Peruvian farmworker defeats US mining company
Peruvian farmworker defeats US mining company
By Staff Writers, teleSUR
Thursday, Dec 18, 2014
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Maxima Acuña at her property in front of the Blue Lagoon (Photo: Jorge Chávez Ortiz) [/font]
Maxima Acuña, a farmworker from Cajamarca, has won a legal case against the U.S. based Newmont Mining Corporation. Newmont is known in Peru by the name of its operations in the area, Yanacocha.
The company sued Maxima for alleged land invasion in an attempt to expel her and her family from her property. Yanacocha wanted her land in order to pursue their massive gold mining project, known as Conga.
Nevertheless, the Appeals Court of Justice of Cajamarca ruled in favor of Maxima, thus absolving her from the lawsuit.
Maxima built her home in 1994 on property she had purchased in front of the Blue Lagoon of Celendin.
In 2011, Yanacocha attempted to buy the land, but Maxima did not give in. The company is interested in her land because it is strategically located in front of the lake. The lake’s water is necessary for the mining operations.
Given that Conga is an open-pit mining project, the lake would have been detrimentally affected if Yanacocha had been successful in gaining access to Maxima’s land.
Open pit-mining is a technique whereby a massive hole is dug to extract mineral resources. However, approximately 70 per cent of materials obtained during this process is waste. This technique therefore causes permanent damage to the ecosystem. Maxima’s refusal to sell her land thus helped to safeguard the Blue Lagoon.
The case was not easily won and went through many appeals. In August of this year, a judge sentenced four members of Maxima’s family to two years and eight months of suspended imprisonment for not vacating the land. The judge also ordered the family to pay close to US$2,000 in penalties. All of these verdicts were overruled this Wednesday with the absolution of Maxima and her family putting an end to the legal battle.
During the legal process, Maxima repeatedly claimed to have been a victim of police aggression. In January of 2013, approximately 60 agents from the Division of Special Operations invaded her property, and beat her up, her husband and her son.
More:
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_68631.shtml
Highest wishes and hopes, and SAFETY for Maxima Acuña and her loved ones.
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