How Do I Adjust Cliff

second lead in the blood Current city or mine eats

After my interesting visit to La Oroya, which I would not be without the great, spontaneous help of the local environmental and human rights organization CooperAcción been possible, I traveled to Cerro de Pasco on. Between La Oroya and Cerro de Pasco, there are only a train, but unfortunately only made of metal and not humans. Since commute so no buses between the two cities, I'm early to the bus station and looked for a taxi. Shared taxis are ordinary cars that start when the car is fully loaded with 4 passengers. This can then for starters up to 2 hours. For people with driving anxiety or a strong safety or hysterical understanding of this mode of transport is limited to recommend. Because time is money and money is scarce. We drove the winding 128 km distance in a record for Peru 1h 20min. During the 3 compañeros enjoyed in the back of a trusting deep sleep, I wished I handle frozen in fear but those damn driving school double pedals on my passenger side. Fortunately, the roads between the two cities for the mineral transport are highly developed.

on the outskirts of the city

Cerro de Pasco is located at 4400m and is the highest city in the country. On entering the town of 70,000 inhabitants immediately notice the huge hole in the center. As the city was built around a huge volcanic abyss, it looks through the arranged on the high slopes of different houses as if this would threaten in the hole to slip. Otherwise, even in this traditional Peruvian mining town not much to see of the much-vaunted development. On the road again lined up the corrugated iron huts, shells and (Ab) shacks along. In the remaining balance from the city center is a large monumental statue and the monumental cathedral. The monument is the remaining parts Finally, do not save the old city even before the hunger of mine. According to the current "Plan L" of the mining company will soon disappear in the hole.

In Cerro de Pasco has a long and glorious history. After silver discoveries in the area the city was founded in 1572 as a mining settlement. Until the beginning of the 20th Century, Cerro de Pasco grew steadily and became the basis of underground mining to the center of the Peruvian economy. When El Dorado, the city of Peru drew not only the indigenous farmers in the area, but also adventurers from all over the world. By 1900 all major European countries had a consulate in Cerro de Pasco. After a market downturn, it came from 1915 through the acquisition of mines by a U.S. company and the upgrading of facilities to a renewed boom. Cerro de Pasco Cooper built Cooperation and operating the refinery at La Oroya. With the discovery of zinc and lead deposits in the 1950s began for the city of the beginning of the end. The promotion of these commodities was easier than the more modern technique of the open pit.

traditional May Day with regional costumes

Since then, the hole is getting bigger and the small town forever. Of the displaced persons from the city center leaves a part of the city, most settle but wild at the edges of Cerro de Pasco. With the money for their old houses they can afford rarely a fresh start. Since the mine has eaten only the historical old town, are the most affected long-established merchants and craftsmen who have lost their homes, their economic life center. In the improvised substitute settlements usually lack of infrastructure for water and electricity.

the "steps" leading to the several hundred meter deep open pit

After a stint as a state enterprise germinated with the purchase of the mine by the U.S. company VOLCAN 1997 in the population of hope that by modern Know-how of the new owner of alternatives for the population and are developed to save the city. This hope turned out to be quite fast as an illusion, because the modern technology of the U.S. mining company in the open mining grew even faster than before, but the circumstances of the people were not better, but gradually deteriorated. During 2005 VOLCAN largest funders of zinc, lead and silver rose in Peru, were the expulsion of the same methods, but the critics were less and less.

Mine eats city

The freelance journalist and communications expert at the independent local NGOs LABORATORY , Elvira Rimac, criticized in an interview that the company has brought corruption by most critics. The regional press is dependent on the ads of the mining company and then directed from his reporting. Politicians are rewarded depending on their level of positive statements about the company of this with "donations". It was surprising that this "aparato cooperativo" also composed of otherwise known to be very critical of NGOs. Its members are the regional representatives of CONACAMI , the Federación de las Comunidades Campesinas , the Federación de Asentamientos Humanos and trade unions.

Cerro de Pasco from above
(Source: GoogleEarth)

The management of the University of Cerro de Pasco is also, according to the Rimac "aparato cooperativo" . The result is that is explained scientifically in spite of existing capacity with the negative consequences of the regional industry. Neither are there of the urban university research contributions to solving the problems of urban development or studies on the degree of pollution of air and water in Cerro de Pasco. Although these organizations are representing the interests of civil society, they are in Cerro de Pasco, a community of interests received by the mine. The interests of the people and the company in reality are very far apart, show the research results of external experts.


researchers at the University of Pisa (Italy) have been found in cooperation with LABORATORY that the rivers and lakes in and around Cerro de Pasco significantly contaminated with heavy metals. The two main rivers Rio Tingo and Rio San Juan have a 20-50-fold increase in value (always measured at the upper limits of the World Health Organization / WHO) in iron, magnesium and aluminum, but also highly toxic metals such as Arsenic and cadmium. Severity of the lead levels in San Juan are situated at the 165-fold. The lagoons of the region have values of 80-fold to 465-fold for lead and (!) To arsenic. Agriculture and livestock are not to do with such dead and toxic water. The mortality rate due to "congenital physical anomaly is in Cerro de Pasco 15 times (for children 33 times) higher than the national average.

team LABORATORY

In Cerro de Pasco is amazingly obvious as a transnational private companies for profit interest systematically destroyed a city whose population distributes and poisoned. Since the state in this Conflict behaves completely passive and the press and the representatives of the major civil society organizations silent and obedient position pro-Mine, the company set no limits in his actions. The Peruvian social scientists Vego Pablo Centeno (Universidad Católica ) writes that the city is under the total control of the company. Alvelin Andres, a member of LAB, told me during a tour of the huge hole that he does not indulged the illusion that the city in 15 years still exist. Drive him to just worry what will become of the people of Cerro de Pasco.