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Article

9 Mar 2010

Author:
Milagros Salazar, IPS

PERU: Suspension of Mining Operation Merely a Placebo

Although the Peruvian government reported that it had suspended the exploration activities of the Afrodita mining company in the country's northern Amazon jungle region to avoid further protests by local indigenous people, officials took no actual steps to bring the firm's work to a halt…Prime Minister Javier Velásquez…announced on Feb. 17 that the Peruvian company's permits to drill in the rainforest had been suspended…Leaders from 52 native communities complain[ed] that the company has polluted two rivers in Awajun indigenous territory with the mercury and cyanide used in mining operations…[T]he Awajún ethnic group were…involved…[the] tragic clash with police on Jun. 5, 2009 …[Regulatory Agency] OSINERGMIN…chief Guillermo Shinno told IPS that the company could continue its prospecting operations as soon as it obtained a permit showing it had surface rights to the land in question. [Also refers to Dorato Resources, Cardero Group]