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Peruvian Student Movement Critical to the Community Success at Cerro Quilish
Since Newmont subsidiary Minera Yanacocha opened the Yanacocha Mine in 1992, it has become the most profitable gold mine in South America and the second-largest gold mine in the world. However, its rapid development has coincided with a series of actions by Minera Yanacocha that the firm itself acknowledges have significantly changed the area.
Students at universities and institutions close to the mine may not have been among the 925 affected by the company's mercury spill in 2000 and they may not know that local rivers exceed World Health Organization (WHO) standards for acidity and concentrations of arsenic and mercury. Still, they understand something is wrong in their community. In fact, they were so moved by local farmers' demands for the end of the Yanacocha's expansion to a local source of water called Cerro Quilish that they turned out in droves to express their descent.
In early September 2004, students from the National University of Cajamarca and several other Cajarmarca-area schools joined campesino blockades and protests in Cajamarca. Despite frequent and violent confrontations with police, the students--many of whom had been excused from school to participate in the protest--remained steadfast in their support of the campesinos.
"In the days of the conflict almost all of the public schools and some private went to the protest," Patricia Rojas Caro of No Dirty Gold partner Grufides said. "Nobody thought that so many people would identify with the requests for the farmers."
The support of Cajamarca-area students was critical in compelling Newmont and Minera Yancocha to abandon their plans to develop Cerro Quilish. The students set aside personal concerns to demand that mining activity should not happen until trust with local communities has been established and community consent has been obtained.
Grufides greatly appreciates the students' support and hopes that it can channel the activists' energy into the long-term campaign to defend the interests of the Cajamarca community.
"We need that the students not only take reactive action," Rojas Caro said. "But also they ought to understand the purpose of the activities and demonstrate that they can participate on all levels and in a sustained manner."
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