University of California Santa Cruz Gold Mining in Peru
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ GOLD MINING IN PERU: COMPANY STRATEGIES, EVERYDAY VIOLENCE, AND THE POLITICS OF ATTENTION A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in POLITICS with an emphasis in LATIN AMERICAN & LATINO STUDIES by Michael S. Wilson Becerril June 2018 The Dissertation of Michael Wilson is approved: Professor Kent Eaton, chair Professor Mark Massoud Professor Eleonora Pasotti Professor Jeffrey Bury Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Michael S. Wilson 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page …………………………………………………………………….………. i Copyright Page ………………………………………………………………………. ii Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………. iii List of Figures and Tables ……………………………………………………………. iv Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………. v Acknowledgements and Dedication …………………………………………………… vi Chapter I: Between Violence and Not-Violence in Peruvian Resource Extraction ……. 1 Chapter II: Everyday Life, Mining, and Conflict in Peru ………………………………. 40 Chapter III: Research as Witnessing: Experience, Interpretation, and Reflexivity ……… 80 Chapter IV: Tambo Grande: The Manhattan Project and the Importance of Scaling Up . 113 Chapter V: La Zanja: When and How Coercion Works …………………………………145 Chapter VI: Lagunas Norte: What Does ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ Do? …………183 Chapter VII: Cerro Corona: Dialogue and Depoliticization ……………………………. 211 Chapter VIII: Discussion: Extractive Affects, Violence, and the Role of Outsiders ……. 237 Appendices ……………………………………………………………………………. 256 Appendix 1: Gold Fields’ Private Defense Agreement with National Police …… 256 Appendix 2: Additional Notes on Methodology and Methods ………………… 264 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………… 265 iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table I: Issues and Gaps in the Literature about Peruvian Mining Conflicts …………… 16 Table II: Theorizing Explanations for Violent Actions and Case Outcomes …………… 19 Table III: Expanded Typology of Company Strategies ………………………………… 20 Table IV: Intensity of Corporate Gold Mining Projects in Peru, 2000-2015 …………… 104 Figure I: Maps of Four Mining Sites in Northern Peru ………………………………… 106 Table V: Peru’s Political Units Visited for this Field Research (2014-2016) …………… 109 Figure II: Photograph of Tambogrande, 2015 …………………………………………. 116 Figure III: Poster Against Mining Exploration in Tambogrande ………………………. 135 Figure IV: News Coverage of the November 16, 2004 Confrontation at La Zanja ……. 153 Figure V: Photograph of a School and Street in Downtown Pulán, 2016 ……………… 181 Figure VI: Photograph of the Los Ángeles Lake and Lagunas Norte Mine, 2015 ………. 190 Figure VII: Barrick’s “Targets” According to a 2004 Investor Day Presentation ………. 194 Figure VIII: Alto Chicama Water Quality, 2008 and 2009, by Medina et al. 2010 ………. 198 Figure IX: Map of Cajamarca, Santa Cruz, and Bambamarca Cities ……………………. 213 Figure X: Photograph of the Hualgayoc Municipal Stadium, 2016 ………………………218 Figure XI: La República Covered the August 2009 Strike in Hualgayoc ………………. 220 Figure XII: Photograph of Gold Fields’ Cerro Corona Mine, 2016 ……………………. 227 Figure XIII: Photograph of Protests Against Extractivism in Lima, October 2015 ……. 255 iv ABSTRACT “Gold Mining in Peru: Company Strategies, Everyday Violence, and the Politics of Attention” by Michael S. Wilson Becerril For more than five years, Latin America has been classified as the world’s deadliest region for environmental activists. In Peru, the deadliest and most common type of conflicts are related to mining. However, there are dozens of mining conflicts in the country, and not all of them become violent—some are managed productively, and even violent conflicts can be resolved. What explains this variation? This interdisciplinary dissertation traces the processes and factors that can explain why mining conflicts both escalate into, and are transformed out of, violence. I draw on a controlled, qualitative comparison of four case studies, extensive ethnographic research conducted over 14 months of fieldwork, analysis of over 900 archives and documents, and unprecedented access to more than 230 semi-structured interviews with key actors in industry, the state, and civil society. Although the four mining projects shared similar contexts, their divergent outcomes—including the understudied effect of conflict ‘routinization’—can be explained by actors’ everyday relationships, locals’ efforts to organize and draw outside attention, and companies’ strategies to manage opposition and public opinion. In identifying patterns leading to conflict escalation and resolution, this research assists policymakers in the design of effective institutions that can channel conflict, gives international actors the understandings to best direct resources towards preventing violence, equips companies with tools to protect their investment by building mutual and durable community relations, and helps civil society in promoting forms of development that are commensurate with local needs and desires. More broadly, this dissertation presents an ethnography of subtle forms of violence, and explores how meaning-making practices render certain types of pain or damage noticeable while occluding others. By excavating how everyday interactions that underlie conflicts are strategically concealed in the short term, this study aims to assist in the prevention and transformation of violence over resource extraction. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DEDICATION If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. […] If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not there, the forest cannot grow. In fact, nothing can grow. Even we cannot grow without sunshine. And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper. The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see the wheat. We know that the logger cannot exist without [their] daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became [their] bread is also in this sheet of paper. And the logger’s [parents] are in it too. When we look in this way, we see that without all of these things, this sheet of paper cannot exist. Looking even more deeply, we can see we are in it too. This is not difficult to see, because when we look at a sheet of paper, the sheet of paper is part of our perception. Your mind is in here and mine is also. So we can say that everything is in here with this sheet of paper. You cannot point out one thing that is not here—time, space, the earth, the rain, the minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the heat. Everything co-exists with this sheet of paper. –Thich Nhât Nanh, The Heart of Understanding, 1988 In any study that relies on extensive fieldwork, the list of people to whom is owed the completion of the work far exceeds the number of pages allotted to dedicatory sections. As the epigraph to this section illustrates, I have everything for which to be thankful. Preparing for, conducting, and writing this research was made possible by a host of people who deserve my eternal gratitude. To keep this short, I will focus on three groups. First, this research would not be possible were it not for all the people in Peru who—in parks, restaurants, in their offices and homes, at events and in our various expeditions, and far more—shared a moment with me to discuss their views and experiences. Many people, including those who did not officially ‘participate’ in this research, generously invited me into their homes and to their proceedings; cared for me when I was vi sick; ran back to my hostel, after meeting me, to gift me books or show me fascinating media; stayed up late talking with me about politics and society; facilitated my conversations with others; offered me mementos, kind words, and useful advice or materials before we parted ways; and otherwise transformed difficult logistics into unforgettable memories, enduring relationships, and, I hope, useful research. I owe special thanks to Alicia Abanto, Stéphanie Rousseau, Gerardo Damonte, Luis Villafranca, Maritza Paredes, Liliana Alzamora, Nelson Peñaherrera, Luis Riofrío, Lenin Bazán, Cesar Medina Tafur, Mirtha Vásquez, Teresa Santillán, Nilton Deza, Liz Puma, Eduardo Dargent, Paula Muñoz, José Carlos Orihuela, Vladimir Gil, José de Echave, Ronald Ordóñez, Raúl Benavides, Javier Torres, and Jefree Roldán, among many others. In addition to all these people who participated in my work in any small or major way, I would like to dedicate this work to all the people (especially in Peru) who have struggled and are struggling for justice, and for a better world, and who have faced various forms of violence for their efforts. The world and I owe them incalculably. Second, I was lucky to know and have the support of my advisor, Kent Eaton, who from our earliest conversations was a constant source of light unwaveringly able to guide me out of my own uncertainty and intellectual confusion. Kent unswervingly found potential in my work, and opened many doors for me to think about and carry out this research. I was also lucky and owe infinite thanks