Stefanie Eschenbacher and Angela Ponce
Maxima Ccalla, 60, an indigenous Quechua woman, has spent her life tilling the harsh soil in Peru’s Andean highlands, resigned to a fate far removed from the vast riches buried deep beneath her feet in seams of copper, zinc and gold. The Andean communities in Ccalla’s home region of Puno and beyond have long
clashed with the mining companies that dig mineral wealth out from the ground.
In recent interviews, many said they felt discriminated against and marginalised, and accused mining companies of polluting their water and soil.
But in a country still under the shadow of a colonial past, the rise of an outsider politician, the son of peasant farmers, is sparking hopes of change. It has also thrown a spotlight on stark divides between the rural Andean highlands and remote Amazon settlements, and the wealthier — and whiter — coastal cities.
Pedro Castillo, who wears a straw farmers hat and plays up his humble village roots, has pledged to give a voice to Peru’s “forgotten” rural groups and redistribute mineral wealth in the world’s second largest producer of copper.
“The looting is over, the theft is over, the assault is over, the discrimination against the Peruvian people is over’’, he said at a speech in Cuzco.
The socially conservative leftist is on the cusp of being confirmed president after firing up the rural and indigenous vote, including in mineral-rich regions like Puno.
“So long, governments have promised to solve our problems but nothing has changed’’, Ccalla said in Quechua through a translator while working in the fields surrounding her home in the community of Carata.
“Now, hopefully, he will fulfil his promises.”
Ccalla is one of millions of mostly poor, rural Peruvians who voted for Castillo in the June 6 run-off election.
Wearing a colorful, traditional Montera hat against the sun, Ccalla’s demands are simple: she wants safe drinking water.
Castillo holds a slim lead, which is being scrutinised after legal pressure from his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori who has alleged fraud and wants to disqualify some votes from rural areas. Election observers said the vote was carried out cleanly. The tension over the count has exposed a racial and socio-economic divide in the country.
More than a dozen leaders and activists from Quechua and Aymara communities, scattered across the Andes, and others deep in the Amazon rainforest hundreds of miles north, spoke to Reuters candidly about the discrimination they face.
In Puno, the region where Carata is located, Castillo scored some 90 per cent of the total vote count. His party logo, a yellow pencil on red background, had been painted on walls of lone houses — the only splashes of bright colour for miles around.
Though Castillo does not identify as a member of an indigenous community, those who spoke overwhelmingly said they could relate to him “as one of us” because of his humble upbringing and his background as a farmer.
As with Bolivia’s Evo Morales a decade ago, they hoped he would give greater representation to marginalised groups, and a more state-led approach to mining to drive higher social spending.
“Now we see a lot of possibilities for the future — he’ll be a good president,” said Rene Belizario, 34, a Quechua. But, he added, “this is our opportunity and if he doesn’t deliver, the people will rise. There’ll be protests.”
Belizario, a father of three young boys, said he hoped Castillo would “recover” mines in the area operated by private companies to redistribute profits and
generate jobs.
Mining is a key driver of Peru’s economy. Metals are the country’s largest export and Castillo, even with his plans to shake things up, will need to negotiate his way forward. — Reuters
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