The National Confederation of Peruvian Communities Affected by Mining (CONACAMI, in ) is a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian indigenous rights organization with a focus on defending the rights of indigenous peoples living in communities that are close to (future) large scale mining projects. The organization tries to protect them against the potential negative impacts of mining. Of the 6000 communities in Peru, 3200 experience negative effects of the extractive industries. CONACAMI is a national organization and gives support to the 19 regional organizations. These handle the specific conflicts between indigenous communities and mining companies.

Mission and vision

CONACAMI aimes at protecting indigenous peoples and their communities against the negative impacts of extractive industries. These impacts includeDirty Gold's Impacts
retrieved on 2 April 2011.ICCM Good Practice Guide: Indigenous Peoples and Mining
.

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

ones, such as water pollution with mercury, cyanide and heavy metals, air pollution, including lead poisoning, solid waste, and others. There are also social impacts which include among others the violation of human rights in the decision-making process, immigration of job seekers into the community and workers' health problems and fatal accidents. Thirdly, cultural impacts are possible. These include the loss of or change in traditional livelihoods, the destruction of or damage to cultural heritage and the disturbance of sacred natural sites, mainly due to open pit mining. Former leader of CONACAMI, Miguel Palacín, explained this final impact in an interview in 2005 as: "To open a pit in the highest mountain, the Apu, is like tearing a hole in the Cathedral of Lima to the Catholics"CONACAMI President Denounces State Political Persecution, 01 Sept 2005
retrieved on 1 April 2011. Besides the described negative impacts, there are also potential positive aspects of mining, which include new job opportunities, improved infrastructure and services and different social, environmental or cultural heritage programs set up by the mining companies and/or regional authorities. But these potential positive impacts on the local communities often remain promises which aren not fulfilled. The affected communities invoke the ILO Convention no. 169 to argue that they have the right of

Free, Prior and Informed Consent Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is aimed to establish bottom-up participation and consultation of an indigenous population prior to the beginning of development on ancestral land or using resources in an indigenous population's territory. I ...

(FPIC) to activities that affect their lives. CONACAMI envisions the Andean idea of el buen vivir (in

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

: sumaq kawsay), translated as living well, as opposed to the Western concept of

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

. It calls for a way of living in which people, communities and the environment are in harmony and respect each other, in which not only the rights of man count, but also those of Mother Earth (

Pachamama Pachamama is a goddess revered by the Indigenous peoples of the Andes. In Inca mythology she is an " Earth Mother" type goddess, Dransart, Penny. (1992) "Pachamama: The Inka Earth Mother of the Long Sweeping Garment." ''Dress and Gender: Makin ...

). One person or group of people should not aim for profit at the expense of another, in which the other could be another person or another group of people as well as the environment.

History

CONACAMI was founded in October 1999 at a meeting with representatives of over 1200 Peruvian communities. Because of the

of Fujimori's (1990–2000) politics, mining activities grew without paying attention to the local communities.CONACAMI Nuestra Historia
, retrieved on 11 March 2012. The negative impacts of the mining activities on these indigenous communities were large and in 1997 and 1998 they started their resistance, which eventually resulted in the foundation of CONACAMI. In its first years of existence, the organization gathered knowledge about the problems, got the situation on the political agenda and had its first grand success in Tambogrande, where after years of resistance the mining project was cancelled by the Peruvian government as a result of a referendum. In the beginning, the organization proposed bilateral communication with the mining companies, but at the Second National Congress in 2003 it was decided to take a different approach.NACLA Report on the Americas, Sept/Oct 2010: El buen vivir: Peruvian Indigenous leader Mario Palacios
The organization now rejects mining and neoliberal practices as a whole. Furthermore, they turned into an indigenous confederation and are now focussing on the defense of indigenous peoples' rights. During the years it became clear that the conflicts were too numerous which made it impossible for CONACAMI to coordinate all the conflicts.CONACAMI: boeren komen op voor hun rechten, 9 Dec 2010
, retrieved on 1 April 2011. Therefore, they decided on the Third National Congress (2005) to focus on giving advice, knowledge and tools to the regional organization in order to give them the capacity to solve the problems on a regional level. CONACAMI started with globalization through affiliations with other indigenous organizations such as the Bolivian organization CONAMAQ and

ECUARUNARI ECUARUNARI (in Kichwa: ', "Movement of the indigenous people of Ecuador"), also known as Confederation of Peoples of Kichwa Nationality ('','' in Spanish ') is the organization of indigenous peoples of Kichwa nationality in the Ecuadorian central ...

from Ecuador.Los diez primeros años de CONACAMI, 22 Oct 2009
retrieved on 2 April 2011. Among these organization knowledge and experiences were shared. In July 2006 CONACAMI cofounded CAOI (Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas) in which multiple indigenous organizations from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile are brought together. In October 2009 CONACAMI celebrated its 10th anniversary and organized together with its affiliated organizations the Global Minga in Defense of Mother Earth and Her Peoples (12–16 October).

National board

Members of the National board of CONACAMI (February 2011):
, retrieved on 11 March 2012. * Magdiel Carrión Pintado: President * Luis Siveroni Morales: Vice president Secretaries: * Nora Melchor Cohaila: Land and water protection * Pablo Salas Charca: Institutional development * Víctor Rodríguez Lauret:

Environmental monitoring Environmental monitoring is the processes and activities that are done to characterize and describe the state of the environment. It is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, and in many circumstances in which human activit ...

* Gioconda Baca Vargas and Hilda Huamán Huamaní: Records and files * Felipe Cortez Zeballos: Economy * Gumercinda Neira Cornejo: Women * Benito Calixto Guzmán: International and foreign relations * Roberto Martínez Pérez: Training and culture * Odilón Huaraya Labra: Press and publicity * Carlos Candiotti: Human rights

Regional organizations

CONACAMI is an umbrella organization in which 19 regional organizations are organized.CONACAMI Quiénes somos
, retrieved on 11 March 2012. The majority is called CORECAMI (Coordinadora Regional de Comunidades Afectados por la Minería) which makes them recognizable as affiliated with CONACAMI.

Northern Peru

* FEPROCCA (Federación Provincial de Comunidades de la Provincia de Ayabaca) – Piura * Frente de Defensa del Medio Ambiente de Carmen de la Frontera – Piura * CORECAMI – Ancash

Central Peru

* FERECCNPA (Federación Regional de Comunidades Campesinas y Nativas de Pasco) – Pasco * CORECAMI – Pasco * CORECAMI – Junín * Red Ambiental y Territorial del Valle Dorado de los Andes – Junín * CREDEMAV (Coordinadora Regional de Defensa del Medio Ambiente y la Vida) del Callao – Lima * CORECAMI – Oyon * CORECAMI – Ica * Comunidad Campesina de Quispillacta – Ayacucho * CORECAMI – Huancavelica * CODICAMI – Secclla (Coordinadora Distrital de Comunidades Afectados por la Minería) – Huancavelica

Southern Peru

* CORECAMI – Apurimac * CORECAMI – Arequipa * CORECAMI – Moquegua * CORECAMI – Cuzco * CORECAMI – Tacna * CORECAMI – Puno

Affiliated organizations

OCMAL: Observatorio de Conflictos Mineros de América Latina (Observatory of mining conflicts in Latin America)
* AIDESEP (Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana) – Per
Website
* ECUARUNARI (Confederación de Pueblos de la Nacionalidad Kichwa del Ecuador) – Ecuado
Website
* CONAMAQ (Consejo Nacional de Ayllus y Markas del Qullasuyum) – Bolivi
Website
* CAOI (Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas
Website
* LABOR Per
Website
*

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

International *

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

– United States * 11.11.11 – Belgiu
Website
* IBIS – Denmar
Website

References

External links

CONACAMI website

OCMAL: Observatorio de Conflictos Mineros de América Latina (Observatory of mining conflicts in Latin America)

Mining in Paradise? No-go zones for mining, project supported by CONACAMI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conacami Mining in Peru Indigenous rights organizations in South America Indigenous topics of the Andes Organisations based in Peru Organizations established in 1999 1999 establishments in Peru