[Translated by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

"Las Bambas: Today workers march and start hunger strike" - 18 May 2022

The head of Mincetur will return to Las Bambas today to try to resume, once again, the dialogue with the communities...The mobilisation will take place in Plaza San Martin in downtown Lima, Plaza España in Arequipa and Plaza Túpac Amaru in Cusco...Workers of the mining company MMG Las Bambas began a national march and hunger strike today, Wednesday 19th of this month. The mobilisation will take place in Plaza San Martin in downtown Lima, Plaza España in Arequipa and Plaza Túpac Amaru in Cusco...The protest, supported by the National Federation of Mining, Metal and Steel Workers of Peru (FNTMMSP), is generated by the stoppage of mining activities, when last April 20, the villagers of Fuerabamba and Huancuire invaded the facilities, affecting approximately nine thousand workers... Speaking to Radio Exitosa, the regional governor of Apurímac, Baltazar Lantarón, indicated that the objective of yesterday's meeting between the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM) and the communities - in the context of the mining conflict at Las Bambas - was to "establish a dialogue table and begin the first agreements"... "There is a willingness on both sides to sit down and reschedule commitments. It is important, although there are new demands from the communities, it is important to receive them and talk to them in a democratic way to solve these problems," said Lantarón...To date, Las Bambas has not produced or exported copper concentrate for more than 26 days...The president of the Fuerabamba community, Edison Vargas, considered it offensive that a large number of police officers had been sent to Pumamarca, the site of the meeting...