ARTISAN MINERS PROTEST IN LIMA AGAINST IMPERIALIST LOOTING
They will take everything from this country. Because it does not belong to us, we are. We are a mess. Here. And the powerful do what they want... Says one of those who protest against the looting of the big imperialist mining companies and the big native bourgeoisie at their service, while the artisanal miners -poor peasants in their great majority- are prohibited from producing, criminalizing their work that they have been doing since time immemorial.
The criminalization of artisanal producers began with force in the present century and has become part of the war against the people since the signing of the free trade agreement with the United States with the government of Alan Garcia and the repression has been implemented with more force since the government of the genocidal Ollanta Humala. The miners are confronting the repressive forces of the old State in the service of imperialist mining and the big bourgeoisie, using all forms of struggle up to the highest, where they employ the experience gained from the people's war led by the PCP.
In the province of Pataz, in La Libertad, the miners are resorting to the highest form of struggle to combat the repression of the old State, thus developing the democratic path.
RTISAN MINERS COMPLETE THIRD DAY OF STRIKE IN CHUMBIVILCAS
Chumbivilcas, November 27, 2024. – The artisanal miners of the province of Chumbivilcas, located in the Cusco region, are today completing their third day of indefinite strike as a protest measure against the lack of attention to their demands by the authorities of the old landowning-bureaucratic State at the service of imperialism.
NOTE:
Here we publish a news item about how our artisanal miners are being fought by prohibiting or limiting their right to work by the repressive apparatus of the old State - armed and police forces, its judicial, fiscal and prison system.
When the reactionary newspaper speaks of "a new Pataz" in the news item, it is to try to condemn a good example of the struggle of our miners and peasants who defend their rights with weapons in hand.
When they speak of illegal miners, it is to try to condemn our small producers in the countryside and the city.
When they speak of extortion of formal miners, they try to slander the just struggle of our producers, accusing them of a crime they have never committed, just for exercising their right to work and enjoy part of the country's wealth against the monopolistic interests of the great imperialist mining industry and its native agents of the great bourgeoisie. It is not true that the majority of the population is against artisanal miners. What the State's repressive action and reactionary propaganda like that of this filthy newspaper at its service seek is to prepare public opinion to continue applying its war against the people.
After our clarifications on the problem, we leave you with the note because we know that it will help you draw your own fair conclusions:
Yauyos: Police destroy 12 tunnels used by illegal miners to extract gold
Residents of Tauripampa fear that this region of the Lima mountains will become the 'new Pataz'. Miners had made barricades to prevent the arrival of law enforcement.
They fear that the area will become the 'new Pataz'. Photo: PNP
Yesterday, during an operation carried out from 3:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., personnel from the Cañete Police Division, the Environmental Directorate, the Anti-Mining Division of Dinoes, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office and the regional Energy and Mines management destroyed 12 tunnels, as well as tunnels and trenches used by illegal miners to extract gold-bearing material.
General Manuel Lozada Morales, head of the Lima Sur Police Division, who was in charge of the operation, said that these enclaves had the capacity to extract tons of gold-bearing material, affecting the ecosystem. He said that these organizations often extort the owners and operators of formal mining units to obtain illicit profits, which thus contribute to the financing of their criminal activities.
Apart from the 12 holes, 5 industrial power generators were found, 300 cartridges of dynamite, a fuse, bags loaded with gold-bearing material, materials and objects with which they operated illegally.
In this way, Divcomin personnel proceeded to the explosion in the presence of a prosecutor.
Tauripampa is a typical small town in the Lima mountains. The route has beautiful landscapes: farms, desert, mountain vegetation. It is an area where vicuñas are raised.
Many people have arrived at the place and work in mines illegally and there is a big problem because there is also a company that is exploiting that place with a legal permit, so there are those that promote legality and those that promote illegality.
For that reason, the residents congratulated the action of the police, because they do not want that area to become the new Pataz. "We will not allow illegal mining to continue to be promoted, which brings with it related crimes. We want to live in peace," say the residents.