The Latin-American Legacy of Tambograndé

I joined a webinar on March 16^th, 2022. It was summoned by Beyond 2020 Solidarity and Acción No Violenta en las Americas. It was a chance to share experiences about how non-violence can prevent or stop natural resources extraction. Other panelists were in Bolivia, Brazil, Honduras, and Ecuador. Coming next, I transcript my exposition.

 

Tambograndé is located in Piura, Northwestern Peru. It’s mostly dedicated to exporting agriculture. It forms San Lorenzo Valley, a Peruvian government’s project established 1950.

It’s surrounded by the equatorial Dry Forest, a very sensitive endemic ecosystem that provides other economic activity – cattle. It also allows apiculture or little food industry. Algarrobina or carob syrup is one of the most famous natural food supplements in Peru. Water comes here from Piura River, quiet from fall to spring, huge in summer.

 

The conflict

Tambograndé’s people  opposed to a proposed mine that was going to be operated by former Vancouver-based Manhattan Minerals Corporation, (Manhattan).  Farmers feared it might pollute San Lorenzo Valley, the dry forest, and Piura River.

Pollution might affect negatively the mango exportation. San Lorenzo can sell abroad until 300,000 tons in a good season. United States, Canada, and Europe are the most important markets. Peru is the third main mango exporter in the world.

The other hazard was going to be Piura River’s pollution. During el Niño events, heavy rains can overload it, becoming destructive. On March 22^nd, 2017, it flooded Piura Downtown, the regional capital city.

Fight in San Lorenzo Valley began in October 1999. People at the croplands discovered Manhattan was drilling the soil to get mineral tests. The problem was it didn’t ask the people for an authorization to enter. San Lorenzo valley is basically private property established 1960.

People demanded the national and local government to rule Manhattan. They had no answer. Then, people demanded Manhattan to leave the town. It couldn’t because it had much to lose. All its money was invested in three poly-metallic deposits:

• B5, amid the nearby dry forest.
• TG3, just beside Piura River across Tambograndé Downtown.
• TG1, just underneath Tambograndé Downtown.

This last one was the most critical because it demanded to move about 20,000 people. Underneath Tambograndé Downtown, it lays a deposit of gold, silver, cooper, zinc, and iron. The problem was Manhattan didn’t guarantee a clean operation to San Lorenzo farmers

When activists translated Manhattan’s info from its website, they discovered the company was probably cheating. This was the first reason why San Lorenzo’s people didn’t want it. You cannot build good relationships about anything if you lie – a deal was not possible.

As the government didn’t support Tambograndé’s demand, people decided to protest. Demonstrations were raising each time. On February 27^th to 28^th, 2001, Tambograndé went to a general strike. There were struggles between farmers and the Police in Manhattan’s camp at Tambograndé Uptown. Amid the protest, the facility was destroyed and burned.

But the real plot point came one month later. On March 31^st, 2001, a killer gunshot San Lorenzo’s leader Godofredo Garcia. The farmer, an agricultural engineer and professor, died bleeding.

 

The non-violent solution

After Godofredo Garcia’s murder, Tambograndé issued a pacific strategy, a multi-strategy actually.

Organizational: Tambograndé and San Lorenzo already revived its Front of Defense, a civil organization created to fight a former enemy, French mining company BRGM. In 1970s, it was to exploit iron deposits next to Tambograndé Downtown.

The Front of Defense had already an ally, Diacony for Justice and Peace, a human rights office managed by the Catholic Church, that connected to other non-profit organizations across Peru. They formed the Mesa Técnica, the Technical Panel. It linked other organizations and individuals around the world. The local cause of Tambograndé became global.

 

Educational: The Front of Defense and the Technical Panel summoned many workshops and seminars. Their goal was to inform and to educate the people about benefits and risks of having a mine amid an agricultural valley . They happened in Tambograndé City as well as the countryside.

The Front of Defense leaders also went to town halls and even Peru’s Congress. The presentations were based upon science. In 2001 and 2003, American scientist Robert Moran conducted a field research. The hydro-geologist and geo-chemistrian gave reasons instead of slogans.

In 2003, the time for Tambograndé was getting over. Manhattan had to present its environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). A government agency, a recognized private university, and even a volunteer chemistrian reviewed the document. They all found more than a hundred errors and mistakes.

 

Legal: In June 2^nd, 2002, 7 of every 10 voters freely attended to a popular consultation.

People were asked if they agreed or disagreed the mining activity in Tambograndé and San Lorenzo Valley. Nine of every ten said no. Peru’s Government never recognized it as legal. However, it was a Latin American milestone.

Further popular consultations were applied in Esquel, Argentina, Sipacapa, Guatemala, and even Piura Highlands, Peru. All cases resulted the majority opposed to local mining projects. They all were inspired on Tambograndé.

 

Political: In 2003, Front of Defense ran Francisco Ojeda for Tambograndé’s Mayor. He wan. The purpose was to shut down the Manhattan’s project but from inside the government.

 

Cultural: The ultimate Tambograndé’s demonstration was November 4^th to 6^th, 2003. Manhattan needed to present its EIA in public hearings. It was a Peruvian government’s requirement to pass from exploration to exploitation. Manhattan only needed to have two of three hearings.

Tambograndé and its allies organized a boycott, but it was a big cultural event. The star was the mango and his buddy, the lime. Manhattan couldn’t do any hearing.

After the last one cancelled, its share in Toronto Stock Exchange brought down 40%. After failed trials, it left Peru mid-2005.

 

Media: The Technical Panel sponsored three books and a newspaper insert. As Manhattan had a website, the fight also moved to the cloud. In October 2000, I launched FACTORTIERRA. In 2001, Technical Panel launched tambogrande.org.pe

In 2007, an emblematic documentary was premiered. Ernesto Cabellos & Stephanie Boyd’s Tambograndé– Mangos, Mining, Murder was awarded around the world. Even, it was broadcast. Other reports were featured on Peruvian TV as well as international. BBC released a multi-platform story in December 2003.

Even a music CD featuring late Somos Tambograndé duo was released too.

 

What we learned

• First, the Tambograndé’s very well coordinated multi-strategy worked terrific. The starting point was its identity, what makes it unique in the world.
• Second, Thinking in long term. Solving the conflict was the first goal. What about the future? Sustainable development has answers. For example, we see Tambograndé as an experiential tourism hotspot. It’s about archeology, ecology, healthy lifestyle, eco businesses. Even in my opinion, a good location for photography, video, and film. Come here, and try it by yourself.
• About this particular, third, a personal reflection: when you use the media for real positive purposes, you can change the course of history. I’m the living proof that it is really possible.

Search the #5 F T peru for more insights about this. Photos featured in this entry are Arturo Peñaherrera. Watch the full webinar here: https://lnkd.in/eUP-xMN8 

  

The price of mango is very low

Tambograndé is the historical place where an emblematic conflict happened. The local community and a Canadian mining company faced for defending their own development models. In the local side, agriculture. In the foreign side, mining.

 

The stage was San Lorenzo Valley. This is a Peruvian Government venture launched in 1960. The purpose was turning a dry forest into rich croplands.

 

In fact, two of the most popular fruits in Peru come from here – mango and lime. Limes are the key ingredient for a Peruvian classic – cebiché. Mango is the sweet fruit that you can consume directly, or in a juice, or as a dessert. What about a mango jam?

 

However, the situation of mango is not the best now. Growers told me the price is very low, and it doesn’t compensate the production costs.

 

The box of fruit for exportation is costing around 2 dollars. Growers say the fair price should be around 4 dollars, the double.

 

The mango for domestic market is costing around 25 cents. Growers say the fair price should be around 2 dollars, 8 times more, indeed.

 

Every box is 44 pounds or 45 mangos.

 

The reason why this low price abroad is the low demand in markets as well as the global recession. In the domestic market, the speculation by dealers and the anti-government protests are bringing down the price. Growers said they have no a clear strategy for impacting both markets for good.

 

The mango season runs from October to March. FACTORTIERRA proposed in 2022 that Tambograndé should build a complementary industry around mango and agriculture by extension. This is the experiential tourism.

 

People in san Lorenzo Valley have a long experience having foreign visitors. People from Canada, Spain, and England have been some of the visitors during decades.

 

The valley is not only agriculture. It has some beautiful touristic spots you can find out. Go to factortierra.blogspot.com for more information.

 

Tambograndé is also a land of advocates. And this is the another reason why I came here today.

 

An organization created a creative campaign to raise funds. They want to gather around 7500 dollars. That’s the cost of a transfemoral protheses.

That one will be used for providing life quality to Jimmy Garcia.

 

This former Peruvian Air Force troop lost one of his legs in a traffic accident. He was riding a motorcycle and it crashed on one of his sides.

 

Jimmy told me in an interview he’s trying to do as well as he can. But he has no enough money to purchase his own protheses. So, a group of local activists encouraged every person to donate around 25 cents. They expect to join 30,000 people donating.

 

If you want to help, just contact me on the social media. Before this lines, you have other donation ways valid only in Peru.

I’m @nelsonsullana on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As you contact me, I’m going to put you in contact with the fundraisers.

 

Scan this QR-code to play my full report on video.

  

Shampoo, exportation, and quakes

If you like mango, Peru is up to export it, and this land doesn’t stop to shake.

 

Don’t lose your head

Last Tuesday 25^th, many spray shampoo brands were taken out of the market. Unilever took out Dove, Suave, and Tiggy, among others.

The cause is benzine. This is a petroleum-derivate capable to give cancer. The lot was made in October 2021. It was delivered to retailers across the US. The information came out from the Food and Drugs Administration, the FDA.

According to CNN, benzine can cause cancer to humans. The ways to enter our bodies are by breathing it, through the mouth, and through the skin. The chemical can cause leukemia and blood cancer.

FDA recommended the consumers not to use spray dry shampoo. If you live in the US, go to unileverrecall.com for further information. We ignore if the recommendation reaches other countries. Follow me as @nelsonsullana for updates.

 

It’s mango time

Here in Piura Department, the mango season is already started. The Mango exporters Association, or APEM as in Spanish, announced the international sales may reach until 285,000 tons. To make a comparison, the last mango season, Peru sold almost 328,000 tons. This is 73,000 tons more than the estimation for this season.

Mango season officially begins in September, ends in March. Peru sold 447 million dollars the last mango season, according to freshfruit.pe. The stats include fresh mango, cold mango, and processed mango. According to freshfruit, it was a significant amount, but not enough.

The oficial numbers are more conservative for the last mango season. Peru’s Ministry of agrarian Development and Irrigation reported over 240,000 tons. This is 45,000 tons les than the estimation for actual mango season.

Here in Piura Department, the main mango grower is San Lorenzo Valley. This is about 30 miles away my actual location. I’m talking about the famous Tambograndé District. San Lorenzo Valley has been capable to grow until 330,000 tons during the best mango seasons.

Across Peru, there are 30,000 hectares growing mango. This is less than the decime part of Rhode Island State. There are 14,000 mango growers in Peru. Some of them told me, they expected the peak of the season happened this October. There are no actual numbers yet.

The main mango markets are the US, Europe, and Japan recently. Tell me how much you pay for  just one mango. Meanwhile, here in Piura, we are already enjoying this tasty fruit. Learn more about: go to factortierra.blogspot.com Write mango in the query box.

 

The land continues shaking

Last Tuesday 25^th night, Peruvian time, a 4.7 magnitude quake broke out. The epicenter was  just 7 miles to the west of Sullana Downtown. The hypocenter was 35 miles depth. On Saturday 29^th, a 4.1 magnitude quake struck 15 miles to the west of Sullana Downtown. The hypocenter was 18 miles depth. Both ones were weaker  than the 6.1 magnitude we experienced last October 5^th.

But at Peruvian Southern,the land doesn’t stop to move. Íca Department, located just to the south of Lima Department, felt until 12 quakes along Friday 28^th. Peru’s Geophysical Institute explained the quakes here were caused by the Nazca Plate. It is  embedding under the South American Plate.

Quakes cannot be forecast. But, if you live in a seismic zone, you must be ready:

1. Join the prevention drills.
2. Have your emergency kit.
3. Check the buildings where you live, work, amuse,pray… everywhere, in the end.
4. Follow the official instructions.
5. And over all, trust in official sources. Remember that not all we have on the social media is true.
6. Learn to keep calm.
7. And if a quake breaks out right now, remember the Three Golden Mexican Rules: no running,  nno pushing, no screaming.

For more advice, go to factortierra.blogspot.com Write quake in the query box.

  

A Promised Bridge That Seems To Continue As a Promise

By Nelson Peñaherrera Castillo I will remember 20 years next September since I arrived for the very first time to Malingas Community (Tambogrande, Peru). As I ever say, the first picture receiving to me was that typical one you draw when your teacher asks you to represent the countryside: blue sky, hills, trees, and a river. As the Rousseau-inspired rural imaginery of our childhood was ever there, and, of course, I was wondered about the width of San Francisco Creek’s course. Effectively that in September, when here we migrate from the Winter to the Spring, the amount of running water is almost irrelevant – just 16 feet width, almost 2 feet depth. The van in malfunction process that transported me that time could pass over with certain care but not a major difficulty. However, the prints of how big it could be were there, bared-eye, both banks. And I became to prove it the next Summer when the rains started to fall and the van was not possible to cross it over, and we got to use the human chain, then the cart over some tables were set like seats, and even the truck wheel balloon over that also some tables were set like a boat, and the flow advancing beneath, strong, blurry, massive. The same question repeated during the shortage periods as well as the overflow periods – why not is a bridge built over San Francisco Creek? For sure, that even sounds sketchy to see how the local people engines one with trunks and mud, but the work lasts what the flow allows. Then, whywas an everlasting work never proposed? Malingas is located almost in the middle of Tambogrande and Chulucanas Cities, going from the northwest to the southeast, and adding to the people transportation whatever, the zone is agriculturally productive and the mango is one of its major crops. The campaign of tthis fruit includes the whole Spring and the half of the Summer, this means until mid-February. But if it starts to rain before, it has to be interrupted and the whole production has to lose whether it is impossible to transport, or because the rain begins to damage it. When FACTORTIERRA.NET worked The Malingas Initiative between 2009 and 2011, the bridge issue jumped up again, and the Development Committee of Malingas Zone –because the mayor did not have any initiative- sent letters again and again to any government office they could reach, at least to try a technical brochure, but nothing. It was said when the road between Tambogrande and Chulucanas was asphalted almost a decade ago, however the project never included a bridge, and we talk about a creek that can oversize until 1400 feet width and 20 feet depth, just guessing. San Francisco’s is a natural spillway of San Lorenzo Dam, located in Las Lomas District, and feeds with little flows and agricultural drains, plus the own rainwater those end to turn the pacific flow into a colossal punch leading in Piura River, and that explains why it overfed suddenly during 2017 El Niño to flood part of Tambogrande, Piura, and Castilla Cities and the Lower Piura Valley ultimately. Yes, people – simple Geography of Piura’s Coast. Let’s continue. The Municipality of Malingas Town as well as the Municipality of Tambogrande District, which Malingas depends politically of, coincide that the construction of the bridge on San Francisco’s is a priority not temporary but permanent. And this is not the only critical point of the Tambogrande-Chulucanas Road. Leaving out the first city is Carneros Creek, another little water flow that grows as much as San Francisco’s when it rains, and it’s the first blockade point on that way affecting directly the zones of Curván, Hualtaco III, and La Pala. Following up that way, another critical point is Socarrón Creek where a speed bump survives protected by a reedbed, but if interrupted, it can isolate Las Mónicas Sector and the entrance to Palominos Sector. Then, we arrive to San Francisco’s where the major problem is. If we get to cross over, leaving Malingas, the trouble begins in Paccha where Sáncor River fflows down, and Sol-Sol Creek more to the south is infamous because it kills people every highly rainy Summer. By the way, the road from Yapatera to Chulucanas also has a little creek that means a warning. Plus, we have to reinforce the southern gate of that last city at Ñácara Bridge toward Fernando Belaúnde Terry Highway that connects Paita City to the Peruvian Jungle. And why? I insist because it is about a highly productive zone in terms of agriculture, agriexporting, and agri-industry. Also, it is an alternative route and a shortcut for example between Ayabaca and Huancabamba, or between Sullana and the Peruvian Jungle, and even between Ecuador and Brazil. That is the level we are talking about. In consequence, Peru’s Presidency of Ministers Council or the Ministry of Transportation and Communications at least, San Francisco Creek is going to overload again and again every Summer raining more than usual. And it is goin to interrupt again and again a highly productive zone. Favoring the connectivity or condemning almost 20000 people directly involved to repeat the same claim every year, or risking their lives at the point of losing? More than a promise, they right have the skill to improve the life quality of those people. [Opine on your social media by using the #NelsonOpEd hashtag