Alessandro Cinque

Peru, A Toxic State

Il Perù è il principale produttore di oro, argento e piombo in America Latina e il secondo di rame a livello mondiale. L’attività mineraria è la forza trainante della sua economia, che è cresciuta dagli anni 2000. Nel 2019 l’estrazione mineraria ha rappresentato il 60% delle esportazioni e il 9% del PIL, più del doppio delle entrate del turismo. Tuttavia, c’è un lato oscuro: milioni di persone, per lo più popolazioni autoctone che vivono in piccole comunità, sono costrette a condividere la loro terra, aria e acqua con i siti minerari che stanno crescendo lungo la catena montuosa delle Ande. E di conseguenza hanno visto l’ambiente e le loro condizioni di vita deteriorarsi considerevolmente negli ultimi 20 anni.

Questo Progetto è un viaggio di 5 anni che copre 20.000 km e 35 comunità minerarie, mostrando l’impatto di un governo che viola i diritti delle popolazioni indigene in nome del profitto. Fotografato lungo il “corredor-minero”, questo progetto mostra le conseguenze sociali, sanitarie e ambientali della vita vicino a queste miniere. E, a causa della corruzione nei governi locali, le comunità indigene non ricevono alcun beneficio dai profitti minerari e continuano a vivere in povertà. L’attività mineraria saccheggia anche l’acqua in grandi quantità per l’estrazione, creando campi aridi e provocando la morte del bestiame. L’agricoltura e l’allevamento, che erano le principali fonti di sopravvivenza, non possono più sostenere queste comunità andine. La poca acqua che rimane è contaminata da un’elevata presenza di metalli pesanti, come si riflette nel sangue della popolazione, causando problemi di salute come anemia, malattie respiratorie e cardiovascolari, cancro e malformazioni congenite che le cliniche locali non sono in grado di gestire. Le terre sono devastate da enormi scavi, nuove infrastrutture e depositi di rifiuti tossici. Perù, uno Stato tossico è un esempio del danno causato dal neocolonialismo in Sud America, quando le politiche neoliberiste non fermano nemmeno la violazione dei diritti umani. E l’identità culturale delle persone che adorano Pacha Mama, Madre Terra, è devastata da questi effetti.

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 è un fotoreporter attualmente residente a Lima. Il suo lavoro approfondisce l’impatto devastante dell’attività mineraria sulle comunità indigene e sulle loro terre. Alessandro ha documentato in particolare la contaminazione ambientale e le preoccupazioni per la salute pubblica tra le comunità di Campesinos che vivono lungo il corridoio minerario del Perù. Nel 2017, durante un viaggio di lavoro nella Valle Sacra degli Incas, ha incontrato una donna di 53 anni che gli ha detto di essersi ammalata di cancro perché l’acqua del suo villaggio era altamente contaminata. Da allora, Alessandro si è impegnato a fotografare gli effetti dell’inquinamento che permea le colture, il bestiame e le case delle persone che risiedono nei pressi di siti minerari. L’attenzione di Alessandro alle problematiche sociali e ambientali che interessano le minoranze ha spesso guidato il suo lavoro.

Nel 2017 ha documentato l’estrazione dell’oro in Senegal e il contrabbando di merci di Kolbars al confine tra Iraq e Iran.

Nel 2019, mentre studiava all’ICP di New York, ha ritratto la comunità italo-americana di Williamsburg e si è recato in Arizona per fotografare le miniere di uranio abbandonate nei territori Navajo. Alessandro è Leica Ambassador.

Le sue foto sono state pubblicate su The New York Times, National Geographic, Reuters, CNN, Washington Post, MarieClaire, Libèration, LFI, Internazionale, L’Espresso, ecc.

Nel 2019, il suo lavoro sul Perù ha vinto il primo posto in Issue Reporting Picture Story di POYi. Nello stesso anno, è stato selezionato come “Finalist” presso Eugene Smith Grant e Alexia Foundation Grant.

Nel dicembre 2019, Alessandro si è trasferito a Lima per conoscere meglio la cultura e la società del Perù. Ha iniziato a contribuire alla copertura di LATAM da parte di Reuters mentre ampliava il suo progetto sull’impatto dell’industria mineraria del Perù sulle popolazioni quechua.

Nel 2020 è stato vincitore di Focus on the Story Grant.

Nel 2021 ha ricevuto il fondo di emergenza per il giornalista Covid-19 della National Geographic Society.