Osa Archivum Catalog

Choropampa, the Price of Gold

Summary: 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.

Item Type	Current Location	Call Number	Status	Shelving Location	Public Note
DVD-ROM	OSA Film Library	FL Record 2052	Available	-	-
Digital film	OSA Film Library	FL Record 2052 (HU_OSA_00003710.mp4)	Available		Access Copy, MP4 format