In the last two weeks, Peruvians have faced, once again, the weakness of its environmental institutions and the enormous risks that are constantly present in different parts of our territory. First, the oil spill in the Marañon river in the district of Urarina in Loreto, followed by the collapse of a tailings dam in the district of Huachocolpa in Huancavelica, which is causing terrible contamination of three rivers in the area on top of economic and health impacts for the communities. 

Source: Huffington Post, 01/06/10

Author's note: Last week, following the visit of U.N. Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights James Anaya, the Guatemalan government agreed to abide by his requests and those of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights, the Catholic Church, the International Labor Organization and others and has ordered the temporary suspension of operations at the Marlin Mine in the indigenous lands of Western Guatemala.

Moments after assuming the presidency of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla signed an executive decree that places a moratorium on open-pit gold mining in the country.

The decree suspends “indefinitely” the “exploration, extraction and processing of the materials extracted through the use of cyanide and mercury.”

Read more here

While the ‘Western’ media were dusting off their camera lenses, Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, presented in Cochabamba the blueprints of the peoples’ answer to the failure of Copenhagen. From April 20th till April 22nd, over 35,000 people from 142 countries exchanged ideas and experiences on how to combat climate change and save our planet. This event came to a close on the International Day of Mother Earth, with traditional dances, festivities and speeches from Evo Morales, Hugo Chávez and other high dignitaries from socialist Latin America. The centre-piece of the closing event, however, was the Peoples’ Agreement, laying the foundations of a more unified reform movement, trying to save humanity and Mother Earth from destruction.

Oxfam International launched 2 movies on the planned Río Blanco mining project in Northern Peru, focussing on the possible environmental impact of the project and human rights violations.