Rosa Sara Huamán stands with me in the fog at the edge of a mountain in the Kañaris cloud forest of northern Peru. She cannot hide her frustration as she watches two pick-up trucks make their way towards the tiny village below, where members of the local Quechua-speaking population are gathering to hold a community vote. Through gaps in the clouds that permeate this magnificent landscape, the vehicles briefly come into full view. One is crowded with police officers, the other with men dressed in blue jeans and ponchos.
‘At this community assembly we will decide whether we should have an independent study to assess the impact that mining activities could have on our water, our environment, and our lives,’ Huamán explains. Huamán is the leader of the rondas campesinas – Spanish for ‘peasant rounds’ – in the region. ‘But whenever we hold our meetings, people who do not live here come to disrupt our discussions and interfere with the decision-making process. I bet today will be no exception.’
