I recently watched a documentary that I had borrowed from my local public library, titled “American Outrage.” The documentary focuses on two Western Shoshone (Indian) grandmothers who have been fighting with the Federal Government for over 40 years to live off of and conserve their lands peacefully.
It’s an epic tale of a David vs. Goliath battle that ultimately results in the Federal government literally stripping away Native American lands for gold. The U.S. mining operations are contaminating the drinking water, poisoning the local residents (mostly Native Americans) and destroying ecological systems that depend on the water tables being pumped dry by the mining companies.
If you want to jump right to the devastation fast forward to minute 10:40. If you don’t feel like watching, then sleep on the fact that one gold ring produces twenty tons of waste.
Similarly the same injustice is being committed in Peru, forcing Peruvian families from their homes all in the name of “mining.” Those that stubbornly (and rightfully) remain on their lands are subject to the mass amounts of pollution produced by mining operations. Unfortunately the government in Lima (eh-hem, Alan Garcia) believe that the ends justify the means. This disconnect between the central government and the residents in Cajamarca opens a Pandora’s box for more extremist political candidates to fill in the void and win the votes and allegiance of disenfranchised citizens.
This video is in English
Across the Andes in Potosí, Bolivia more Indigenous peoples are also being exploited for their sweat and silver. Young children that would not be of legal age to work in the United States are forced by their poverty to work in dangerous silver and tin mines, risking their lives and sacrificing their childhood.
[Watch a video on 20th century child labor in the U.S.]
“The Devil’s Miner,” a German produced documentary, takes a look at the harsh conditions faced by children and the other miners and their relationship to “El Tío” or the Devil of the Mine who either protects them or “eats them.”
Trailer in English
Part 1 of the documentary in Spanish
If you wouldn’t buy blood diamonds, then why would you buy dirty silver and gold?
To learn more about other unethical mining operations or violations of Indigenous rights in South America, you can visit the following links below:
An American in Lima (Barbra Drake):
Reaction to CNN’s “Planet in Peril: Battle Lines” on Toxic La Oroya Mines
En Peru Blog (Stuart Starr):
Selling of the Amazon and its People
Witness (Al Jazeera English):
Filed under: Legal, Politics, The Barking Cynic, culture | Tagged: Aboriginal rights, Al Jazeera English, alan garcia, Amazons, American Outrage, Cajamarca gold mines, Cajamarca Peru, cancer, child exploitation, child labor laws, child miners, children's rights, Crescent Valley, cyanide, ethical mining, Indigenous Rights, La Oroya, leaching, Potosi Bolivia, The Devil's Miner, Western Shoshone | Leave a Comment »
