Choropampa, el precio de oro . Choropampa, the Price of Gold

Verzio FF Submission On June 2, 2000, a truck from the Yanacocha gold mine spilled 151 kg of liquid mercury along a 40 km stretch of highway passing through Choropampa and two neighboring towns. Villagers were not told the mercury was toxic. Assuming it was 'azogue', an ancient cure-all, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Damian, Ernesto Cabellos, Boyd, Stephanie
Institution:Open Society Archives at Central European University
Language:Spanish
Published: Guarango 2002
Peru
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:ffabaa73-a0c1-4a63-bdbd-5eef5254a93c
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author2 Damian, Ernesto Cabellos
Boyd, Stephanie
author_facet Damian, Ernesto Cabellos
Boyd, Stephanie
collection OSA Film Library
dateSpan 2002
description Verzio FF Submission On June 2, 2000, a truck from the Yanacocha gold mine spilled 151 kg of liquid mercury along a 40 km stretch of highway passing through Choropampa and two neighboring towns. Villagers were not told the mercury was toxic. Assuming it was 'azogue', an ancient cure-all, they collected mercury in bottles and jars using their hands, sticks and brooms. Elemental mercury is highly toxic to humans, especially in its vapor form and by now, most of the villagers have been exposed to it. When health problems and compensation claims meet with no response from the authorities, a young mayor emerges to lead his people on a quest for health care and justice. It took a devastating mercury spill by the world’s richest gold mining corporation to transform a quiet peasant village in Peru’s Andean mountains into a hotbed of civil resistance. Illustrated by archive footage from government stations, reports of visits to the village by politicians and secret recordings of meetings between the head of the secret service and a judge, we see how the village is sacrificed to American business interests. After two years of struggle, the villagers have not achieved a thing: the government undertakes nothing and the mine denies any responsibility.
genre libraryUnit
geographic Peru
id bulk_C3F9A0CC-BED6-4E1C-8012-EFC391797D0E
institution Open Society Archives at Central European University
language Spanish
publishDate 2002
publisher Guarango
Peru
spellingShingle Choropampa, el precio de oro . Choropampa, the Price of Gold
[Documentary film]
title Choropampa, el precio de oro . Choropampa, the Price of Gold
topic [Documentary film]
url http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:ffabaa73-a0c1-4a63-bdbd-5eef5254a93c