Environmental activists in Bolivia say they’ve become the targets of discrimination, death threats and even bombings after speaking out against harmful mining operations in the department of Oruro. The activists, most of them women, have faced escalating violence this year because of their opposition to mining pollution, water scarcity and land use change near the Indigenous Quechua community collective, or ayllu, of Acre Antequera. In some cases, they’ve even been attacked with sticks and dynamite. Now, they’re making a renewed push to raise awareness about the conflict. “They realize that there isn’t the same amount of water anymore, that their food is being contaminated with waste from mining activity,” said Carol Ballesteros, from the Assembly for Forests and Life, an organization that has been advocating for the communities. “This is a situation in which they’re being forcibly displaced from their territory.” The ayllu is an Indigenous territorial structure that, in this case, is made up of eight Quechua communities traditionally devoted to pastoralism and agriculture. But open-pit mining for silver, copper, lead, zinc, tin and other minerals has used up a lot of their freshwater, resulting in the desertification of the area, Ballesteros said. Many remaining water sources are allegedly contaminated because mining — which is done approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) underground — contaminates subterranean springs that the communities rely on. Workers in the Bolívar Mine. Photo courtesy of Santa Cruz Silver. From May to November, the dry season leaves them without enough water to raise livestock and grow crops.…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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