid drainage from tailings' piles could pollute streams and rivers.

Members of communities on the western side of the Andes are also concerned, however, because other companies have staked out claims on land adjoining the Majaz concession. Some government officials are calling for the area to become a mining district, and some local residents fear both environmental damage and social upheaval.

Social difficulties are already apparent.

"We are already seeing the consequences," said Franciscan Father Nicolas Ojeda, pastor of the parish that includes the town of Huancabamba and 120 rural hamlets in the surrounding mountains. "The communities are divided, and there is a lot of distrust."

As the date of the vote approached, local newspapers took sides on the issue. Several articles and editorials attacked the church, claiming it opposes development in the region.

While members of the diocesan justice and peace commission have been visiting villages to explain how the referendum will be carried out, Father Ojeda said the church does not speak against the mine.

"We do speak openly in favor of the environment," he said, adding that it is part of his Franciscan heritage.

Peru's electoral authorities have distanced themselves from the vote. They originally called it illegal, though they later acknowledged that local governments have the right to call nonbinding referendums on local issues.

Huancabamba municipal manager Luis Felipe said the mining issue has become polarized. Communities need objective information about the possible benefits and risks of mining projects such as Rio Blanco before they can make a decision, he said.

While surveys have indicated that the communities closest to the mine are likely to vote against it in the referendum, some government officials are calling for a broader referendum on the grounds that tax income from the project will benefit the entire department of Piura. In departmentwide surveys, opinion on the project has been evenly split.

"The municipal council's position is clear," Felipe said. "We have agreed that we are in favor of guaranteeing the environment."

END

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