In
one small town called Choropampa, 1,200 inhabitants suffered the
effects of mercury poisoning due to a mercury spill at the fault of
Yanacocha in 2000.(2) The effects are still being felt to this day as
mothers pass the heavy metal to their babies through their blood. Tests
have also shown that many Yanacocha workers have dangerously high
levels of mercury in their blood. However, once they are unable to work
they are abandoned by the company.(3)
Yanacocha itself admits its appalling record, “We are not proud of the current state of our relationship with the people of Cajamarca.” This admission came after a ‘Listening Study’ commissioned by Yanacocha, and showed the dismal state of public opinion about the company who, the study states, “suffers from an inability to listen effectively to the community.”
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/peru-archives-76/4438-peru-andean-self-determination-struggles-against-extractive-capitalism-
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