current economic boom and emerging prosperity. Additionally, my interviewees felt that Peru’s the mining industry has placed Peru on the map for foreign direct investment as well as provides valuable infrastructure in the form of roads, irrigation etc. in the regions where extraction occurs. It was acknowledged by all interviewees who work directly for or with the industry that extraction has inevitable side effects but as technology improves, the ecological footprint becomes smaller and smaller. Additionally, all interviewees who work directly for or with the industry mentioned that artisanal, or illegal/ small-scale, mining has a much more severe ecological impact than that of the large-scale, professional mines. Finally, multiple interviewees stated that they believe the Peruvian mineral extraction industry is to and that public “here stay” protest and activism will not significantly impact the prosperity of the industry. My conversations with individuals who work directly for or with the industry were all in agreement that the current national resistance to the mining industry is due to residual sentiments from the previous decades when governmental regulations on social responsibility and environmental sustainability were weak if at all present. Additionally, it was mentioned numerous times that local leaders heavily influence the opinions of community members and that corruption runs strong in many local governments. These interviewees frequently drew upon the example of the protests in the Espinar province of Peru. In this province, Xstrata Mining Company extracts copper. The company voluntarily donates 3% of profits to the region for social development (approximately 10 million US dollars per year) in addition to financing multiple community infrastructure projects. In 2011, the governor of Espinar, Oscar Mollohuanca, supposedly launched a campaign claiming massive contamination and manipulation of the local communities by the Xstrata mine and demanded that 30%, as opposed to 3%, of Xstrata’s profits be donated to the local government. Local communities immediately responded with massive
Peru’s current economic boom and emerging prosperity. Additionally, my interviewees felt that the mining industry has placed Peru on the map for foreign direct investment as well as provides valuable infrastructure in the form of roads, irrigation etc. in the regions where extraction occurs. It was acknowledged by all interviewees who work directly for or with the industry that extraction has inevitable side effects but as technology improves, the ecological footprint becomes smaller and smaller. Additionally, all interviewees who work directly for or with the industry mentioned that artisanal, or illegal/ small-scale, mining has a much more severe ecological impact than that of the large-scale, professional mines. Finally, multiple interviewees stated that they believe the Peruvian mineral extraction industry is “here to stay” and that public protest and activism will not significantly impact the prosperity of the industry. My conversations with individuals who work directly for or with the industry were all in agreement that the current national resistance to the mining industry is due to residual sentiments from the previous decades when governmental regulations on social responsibility and environmental sustainability were weak if at all present. Additionally, it was mentioned numerous times that local leaders heavily influence the opinions of community members and that corruption runs strong in many local governments. These interviewees frequently drew upon the example of the protests in the Espinar province of Peru. In this province, Xstrata Mining Company extracts copper. The company voluntarily donates 3% of profits to the region for social development (approximately 10 million US dollars per year) in addition to financing multiple community infrastructure projects. In 2011, the governor of Espinar, Oscar Mollohuanca, supposedly launched a campaign claiming massive contamination and manipulation of the local communities by the Xstrata mine and demanded that 30%, as opposed to 3%, of Xstrata’s profits be donated to the local government. Local communities immediately responded with massive
1465_Vienna%20Saccomanno.docx