Independence Day in Peru is July 28, when the country freed itself from Spanish rule. National leaders recommend the red-and-white flag of Peru fly on every home and business. In July those the flags flutter ubiquitously around the country. I noticed them immediately in the small farming village of Cocachacra, located in southwestern Peru in the Tamba River Valley. The valley has more than 13,000 hectares of farmland and thousands of farmers with fields of rice, potatoes, sugar cane, onions and garlic during the winter growing season. The past six years, local farmers have protested and stalled a $1.4 billion copper mine called Tia Maria approved for valley; they believe it could destroy the valley’s water supply, and thus kill the 200-year farm economy. Southern Copper Corp., of Mexico, which holds the license, has pledged the highest standards of land and water protections. But its track in recent decades reveals a long list of chemical spills, unpaid fines and workforce violations. Jesus Mariano Cornejo, 48, a farmer and devout Catholic, leads the opposition to Tia Maria.
He told me he hopes Pope Francis’ new encyclical on climate change and environmental protection will give his side renewed moral authority to stop the project. He is urging all farmers to read it closely. Yet the protests and widespread strikes have only grown in intensity. In April, three protesters and a police officer were killed in a violent confrontation with the Peruvian military near Cocachacra’s main church. The village remains under martial law. It was eerily quiet, seemingly deserted, when I visited on July 17. Even though the Peruvian government has taken the side of the copper company in this standoff, Peruvian flags flew all over the village. But I noticed something else—an array of pale green flags flying as well. As I came close, I could see they presented another kind of pride—and defiance.
“Agro Si, Mina No … Carajo.”
Translated: Agriculture yes, Mining no … dammit.
Image and caption by Justin Catanoso. Peru, 2015.
Project forthcoming.
