STATE OF EMERGENCY AND ACTIONS IN NORTHERN
PERU
The reaction confesses that the following
actions have been carried out by "illegal miners":
- - Sabotage: 16 actions
against electrical energy towers, not counting others that are also reported.
- - Selective
annihilation: 1 of a high-ranking
official of the mining company Poderosa.
- - Guerrilla combat:
The attack occurred around 11 PM on Thursday, April 4th, when illegal miners and criminals arrived in this area to dynamite two high voltage pylons that supply power to two mine entrances. Subsequently, after causing panic among those present, they took over two of the company's galleries. (GEC) - Photo and caption from the reactionary newspaper El Comercio.
Chairman Gonzalo said this about the
sabotages: The implications of striking, sabotaging the mining activity, is
very important. Why? Because the highest percentage of foreign currency income
comes from mining; it directly hits the Peruvian State because in addition to
creating problems, these are blows it receives in its own state economic
activity, sabotage creates problems for it because we trap its plans, its
corporate plans are muddied; but not only that but the "social
measures" to which the counter-revolutionary war always resorts, are also
hit and, consequently, in this way the counter-revolutionary armed action
itself is weakened.
Selective annihilation, objective: to
undermine the order.
The two fundamental forms of combat: ambush
and assault. The latter is reported in the news that are being developed, the
ambushes are not reported but can be extracted from the texts themselves and
the way in which the joint forces of the army and the reactionary and genocidal
armed forces act, which only intervene several hours after the actions have
taken place:
The land problem is present in the struggle
against the plundering of the peasantry by the old State and its laws and
contracts with the big imperialist mining companies and the big bourgeoisie
lackey of imperialism. As it has been said, the land issue is a much more
important issue: in the highlands, it has different situations, it has to do
with mining, etc. Currently, with the events that have been taking place in the
country, with more force since the beginning of the century and more accentuated
since the governments of Alán García (second government) and Humala (Captain
Carlos), until the present one, the question of the defense of communal lands,
water and artisanal mining activity against the great dispossession and the
deprivation of the sources of life and work of the great majorities oppressed
by imperialism, bureaucrat-capitalism and semi-feudalism has also come to the
forefront.
Along with the specific problem of coca,
which also has to do with the peasantry of the highlands and jungle, another
specific problem has arisen, that of artisanal mining. As for the coca problem
and the problem of its eradication, it has deserved special attention from the
Communist Party of Peru, because behind the coca eradication campaign is not
only the economic problem of bureaucrat-capitalism developing there, evicting
peasants and implanting agro-industrial enterprises, but, what is more
important and transcendent, is the fight against the so-called
"narco-terrorism" and beyond our borders, it is a problem of capital
importance for Yankee imperialism.
Now Yankee imperialism, the governments of
the U.S., together with this problem of "narco...", during the last
century up to the present, is developing a whole campaign in America
"against organized crime", where it includes the economic activity of
the peasant masses and other poor masses, such as the activity of artisanal
mining. The latter, and other subsistence activities of the masses oppose the
great imperialist plunder to develop bureaucrat-capitalism, from the Mexican
border to the south of our continent.
It is necessary to bear in mind the
previous plans in terms of imperialist intervention plans, such as the Merida
plan, the Colombia plan, etc. The plans they are developing in Peru within
their "Low Intensity Conflict" (LIC) ("guerra de baja
intensidad", in Spanish). As Chairman Gonzalo says, we have antecedents of
sinister plans that the U.S. and the genocidal governments of the old
landlord-bureaucratic State are setting up at the service of imperialism,
mainly Yankee imperialism. The current genocidal and homeland-selling fascist
government headed by the genocidal Dina Boluarte is moving forward in setting
up the Yankee imperialist plan for greater intervention as a “plan to fight
organized crime and illegal mining” with the declaration of a state of
emergency and placing under military control one of the most important regions
of the country, the region of La Libertad, and placing the province of Pataz
under the command of the Joint Command of the genocidal Armed Force.
So, there is an imperialist plan being set
up by the government of the genocidal Dina Boluarte for greater imperialist
intervention in our country. Imperialist plan of her "LIC" that aims
to annihilate the people's war (third reactionary task), which is covered as a
fight against "organized crime", because as Chairman Mao has
established, counter-revolution and revolution need to form public opinion
because without it, the plans cannot be developed.
In the past imperialism and reaction used
for their campaigns the fight against "narco-terrorism", now, they
resort to the fight against "illegal mining and organized crime".
Remember the denunciations of the comrades of the People's Struggles Defense
Front of Ecuador and of the CPE Red Sun, against a similar plan of Yankee
imperialism in Ecuador, implemented by the current lackey government of that
country.
The military actions and operations carried
out by the Pataz Unified Command of the Armed Forces and Police to repress the
alleged actions of “illegal miners”. For some time now, various forms of
actions have been carried out, which reaction and its media attribute to
“illegal miners in complicity with criminal networks”. Actions that correspond
to the diverse forms of struggle of the people's war.
The country's newspapers for some time now,
more insistently, since the middle of last year, have been reporting on the
armed resistance actions of the independent mining workers, that is, of the
artisanal miners confronted against the big mining of imperialism and its
economic agents of the big comprador (native) bourgeoisie and the armed and
police forces of the old State. The reactionary press and the civil and
military authorities of the country and of the region of La Libertad label them
as belonging to “illegal mining in complicity with criminal networks”.
However, the representative of the large
mining company attacked gives us clarity to have a correct appreciation of what
is developing in the warlike confrontation in the heights of La Libertad, in
Pataz, a key area that communicates with the Huallaga area and with the
Callejón de Conchucos that goes down to the coast of the department and region
of Ancash, to the important port of Chimbote, here are his statements that
summarizes things very well:
“The
head of Corporate Communications of the mining company, Pablo de la Flor,
confirmed that they had ‘lost a worker as a consequence of the attack
perpetrated by criminals in the mining galleries’. He added: ‘We have two
employees wounded by bullet impact’”. Later, he stressed that this attack is
not the first one and, on the contrary, there are already 14 high voltage
towers that have been dynamited by illegal miners.“It is a really
inexplicable and extremely complex situation because of what it involves and
because of the background. The actions of these criminal elements of illegal
miners with thugs who have colluded. We already have 14 dynamited towers and to
this we must add the regrettable loss of lives that these confrontations have generated
in the past,” he stressed. After this attack, the 3090 level sinkhole was
left without energy, which allows criminals to enter more easily and extract
gold illegally” (El Comercio yesterday).
We ask: since when is being an artisanal
miner an illegal miner? Since the dispossession of the lands of the
communities, of the peasants and of the so-called public property, these lands
were handed over to the big corporations of the imperialist and
bureaucrat-capital. Since the exercise of the activity of small producers was
criminalized and the repressive persecution against the exercise of the
artisanal mining activity and the right to work of these inhabitants of the
country, coming from the peasantry, the poor of the city, etc., increased.
Faced with this, the artisanal miners, fighting against the great plunder of
imperialism and its lackeys of the big bourgeoisie and the landowners
(sustained on the bayonets of their armed forces, police and genocidal
auxiliaries) have continued with their activity and have organized and armed
themselves, exercising with weapons in their hands, in many cases, as is the
case in northern, southern, central, etc. They have carried out armed actions
that correspond to the forms of struggle of the people's war.
Here
we give an account of actions carried out, according to the reactionary
newspapers themselves, which for us correspond to the three forms of struggle
of the people's war: sabotage, selective annihilation, and guerrilla combats.
We have no knowledge of the other forms carried out due to the limitations of
information imposed by the military authorities, who have been conducting the
secret counter-revolutionary war.
For the moment, we can say that, the
peasant masses, the artisanal mining workers and other sectors of the classes
that form the united front of the revolution, are armedly applying what the
Communist Party of Peru (CPP) has taught them in more than 43 years of people's
war. The CPP firmly subject to the great leadership of Chairman Gonzalo and his
all-powerful thought is the heroic fighter leading the revolution.
The following is the news on the subject from the reactionary media
themselves:
“LA
LIBERTAD
News of EL COMERCIO
Attack against Poderosa mining company: What actions are being taken to
capture those responsible for the attack? This attack has not only claimed
lives and caused material damage, but has also exposed the vulnerability of
mining operations to the persistent threat of illegal mining in collusion with
criminal networks.
The attack occurred around 11 p.m. on Thursday, April 4th, when illegal miners and criminals arrived in this area to dynamite two high voltage pylons that supply power to two mine entrances. Subsequently, after causing panic among those present, they took over two of the company's galleries. (GEC)Martín Acosta González08/04/2024 12H03
The head of the Joint Command of the Armed
Forces, David Ojeda Parra, arrived in the province of Pataz, in the department
of La Libertad, in order to supervise the military actions and operations
carried out by the Pataz Unified Command, made up of Armed Forces and National
Police personnel. The actions are a response to the latest attack in Pataz,
which has plunged the mining community into a worrying concern. The violent act
perpetrated by criminals destroyed two high voltage pylons, tragically leaving
one worker dead and several injured. This attack, which occurred at the
Poderosa mine, has not only claimed lives and caused material damage, but has
also exposed the vulnerability of mining operations to the persistent threat of
illegal mining in complicity with criminal networks.
Attack in Pataz
GRAVE. Last Thursday night a new attack took place at the Poderosa mining
company. 1/3
Pataz: Illegal miners demolish two high tension towers affecting the
Poderosa mine.
For this reason, this Sunday, the forces of
law and order have intensified intelligence activities, search and capture of
those responsible for the latest criminal events. As it is known, Pataz has
been declared a state of emergency, for which the Armed Forces are in charge of
the control of the internal order with the support of the National Police.
According to El Comercio, military and
police personnel arrived in the Pataz area where they have been intervening in
areas where the informal miners and mercenaries who acted against the company's
facilities are said to be hiding. There were 510 agents in the area, including
members of the Army's unified command and police officers, to guard the area.
It was reported that the National Police cannot place personnel on each pylon
due to the extension of the area. ‘The area is very extensive, unfortunately we
cannot be with troops in each tower as we would like and then, taking advantage
of these special circumstances, they commit these crimes,’ informed the
president of the Council of Ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén.
14 towers dynamited.
The attack occurred around 11 p.m. on
Thursday, April 4, when illegal miners and criminals arrived in this area to
dynamite two high voltage pylons that supply power to two mine entrances.
Subsequently, after causing panic among those present, they took over two of
the company's galleries.
The head of Corporate Communications of the
mining company, Pablo de la Flor, confirmed that they had ‘lost a worker as a consequence of the attack perpetrated by criminals
in the mining galleries.’ He added: ‘We
have two employees injured by bullet impact. ’Later, he stressed that this
attack is not the first one and, on the contrary, there are already 14 high
voltage towers that have been dynamited by illegal miners. ‘It is a really inexplicable and extremely
complex situation because of what it involves and because of the background.
The actions of these criminal elements of illegal miners with thugs who have
colluded. We already have 14 dynamited towers and to this we must add the
regrettable loss of lives that these confrontations have generated in the past,’
he stressed. After this attack, the 3090
level pit was de-energized, allowing criminals to enter more easily and extract
the gold illegally :
Minem requests to declare a state of
emergency for mining formalization
Rómulo Mucho, Minister of Energy and Mines,
expressed the urgency of declaring a state of emergency regarding mining
formalization in the country, after the attack on the Poderosa mining company.
Thus, the Ministry of Environment has announced that it will carry out an
exhaustive review of the Integral Mining Formalization Registry (Reinfo), in
response to the growing complexity of the mining formalization issue. This
decision arises in a context in which competences have been transferred to the
regional directorates or regional sub-directorates of Energy and Mines, which
has generated a need to evaluate and update procedures. Mucho also hinted at
the need to request extraordinary powers to legislate in this regard, without
altering the decentralization law.
In his intervention in the program
‘Ampliación de noticias,’ the minister expressed his concern about how the
State has been overwhelmed due to the distorted management of Reinfo. As has
been previously denounced, this registry is being used by numerous illegal
miners as a means only to appear formal, although in practice they continue to
carry out activities that are harmful to the environment. ‘What happened with
Poderosa obliges us to do it urgently and this would happen in the next days or
weeks,’ he concluded.
State of Emergency
Since the state of emergency was declared
in Pataz in February of this year, 79 operations and 30 interdiction operations
have been carried out against illegal mining. The actions carried out to date
resulted, among other achievements, in the rescue of three citizens who were
victims of the crime of human trafficking, two of whom were minors. Likewise,
48 people involved in illegal mining have been arrested and 139,190.10 soles,
15 vehicles, 1,711 dynamite cartridges, 58 kilograms of ampho and 4,423 gallons
of fuel were seized. Also destroyed were 85 pieces of mineral processing
equipment and 13 tractors. The value of all the seized and destroyed assets would
amount to approximately 36 million soles.
La Libertad: Alleged illegal miners dynamite high voltage pylons in the
area of the Poderosa mine
There are now 15 towers that have been affected in the highlands of La Libertad. Poderosa's representative assured that this is the result of the repeal of the law against illegal mining by the Congress of the Republic.
By Analí EspinozaApril 5th, 4:46 PM EST
Criminal organization dynamited two high
voltage pylons of the Poderosa mine in Pataz, La Libertad | Photo capture:
Agencia AndinaThis Friday morning, April 5th, a new attack took place against
the Poderosa mine located in the district and province of Pataz, in the
highlands of La Libertad region. According to local reports, two high voltage
pylons were dynamited by those allegedly linked to illegal mining.Pablo de la
Flor, Corporate Affairs Manager of Minera Poderosa, confirmed this news in an
interview with RPP Noticias, and indicated that after the attack, the alleged
perpetrators entered two galleries located within the mining area. In that
line, he recalled that the fact takes place months after the attack in which
nine workers of the mining company were killed.‘Unfortunately, we have once
again been victims of a new attack. This time with the blowing up of two pylons
by a group of illegal miners in collusion with criminal elements. In addition,
they have tried to take over two galleries of our operations. This is happening
despite the fact that we are in a state of emergency,’
Fortunately, no injuries or human losses
have been reported in this criminal attack, which many residents have described
as ‘terrorism.’‘We already have 15 dynamited towers.
’State of emergency in Pataz:
14 people linked to illegal gold mining are arrested | GovernmentDe la Flor indicated that with the last attack, there are already 15 towers that have suffered dynamite attacks.
According to him, with this type of attack
the criminals seek to ‘interrupt the electricity supply in order to take part
in Poderosa's operations,’ he mentioned.
In December 2023, a group of criminals
killed nine employees and injured thirteen others. Following this tragic
incident, government authorities declared a state of emergency in the region
due to the high rate of illegal mining. Currently, the province has a
contingent of at least 300 troops, including military and police personnel,
according to De la Flor.
The mining company representative assured
that these attacks are the result of the repeal of the law against illegal
mining by the Congress of the Republic. ‘There is political will on the part of
the Executive, unfortunately we do not see the accompaniment of the
Legislative. There is a group of congressmen who have been acting closely with
the interests of illegal miners and who are responsible for having repealed the
legal instrument that allowed combating this terrible scourge,’ he said. The
Judicial Power announced a hearing against detainees supposedly for the
massacre, but the Mixed Prosecutor's Office of Pataz had to deny it. Precisely,
a couple of days ago, prosecutors specialized in environmental issues, together
with around 650 members of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) and the Armed
Forces, carried out the destruction of a total of 27 illegal mining operations
during interdiction operations carried out between March 11 and 29 in three
districts of the province of Pataz.
The Transitory Provincial Prosecutor's
Office Specialized in Environmental Matters of La Libertad stated that these 27
illegal mining activities included tunnels, galleries and warehouses where
heavy machinery and other tools used for gold extraction were kept, as well as
areas destined for explosives storage. All of this equipment was destroyed,
causing millions of dollars in losses for the illegal mining industry. This problem, which has been affecting the
province of Pataz for a long time, has generated other crimes such as hired
killings, extortion and quotas.
Lima Chamber of Commerce Statement
The Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL) issued a
statement condemning the new attack perpetrated against the mining company
Poderosa, located in the district of Pataz, La Libertad region, where two high
voltage pylons have been dynamited, despite the fact that the area is in a
state of emergency. The business association ‘demands that the authorities act
quickly to locate and prosecute the criminal organizations behind these
reprehensible acts that put lives and jobs at risk. ’Likewise, the CCL ‘expects
the Government to maintain the work started with the business and union
associations in the fight against delinquency and organized crime, and to be
effectively incorporated into the National Council for Citizen Security
(Conasec)”.
THE FOLLOWING NEWS WAS PUBLISHED IN INFOBAE:
“PERU: The worrying situation in Pataz:
15 towers dynamited despite being declared in state of emergency
Despite the declaration of emergency by the
government, the city of Pataz, in La Libertad, is facing an escalation of
violence linked to illegal mining, evidencing a worrying alliance between
organized crime and unregulated mining activity.
By Jazmine AnguloApril 9th, 10:28AM EST.
Despite the presence of law enforcement,
attacks against the region's infrastructure continue, with recent acts of
vandalism (Composition: Infobae/Andina).
The city of Pataz, in the region of La
Libertad, is going through an alarming situation that makes it look like a no
man's land. Despite having been declared a state of emergency by the government
due to high criminal activity in the north of the country, violence persists
and intensifies.
Trujillo: PNP begins campaign to paste
stickers on houses to combat extortion: ‘cases have decreased by 40%.’On April
5th, the Poderosa Mine was the target of two violent attacks by alleged illegal
miners who destroyed two high-voltage pylons. This act of vandalism left a
tragic result: one dead and two injured. However, the magnitude of the
situation goes beyond that. According to Pablo de la Flor, in charge of
Corporate Communications at Minera Poderosa, to date a total of 15 towers have
been dynamited in the area. This figure is even more worrying if we remember
that in December last year, ten workers
lost their lives and at least 15 were injured in another attack. Who wins in naval power: Peru or
Chile? This new 2024 ranking reveals it‘ It is a really inexplicable and
extremely complex situation because of what it involves and because of the
background. The actions of these criminal elements of illegal miners with thugs
who have colluded. We already have 15 dynamited towers and to this we must add
the regrettable loss of lives that these confrontations have generated in the
past,’ expressed De la Flor. The number of deaths linked to illegal mining is
chilling and does not seem to be stopping, despite the presence of 300 National
Police of Peru (PNP) and Army personnel in the area as part of the emergency
declaration. However, for the residents of Pataz, this measure ‘does not work
Intervention of the Armed Forces
General EP David Ojeda Parra, head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces (CC.FF.AA.), and the General of the Police, Martin Villalon Trillo, visited the province of Pataz one day after the attacks. According to a press release from the institution, the purpose of the visit was ‘to supervise the military actions and operations carried out by the Pataz Unified Command, formed by Armed Forces and National Police personnel,’ deployed in the area since the declaration of emergency last February.
’The Armed Forces are looking to intensify intelligence activities to capture those responsible for recent criminal acts in the region of La Libertad. Currently, according to El Comercio, there are 510 agents guarding the area, including members of the Army's unified command and police. ‘The area is very extensive, unfortunately we cannot be with troops in each tower as we would like and then, taking advantage of these special circumstances, they commit these crimes,’ informed the president of the Council of Ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén.
Alliance of organized crime with illegal mining
Pataz has registered more than a dozen deaths due to attacks caused by illegal mining | Photo capture: Agencia Andina
The
events in Pataz highlight the complexity and challenges facing mining
operations in the La Libertad region, highlighting the impacts of the repeal of
legislation against illegal mining by the Congress of the Republic. According
to Pablo de la Flor, the attacks not only represent a danger to Minera
Poderosa's infrastructure and personnel, but also evidence the tensions
surrounding illegal mining and its impact on the legally established industry
and local communities.The mining company's spokesperson points out that there
is an alliance between criminal groups and unregulated mining, which aggravates
the security situation in the area. Illegal mining has been linked to other
forms of criminality, such as drug trafficking, further complicating the picture.
‘There is a perverse marriage between crime and illegal mining that has had
notable expressions in La Libertad, where this confluence of illegal mining and
crime has had disastrous effects,’ explained the company's Corporate Affairs
Manager.The situation in Pataz continues to be critical and demands a
comprehensive response from the authorities to safeguard the safety of the
population and stop the advance of illegal mining and its links to organized
crime”.
NOTE REGARDING THE MINING:
THE PODEROSA MINING CORPORATION IS A
PURCHASER CAPITAL COMPANY WHICH HOLDS 51.2217% corresponds to national
shareholders (representing 185,934,617 shares) and WITH IMPERIALIST FINANCIAL
CAPITAL PARTICIPATION: 48.7783%, to non-domiciled shareholders (representing
177,065,383 shares); SOUTH AMERICA MINING; XELOR SHIPPING LIMITED:- Talingo
Corporation British Virgin Islands; South America Mining Investment British
Virgin Islands, Xelor Shipping Limited British Virgin Islands, Zulema Invest
Limited British Virgin Islands: It is thus a company of the big comprador or
native big bourgeoisie under the domination of imperialist finance capital
which does not participate directly in production, but takes the profits.
Imperialist rentis.