Alessandro Cinque

Peru, A Toxic State

Peru is the leading producer of gold, silver and lead in Latin America and the 2nd of copper globally. Mining is the driving force of its economy, which has been growing since the 2000s. In 2019 mining accounted for 60% of exports and 9% of GDP, more than twice the amount of income from tourism. However, there is a dark side: millions of people, mostly native populations living in small communities, are forced to share their land, air and water with the mining sites that are growing along the Andes Mountain range. And as a result they have seen the environment and their living conditions deteriorate considerably over the past 20 years. This Project is a journey of 5 years covering 20.000 km and 35 mining communities, showing the impact of a government that violates the rights of indigenous people in the name of profit. Photographed along the “corredor-minero”, this project shows social, health and environmental consequences of living near these mines. And, due to corruption in the local governments, the indigenous communities receive no benefits from the mining profits and continue to live in poverty. Mining also plunders water in large quantities for extraction, creating arid fields and causing the death of livestock. Agriculture and farming, which were the main sources of survival, can no longer sustain these Andean communities. The little water that remains is contaminated by a high presence of heavy metals, as is reflected in the blood of the population, causing health issues like anemia, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, cancer and congenital malformations that local clinics are unable to handle. The lands are devastated by huge excavations, new infrastructures and toxic waste deposits. Peru, a Toxic State is an example of the damage caused by neocolonialism in South America, when the neoliberal policies do not even stop the violation of human rights. And the cultural identity of people who worship Pacha Mama, Mother Earth, is devastated by these effects.

May 21, 2017
The indigenous Quecha people have a special connection to the agricultural lands where they live and their animals. The delicate care they devote to agriculture consists of talking to the earth asking for rain and a good harvest. Then, they will dance to “Pachamama,” Mother Earth, with passion and great grace to express their gratitude. However, their agricultural lands are now poisoned by the presence of heavy metals, the folk tradition they have maintained with their environment is disappearing.

May 25, 2021
Drone view of the Tintaya mine, Espinar, Peru. Large portions of territory have been purchased by a powerful multinational company (Glencore) that shapes the huge mining complexes of Tintaya, Antapaccay and Coroccohuaycco (today about 40% of the district’s territory is granted to mining companies) causing a sharp deterioration of the indigenous population and creating a huge imbalance between the lifestyles of those who work in the mines and those who do not. The major problems that afflict the territories and populations of the Espinar area are the contamination of water with heavy metals and the lack of water due to mining activity.

August 10, 2018
Avelina Chilo Rios, 53, Tintaya Marchiri. Avelina is suffering from cancer. Her husband and two of her five children died as a result of environmental pollution. Once her husband died, the mining company offered her little money to buy her property to enlarge the mining site. Avelina chose not to abandon her home, the few animals she had left and the community.

May 21, 2021
Ayaviri has no drinking water because its lakes and rivers are contaminated with mining waste. There are trucks that provide drinking water at 25 times the cost of water bought in Lima, while some neighborhoods only have access to water for 6 hours a week. Thus, water resources are scarce for the population, while large amounts are taken and used by the mining company for mining. As a result, the fields are barren and the few crops grown are toxic and not enough to sustain families. Since 1996, Peru’s Ministry of Health has been sampling children’s blood lead levels twice a year: 80% of them have above-average lead levels, some even more than three times what the United States considers the maximum acceptable level. Chronic lead poisoning in children causes developmental delays, seizure disorders, organ dysfunction and even death.

April 28, 2021
Discharge dams from the Buona Ventura mine in the rural community of Mimosa, Huancavelica province. Indigenous people have been living with this dump for 67 years, which contaminates their crops and makes their water unusable. Local communities have no choice but to use the water from these rivers for drinking, cooking, washing themselves and their clothes, feeding their animals and irrigating their fields.

April 25, 2021
Santos Perez Moza, 50, washes in the river. During the time of Covid, in order to meet World Health Organization guidelines, many people increased their consumption of river water. Trying in this way to combat Covid, but exposing themselves even more to heavy metals in the water. 

March 23, 2021
Silvia Chilo Choque, 40, as she washes her son with cerebral palsy Julio César Chuahuayo Chilo, 13. Due to water scarcity many people wash with rainwater in the rainy season. In the dry season they use contaminated water from the river, boiling it first and then putting chlorine in it. Because of all this long process, many times people are able to shower 1 time a week.

August 14, 2019
The village of Nueva Fuerabamba was built in 2014/2015 by the Las Bambas mine for the indigenous people of the Fuerabamba community who were dispossessed of their land and homes; there are almost 660 people. New Fuerabamba is conceived as a modern and functional city, but the people are not used to the new lifestyle imposed. Animals graze along the concrete roads. According to Gregorio Roja Paniura, representative of the Community of New Fuerabamba, in the last 2/3 years about 20 people have died because of the depression. No urban plan or land analysis regulates the construction of New Fuerabamba. The cemetery was located quite far from the city center and was built on rocks. It makes it difficult to dig graves. The residents of New Fuerabamba consider it an abuse.

August 25, 2018
A truck overturned along the road that connects Sicuani with Espinar. Its toxic contents are spilling into the environment. The lack of attention to safety issues at work, exhausting rhythms and the problem of alcoholism often contribute to the occurrence of numerous accidents by miners. In the mining towns, there has been a great increase in the traffic of women due to frequent openings of brothels.

May 21, 2021
The town of Ayaviri, before the mine arrived, lived on cheese and milk. Ayaviri’s cheese was exported all over Peru, reaching as far as Lima and Cusco. Due to water contamination, the cows began to produce less milk and of low quality. Thus, the economic income of the breeders dropped significantly and cheese producers have difficulty selling it outside the city, the nearby markets do not want “contaminated cheese”. In the picture, the level of drought of the land is clear. This land does not produce vegetables, so people find themselves without the inputs due from agriculture and animal husbandry.

March 16, 2021
The southern Peruvian mining corridor connects the Las Bambas mine, in the Apurimac region, with the Tintaya and Antapaccay mines, in the Espinar province, reaching the port of Matarani, in the Arequipa region. The mining corridor is the only existing route for transporting extracted minerals – and the materials needed for extraction – from the mines to the port of Matarani, causing continuous truck movement, pollution and a huge amount of dust. The corridor meets the needs of the mine without regard to private property, dividing entire communities in half.

August 23, 2018
A man shows his X-ray. He explains that due to inhaling large amounts of dust containing heavy metal particles from mining, his health has deteriorated. The same has happened to many of his acquaintances. The dust not only enters the respiratory tract, but also contaminates groundwater and rivers, soil and crops. According to local hospitals, the percentage of people suffering from Silicosis is very high in mining towns.

April 27, 2021
The Santa Barbara mine is the oldest mine in Peru. During Spanish colonialism, indigenous Peruvians were enslaved to work there. The mine was in operation from 1566 to 1975. Today, the mine has been submitted to UNESCO as a property of historical interest. In the photo Miguel Sarapia Quispe, poses inside the mine with the clothes his grandfather was wearing on the day he died from an accident while working in the mine.

February 24, 2020
In February, the Quiulacocha community in Cerro de Pasco celebrates Carnival. It is a well-known traditional festival. Residents meet in the central square of the village to dance and play music while wearing traditional clothes. It is customary to drink alcohol. Many people from the rest of Peru come to Quiulacocha to participate in the celebration. The whole celebration is sponsored by the mining company Volcan that, in this way, tries to gain the favor of the population. The children of Cerro de Pasco live with chronic heavy metal poisoning. The Peruvian State supports the development of mining companies and does not take into consideration the situation of these children.

August 15, 2018
Roxana, 14, is afflicted with cerebral palsy. “Sagrada Familia” special education center in Espinar. The center accommodates 29 children born with physical deformities and mental deficiencies. Unlike many Peruvian cities with similar characteristics in terms of population and size, Espinar chose to have the “Sagrada Familia” Special Education Center because of the high rate of children born with malformations. Many children who live in the countryside do not have the possibility of reaching the educational center..

August 16, 2018
Grimalda De Cuno in her home is commiserating with her stillborn calf the day before. Because of water polluted with heavy metals, many animals die from drinking from the river, or are stillborn. Livestock have been destroyed over the years, worsening the living conditions of already impoverished farmers and ranchers. In the past 6 years, Grimalda’s family has lost 21 cows, all the sheep, and the 4 llamas they had.

August 9, 2018
Farmers put out fire in a crop field. 380 hectares burned, 40 families were affected. The problem of fires often afflicts the territories around the city of Espinar and other mining towns, due to the fine dust that makes the crops more flammable. The lack of water does not make firefighting easier. The extinction is done with blankets, sweaters and clothes of any kind, by the farmers. With the animals are dead because of the water and their land incinerated, surviving becomes difficult.

August 24, 2019
Mollendo, Cocachacra District. Tia Maria mining project. Indigenous communities protest against the opening of a new mine, throwing stones. Police respond with tear gas. Protests by locals have gone on for more than 60 days, making it impossible for trucks to access the PetrolPeru company to transport fuel between the country. The inhabitants want to safeguard their land – Valle de Tambo, a green and prosperous area of Peru – from contamination and the arrival of new mines.

August 13, 2018
Tres Angeles Cemetery. The son praying on the grave of his father Felix. In Espinar, in 2012, there was a huge round of protests “Espinar se Llevanta” organized by the local population against the mine. The police repressed the protest with violence. There were 3 deaths and dozens of injuries. Among the victims is Felix, an eighty-two year old pacifist and leader of the Alto Huancane community.

April 27, 2021
Mernardo Sarabia Flores, 60, president of the Torata Alta Irrigation Commission. His community, before the arrival of the Cuajone mine, lived on agriculture and livestock. This area of Peru is famous for the very high quality of the avocados produced, which require a lot of water. In recent years, avocado trees have been dying, leaving the population without a source of income.

Lima, Perù
www.alessandrocinque.com

Alessandro Cinque is a photojournalist currently based in Lima. His work delves into mining’s devastating impact on indigenous communities and their lands. Alessandro has especially been documenting environmental contamination and public health concerns among the communities of Campesinos living along Peru’s mining corridor. In 2017, during a working trip in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, he met a 53-year old woman who told him that she got cancer because the water in her village was highly contaminated. Since then, Alessandro has committed to photographing the effects of the pollution that permeates the crops, livestock and homes of the people residing near mining sites. Alessandro’s attention to social and environmental issues affecting minorities has often driven his work. In 2017, he documented gold mining in Senegal and Kolbars smuggling goods at the border between Iraq and Iran. In 2019, while studying at the ICP in New York, he portrayed Williamsburg’s Italo-American community and travelled to Arizona to photograph the abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo territories. Alessandro is a Leica Ambassador. His photos were published in The New York Times, National Geographic, Reuters, CNN, Washington Post, MarieClaire, Libèration, LFI, Internazionale, L’Espresso, etc. In 2019, his work on Peru won POYi’s Issue Reporting Picture Story first place. In the same year, he was selected as “Finalist” at Eugene Smith Grant and Alexia Foundation Grant. In December 2019, Alessandro moved to Lima to become more acquainted with Peru’s culture and society. He began contributing to Reuters’ coverage of LATAM while expanding his project on the impact of Peru’s mining industry on Quechua populations. In 2020 he was Winner of Focus on the Story Grant. In 2021, he is a recipient of the National Geographic Society’s Emergency fund for Journalist Covid-19.