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Aug 05
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From Upside Down World, by Helda Martínez
(IPS) – Women in the small Andean town of Cajamarca and the nearby city of Ibagué, in the central-west Colombian province of Tolima, are leading the struggle against a major gold mining venture that threatens to alter their way of life. Despite differences in social and economic conditions, one thing that unites women from these two Tolima communities – separated by only a few kilometres on the Pan-American Highway but otherwise worlds apart – is their wariness over a mining project that promises prosperity for a few while posing a threat to the natural environment and rural livelihoods.
It all began in 2006, when the South Africa-based mining giant AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) – which had prospecting permits from the Ministry of Mines to explore 27 areas in the province, including 15 in the municipality – discovered gold in a field near Cajamarca. Continue reading »
