Maxima Acuña de Chaupe

Protectionist/Activist – Tragadero Grande, Peru

Máxima Acuña is a Peruvian weaver and subsistence farmer living in a remote town in the Northern Highlands of Peru. Acuña stood up for her right to peacefully live off her own property, a plot of land sought by a Mining company to develop the Conga gold and copper mine.

Over the past two decades, the mining industry in Peru has been growing at breakneck speed. With promises of jobs and economic prosperity, the Peruvian government awarded mining licenses across the country. Despite these promises, rural campesinos, who were rarely consulted in the development of mining projects, largely continue to live in poverty. In many communities, mining waste has polluted the local waterways, affecting local people’s drinking water and irrigation needs.

In 2011, the Peruvian government had granted a 7,400-acre mining concession for the controversial Conga Mine to U.S. firm Newmont Mining and Peruvian mining company Buenaventura. The plan was supposed to mine two freshwater lakes for gold and copper while draining two more to use as dumps in the northern region of Cajamarca. One of these, known as Laguna Azul, would be turned into a waste storage pit, threatening the headwaters of five watersheds and Cajamarca’s páramo ecosystem, a high-altitude biologically diverse wetland.

But Acuña and her farm stood in the way. Despite numerous death threats, alleged beatings, intimidation and court proceedings, she refused to sell her 60-acre plot of land.

In attempts to evict Acuña from her land, Newmont accused her of illegally squatting on the land which it claims to have bought. Local courts ruled in Newmont’s favor, sentencing Acuña and her family to three years in prison and a fine of about $2,000. However, in 2014 Acuña appealed the decision arguing her family had owned the land since 1994. A higher court ruled in her favor and stopped its eviction proceeding. Until 2016, Acuña continued to be summoned to local court. Since then, the campaign of intimidation and harassment has continued with private individuals raiding her home, mine security personnel preventing bus drivers from allowing her or her family from using the bus and even attacks on her dog.

In 2016 Acuña received the Goldman Environmental Prize, the world’s most prestigious environmental award, for work she has done to prevent the mine from destroying the two lakes, her farm and the supply of fresh water to her community.

Article: Acuna vs. Mining Co

Video 1) Documentary (Spanish with CC)
Video 2) Maxima Acuña: Resistance And Dignity