The protest of locals against the presence of Bear Creek Mining (BCM.v) at its Santa Ana project in Puno Peru is now two weeks old and according to news reports, all roads are shut down tight and some 500 trucks are stuck on the border of Peru and Bolivia because of the blockages. Add to that the so-called 'high level commission' that went to the Puno region to try and mediate and sort the mess out last week, only to bug out after one day because the commission members got spooked by the 5000 strong anti-mining crowd that came to gently greet them in the city of Puno
And so yesterday evening we had a new development. Stuck on the last page of this document of military executive decrees and signed into effect yesterday Sunday May 22nd is this little segment of loveliness:
And for those of you not versed in the tongue of Cervantes, that says:
Sunday May 22nd 2011
Executive Power
Defense
R.S Nº 191-2011-DE- Authorizes the intervention of the armed forces to aid the Peru National Police Force in the district, province and department of Puno
As this order was published yesterday, it came into effect today and lasts until June 11th and amongst other powers it gives the right of the military to fire live rounds at its own people. In other words, President Twobreakfasts just authorized the entry of troops to clear the roadblocks made by protesters and if anyone out there gets an immediate flashback memory to a town called Bagua a couple of years ago or a protest at Tia Maria this year, you'll know what's likely to happen next unless the locals don't back down.
And all it takes is a cursory glance at the newsflow to understand that they won't back down, so prepare for a very nasty case of bad publicity, BCM.v IR people. DYODD and don't mess with the Aymara.