Parán is a small Indigenous community in the hills of Huaura, in central Peru. They are peach farmers. Their orchards line the mountainside. The same mountain where a new Canadian mine, known as Invicta, was beginning to operate. They feared for their future and that the mine would contaminate their precious springs, their only source of fresh water for their town and their peach trees.

In 2018, they began an around-the-clock roadblock against a new mine. When they were attacked by armed thugs, they held a community meeting and the entire village—all adult men and women—agreed to participate in the protest against the mine.
 
They were finally successful.

This is episode 39 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange's Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.
If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review. 

You can see exclusive pictures, drone footage, and pictures of the Parán community in Michael Fox’s Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also follow his reporting and support his work.

Written and produced by Michael Fox.

Resources: You can find out more about Lupaka Gold’s case against Peru through the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement over the Invicta Mine here: https://gtwaction.org/egregious-isds-cases/#lupakagoldvperu

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