Latest news with #MarcoAquino
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Grisly Peru mining murders spotlight 'gold curse' in the Andes
By Sebastian Castaneda and Marco Aquino TRUJILLO, Peru (Reuters) - Peruvian mining sector worker Frank Monzón was aware of the risks, but the lure of gold deep in the Andean rock of northern Pataz province outweighed the danger. Now he and 12 others are dead in one of the country's worst mining massacres. Authorities this week halted some mining activity in Peru's gold-rich north and sent in the military after police recovered the bodies of the 13 mine workers from inside the Lidmar mine after they were kidnapped by illegal miners last month and killed. Lidmar was working in agreement with major local gold producer Poderosa, Peru's second-largest producer. The killings, by suspected gangs involved in illegal mining, have shaken the mineral-rich country, the world's no. 3 copper producer and no. 8 for gold, where soaring global prices of the precious metal have led to a boom in illegal activity and sparked clashes between big mines and wildcat operators. Illegal mining, primarily of gold, has surpassed even drug trafficking in terms of value, hitting some $3-4 billion each year, according to Peru's government. "He used to tell me that there were many deaths and I always kept telling my son 'leave this job, son, come back, don't work there, work somewhere else'," said Abraham Dominguez, who identified himself as the father of one of the victims. "For us as parents, it is such a great pain that we feel. It's our children, our blood. I thought maybe one day he would bury me, but instead, I am going to bury my son." Into the night on Tuesday, relatives of the murdered mine workers, who had been security guards, said farewell to their loved ones, with burials in cities around the country. In Trujillo, capital of the region where Pataz is located, relatives were scared to speak to the media as funerals were held, saying they feared reprisals from criminal gangs who authorities have blamed for the murders. The white coffin of Monzón was carried by friends and family and paraded through the streets of Trujillo before his burial. In northern Piura, Darwin Cobeñas was laid to rest in his humble hometown, while his family sobbed and prayed that his death not go unpunished. "I'm only alive because my friend told me not to go," one local man in his 30s, who said he had worked before with some of the victims, told Reuters at Monzon's funeral. "He told me: 'A lot of things are happening, don't go'". 'GOLD IS A CURSE' Pataz has become Peru's largest gold-producing region, in no small part due to artisan or informal mines, which operate under temporary REINFO permits. However, with gold prices near record highs, illegal groups often muscle into the operations of small-scale miners or steal their production in collusion with criminal gangs, according to police and industry sources. "Gold is a curse for Pataz," the mayor of Pataz, Aldo Mariño, told Reuters. He had traveled to Lima to speak with President Dina Boluarte and demand greater investment in his remote region, an 18-hour drive even from Trujillo. He said that despite the area's great mineral wealth, his community lives in poverty, without basic services and on deteriorating or unpaved roads. "This has been going on for several years, with the difference that now everything has collapsed. It's due to the absence of the State," he said. "People continue to die." Trujillo prosecutors investigating the deaths said on Tuesday that the workers had been dead for seven to eight days, citing forensic studies. Lidmar said in a statement its workers "were ambushed, cruelly tortured, and murdered by hitmen." Poderosa has reported the deaths of 39 workers in recent years in attacks on its facilities or small mines that supply it with gold. And in the last four years, 15 of the company's high-voltage towers have been destroyed with explosives. Peru exported $15.5 billion in gold in 2024, a sharp increase from $11 billion the previous year. It is estimated that around 40% of this likely came from illegal sources. (Reporting by Sebastian Castaneda and Marco Aquino; Additional reporting by Anthony Marina; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Sharon Singleton)
The Star
02-05-2025
- The Star
Peru navy vessel collides with Perenco oil platform in Amazon, killing at least two
LIMA (Reuters) - A Peruvian navy vessel collided with an oil platform operated by Perenco on the Amazon River, killing at least two people, Peru's defense ministry said on Friday. (Reporting by Marco Aquino)
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Peru court jails ex-President Humala in Odebrecht-linked money laundering case
By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) - A Peruvian court on Tuesday sentenced ex-President Ollanta Humala to 15 years in prison for receiving illicit campaign funds from a Brazilian construction firm, making him nation's latest former leader to head behind bars. Humala and his wife were accused of receiving funds from Brazilian builder Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, in his successful 2011 election campaign. Humala's wife, Nadine Heredia, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday. The ex-president, a retired military officer who led the Andean nation from 2011 to 2016, will likely carry out his sentence on a police base built specially to house Peru's jailed leaders. Former presidents Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo are currently jailed at the site, while Alberto Fujimori stayed there until his release in 2023. During his trial, which lasted three years after an investigation which kicked off in 2016, Humala decried the charges as political persecution. Prosecutors alleged Humala received the illicit funds in his 2011 campaign against Keiko Fujimori - the other former president's daughter - through Humala's Nationalist Party. His imprisonment will be effective immediately, even if he appeals the conviction. The court is expected to continue reading out the full sentencing over the next several days. LATEST 'LAVA JATO' CONVICTION A one-time construction colossus, Odebrecht had admitted that it doled out bribes to governments across Latin America to help build its vast empire. It changed its name to Novonor in 2020 and is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Humala is Peru's second former president to be jailed and the fourth to be implicated for his role in the sweeping graft case known as "Lava Jato." In 2019, former President Alan Garcia killed himself by gunshot wound as police descended on his home to arrest him for alleged corruption related to the firm. The year before, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was forced to step down after just two years in office. Meanwhile, Toledo was sentenced to two decades in prison last year after receiving $35 million in bribes in exchange for public works contracts. Former Odebrecht executives have said in Peruvian court that the firm had financed nearly all presidential candidates in the country for a nearly 30-year period.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Indigenous groups in Peru protest Glencore's Antapaccay mine
By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) - Members of Indigenous communities blocked access to Glencore's Antapaccay copper mine in Peru's Cusco region to protest an expansion plan at the site, a local community leader said on Monday. Local residents on Sunday began blocking roads and calling for a meeting with government mining officials over fears of environmental damage from the expansion plan, community leader Flavio Huanque said in an interview. He said the protesters represented ten different communities. Glencore did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A source close to the company confirmed that protests had blocked access to mine vehicles. Images from a local online news program showed small groups of people at different points in the road, holding signs. Antapaccay is the seventh largest copper mine in Peru, the world's third-biggest producer of the red metal. Antapaccay has faced protests by local Indigenous groups over environmental concerns in past years as well. Peru's mining sector as a whole has also faced disruptive, at times violent, protests across many of its major mines. Peru's Mining Ministry said in a social media post on Friday that it had met with Glencore executives overseeing Antapaccay's expansion plans. According to the ministry, the company representatives said the expansion represented a $1.8 billion investment, and the miner would work on agreements with the Huano Huano, Huini Coroccohuayco and Pacopata communities. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the protests.
