Two decades ago, this rugged, mineral-rich Andean nation bent over backward to attract mining multinationals — and became Latin America's undisputed economic growth leader as a result. But the boom has been more of a curse for families like the Marzanos, who saw the $49,000 they got for their land quickly evaporate. Promises of jobs, decent schools and health care did not come true.
Instead, the people who live in the rural highlands have been battling one environmental disaster after another. Frustration over lax industry regulation has led to a growing fury of protests in Peru, with at least eight people killed by security forces at two mining projects in 2012. Of 81 active environmental disputes the government counted in April, a half-dozen involved Antamina.
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