Local strike will focus on Loma Larga and could include highway closures, leaders say

The Federation of Indigenous and Peasant Organizations of Azuay (FOA) announced it will begin an indefinite strike Tuesday with a protest on the Pan American Highway at the entrance to Victoria del Portete. FOA is demanding the government permanently revoke the environmental license of the Loma Larga gold mine.

The Pluricultural Parliament of Azuay will make decisions about strike activities.

“There has been no response to our demand following the March for Water last week in Cuenca,” said Lauro Sigcha, president of FOA. “All we have heard from the national government are empty words and we insist on definitive action.”

He said that “polluting activities” were continuing at the Loma Larga site in Quimsacocha despite the government’s decision to end its support for the project. “We want the site vacated by the Dundee and all facilities dismantled,” he said.

He added: “Our uprising will last as long as necessary, until we receive an appropriate response from the government.”

Among the actions being considered by FOA and partner organizations are road blockages that could affect the movement of goods in and out of Cuenca. “We advise citizens to stock up on food and other essential supplies in case the government does not comply with our demands,” said Ángel Cartuche, leader of the Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement (MUPP). “We have made no final decision on our course of action, but this will be resolved in the coming days.”

According to Sigcha and Cartuche, a Pluricultural Parliament of Azuay has been convened and will direct strike activities.

Sigcha said there were “two possible resolutions” that would satisfy indigenous claims against Loma Larga. “First, is the revocation of the environmental permit, which would bring the mining project to an end. The second is a ruling by Constitutional Court Judge Cárdenas Rivera on the legality of the government’s permit,” he said. “In either case, we will be satisfied, and our strike will be suspended.”

Although Cartuche said that FOA and MUPP support the national demand for the reinstatement of the diesel fuel subsidy, he said the focus in Cuenca and Azuay Province will remain the protection of water sources and an end of the Loma Larga project.

Sigcha and Cartuche dismiss President Daniel Noboa’s claim that the city of Cuenca and the prefecture of Azuay will be liable for financial damages if Dundee Previous Metals wins a claim in the international arbitration court. “This is nonsense,” Sigcha said. “The law is clear that the national government is responsible for all mining projects, so this is one is on the president. Why would local governments be held accountable for the mistakes of the national government?”