"Commoners of Huancuire affected by Las Bambas travel 30 hours to Lima and return without commitments from the Government" – March 31, 2022

... They had to leave their homes, families, farms, and animals to embark on a 30-hour journey and arrive in Lima in the hope of finally be heard. Five representatives of the peasant community of Huancuire, a town more than 4 thousand meters above sea level from Apurímac, have had to come here to demand that the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) respect their rights and carry out free, prior & informed consent, before authorizing the extension of the Las Bambas mining project... "The state has never listened to us; it has never taken us into account. Now we have been spending our own resources, we have done many things to be able to reach Lima," says Lourdes Huilca, one of the representatives of Huancuire... Despite a commitment signed on August 12, 2021 by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Carlos Palacios, to initiate a legitimate and consensual process of prior consultation with the community of Huancuire, the MINEM granted at the beginning of March of this year the Authorization of Start of Activities (AIA) aimed at the operation of Chalcobamba, the second open pit mine that is part of the extension of the copper mine operated by the Chinese company MMG... "This is completely illegal for us. We are an indigenous community that ancestrally have been using our lands. What we want is for the central government and its ministers to cancel the approval of the project. That they repeal it, that is what we are currently asking for. We are not going to allow this outrage, this violation of our fundamental rights"," denounces Gregorio Ochoa, delegate of the peasant community...