Tag: Junín

The Andes
La Oroya

Peru ordered to compensate mine pollution victims

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued a judgment in the case of Comunidad de La Oroya v. Peru, addressing the Peruvian state’s responsibility for damages suffered by 80 residents of La Oroya mining district, and ordering the payment of compensation to the victims. The site of the economically troubled metal smelting complex is considered one of the most polluted locales on Earth. Community residents filed a compliance suit with the IACHR after Peru’s government failed to uphold a Constitutional Court ruling in their favor, ordering mitigation measures. The IACHR found that Peru failed to comply with environmental protection standards, leading to extremely high levels of lead and other contaminants in the blood of children and pregnant mothers in the community. (Photo: Maurice Chédel via Wikimedia Commons)

The Andes
toma de lima

Peru: opposition protests US troop deployment

Peru’s Congress voted to approve Legislative Resolution 4766, authorizing US troops to be stationed on the national territory from June 1 to Dec. 31. Lima lawmaker Alfredo Azurín, president of the Commission on National Defense, Internal Order & Anti-Drug Struggle, said the soldiers will carry out training missions and joint exercises with Peru’s armed forces and National Police. The vote was harshly condemned by former foreign minister Héctor Béjar, who said the estimated 700 US troops will be disposed to support operations by the security forces against Peru’s social movements, now preparing a new mobilization: “It is obvious that the presence of these soldiers is a deterrent, part of a policy of intimidation of the Peruvian people, who have announced new protests for next July.” (Photo: IndymediaArgentina)

Planet Watch
motin

Sri Lanka to Lima: ripples from Ukraine storm

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a nationwide state of emergency as angry protests over fuel shortages and power cuts erupted in the capital Colombo. When police repression failed to quell the protests, Rajapaksa sought to appease demands for his resignation with a purge of his cabinet. Peru’s President Pedro Castillo meanwhile imposed a curfew in Lima and its port of Callao in response to an eruption of protests over dramatic fuel price hikes. As street clashes broke out in the cities, farmers outraged at a jump in fertilizer costs blocked highways at several points around the country—including Ica, where a toll-booth was set on fire. The world has seen an oil price surge to $100 a barrel in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Photo: Twitter via La Tercera)

The Andes
castillo

Peru: populist president prevails amid polarization

Proclaiming that “change is coming,” Pedro Castillo, a left-populist former school teacher, was sworn in as Peru’s new president on the bicentennial of the country’s independence. He pledged to redraft the constitution, raise taxes on mines, and form a “Binational Cabinet” with neighboring left-led Bolivia. But Castillo assumes office amid a profound political crisis and growing polarization—as well as the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world. His far-right opponent Keiko Fujimori, who challenged his victory with baseless claims of voter-fraud, has a formidable bloc in Congress and promises to obstruct his agenda. (Photo: Diario Uno)

The Andes
pedro castillo

Peru: Keiko takes page from Trump playbook

One week after Peru’s close and hotly contested presidential run-off election, far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori appears to be taking a tip from the Donald Trump playbook. The official results from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) give Fujimori 49.8% of the vote, and 50.2% to her left-populist challenger Pedro Castillo. However, the results only become official when they are certified by the National Jury of Elections (JNE)—and Fujimori is calling for some 200,000 votes to be nullified as fraudulent, enough to throw the race in her favor. The JNE initially said it would extend the deadline for filing challenges to votes, which has now passed. However, it quickly reversed this decision in response to a public outcry and accusations by Castillo and his supporters of an attempted “coup d’etat.” (Photo: Diario Uno)

The Andes

‘Gasolinazo’ protests rock Peru

Hundreds marched on Peru's Congress building, in a rally that ended in clashes with the riot police in Lima's central Plaza San Martín, and a police car set on fire. The "Shut Down Congress" (Cierren el Congreso) mobilization was called to protest both economic austerity and official corruption, and came amid new revelations of vote-buying. It was the second such march since May 31, which saw a similar mobilization in downtown Lima. The press has dubbed the protest wave the "gasolinazo," as the high price of petrol (despite depressed global oil prices) is a key grievance. (Photo: @dbedoya08 via Debate)

The Andes

Peru: La Oroya protests turn deadly

One worker was killed before laid-off employees of the idled Oroya smelting complex lifted their strike as Peru's government pledged to reach a deal with the facility's creditors.

The Amazon

Peru: protests against PlusPetrol turn deadly

Two have been killed by army troops in militant protests against the operations of PlusPetrol at Pichanaki, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest Peru's Junín region.