Friday, December 17, 2010

mines, roadblocks and a loooong weekend in Huaraz

As some of you may have noticed last week, I was responding to e-mails with record speed. That was because I was stuck in Huaraz, my regional capitol for four days. On Saturday night I was supposed to head to Lima for my mid-service medical/dental checkups, but on Thursday, I got an e-mail from the “volunteer leader” living in Huaraz that there was a huge strike going on, and going in that night might be my only chance to get to Lima. A big mining company was planning to open a mine about an hour out of Huaraz, near a big lake, and the local farmers were trying to shut down all transport in protest. I threw my stuff in a bag and made it to Huaraz, where everything seemed normal, and I went to bed thinking “just another big deal about nothing.”
But waking up Friday was a much different story. Before we even had the chance to get out of bed, we were getting phone calls saying “don’t go outside, don’t leave your hostel.” That sounded a bit extreme, so we edged out of the hostel, on a quest for orange juice and the truth. After passing the government tax office and seeing their huge picture windows shattered, we knew it was the real deal, and after seeing a rush of people sprint up the street away from the main plaza, we hightailed it to a friend’s apartment. We found the local news on TV and saw tear gas being thrown, burning tires, rioters throwing rocks and riot police throwing them right back. Word was there were no cars on the road and no transportation going anywhere…we were stuck. Although Saturday morning I went to the plaza early to see the damage, and while it was mostly empty there was a small group of municipal garbage men playing pickup soccer in front of the municipality, using rocks that were brought in to block off the street as goal markers.
Long story short, the strike continued for 2 more days. All of the stores, were shuttered, no cars passed through town and farmers came from all over, some allegedly walking as far as 40 kilometers to join the protest. Bank windows were smashed, as were any windows of government building and most of the city’s ATMs. I felt safe enough, but it was weird to think of the city that I usually see as so friendly and safe falling down around us. Finally on Sunday afternoon, we heard that the government gave in and told the mine it had to go, and here I am Monday afternoon sitting on a bus on my way to Lima. But we have passed knocked down roadblocks, piles of soot that were recently tires and painted signs saying “support the strike” and “the water belongs to the people, not to the mine”.
We have also passed numerous schools, health posts and public projects supported by various mines. Even the school in my town, which is not really near any mines, has desks donated by the mines. It’s another one of the paradoxes that make life in Peru just as confusing as always.