Drug trade behind Peruvian mine killings at Rio Blanco
Sunday, 08 Nov 2009
Reuters reported that a last weekend attack on a controversial copper project in northern Peru that left 3 dead may have been the work of drug traffickers who want to keep the area undeveloped in order to protect their trade as Opium poppies cultivated for the heroin trade are grown in the mountainous area.
The Rio Blanco copper project, owned by China's Zijin Mining Group was invaded by 15 to 20 gunmen who fired at employees killing 3 and then set the complex ablaze.
Police said that they were still collecting evidence from the attack and did not rule out a revenge attack stemming from a previous clash at the site.
Mr Ricardo Briceno head of Confiep said that "There is no dispute or conflict with the community, so this makes you think that criminal interests are behind it, probably drug traffickers."
Mr Fernando Cilloniz an analyst for CPN radio said that "Narcos don't like formal companies because they bring lots of attention to the area of their illegal activities."
The company and people from the business community said that townspeople now support the construction of the mine, though violence has broken out before at Rio Blanco. In 2005, 1 protester was killed and roughly 2 dozen others were tortured when residents mobilized to stop construction of the Rio Blanco mine, which they said would cause pollution and hurt water supplies.
The government has also struggled at times to win the public debate over the benefits that big mines bring to isolated towns in the Andes. Residents in poor Peruvian towns, sometimes working with international environmental groups, often argue with foreign firms and the government over mining and oil projects in Peru, one of the world's largest mineral exporters. Periodically, violence erupts.
In June, 3 dozen people died near the town of Bagua in Peru's northern jungle, as police broke up roadblocks set by indigenous groups opposed to oil exploration on their ancestral lands.
It was the biggest crisis of Garcia's term and dozens of towns have moved to block mining or petroleum projects nationwide.
