Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cajamarca (Agenzia Fides) - According to information sent to Agenzia Fides from Radio Marañón, today, November 30, the region of Cajamarca is preparing a massive mobilization. The city of Cajamarca is isolated due to an indefinite general strike which now is in its sixth day, against the application of the Conga mining project (see Fides 25/11/2011), so the entry and exit from the capital is impossible. Interprovincial transportation companies have stopped selling tickets and since yesterday there have not been any flights. The road to Lima (the capital of the neighboring region) remains blocked, and so the other main roads. Thousands of litres of milk cannot be collected from the units of large companies.
The province of Bambamarca and the inhabitants of the valley of Jequetepeque have joined the strike. These protesters are in Ciudad de Dios, which connects the cities of Chiclayo, Trujillo, Piura and Cajamarca. People are starting to feel the shortage of products, there is no more fuel and prices have skyrocketed. Meanwhile, thousands of people who keep watch on the top of the city of Cajamarca, right next to the lakes they defend, have said that they do not want the presence of any minister, but only the that of President Ollanta Humala.
The Church of Cajamarca has ruled in favor of the protesters, in defense of water. The Franciscan community has displayed two huge banners in front of their church, with the words: "Water is life, not Conga" and "Defend the Earth's sister." Radio Marañón is the Radio of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Francisco Javier Jaén in Peru, managed by the Society of Jesus, which has been working in the area since 1976. It has about 600,000 listeners and all of its programs have taken the thematic perspective of evangelization. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 30/11/2011)
