The informal and illegal miners surrounded Congress around 1:00 pm this Monday, as they had announced.
They kept their word: they caused vehicular chaos around the intersections of Abancay Avenue with Huancavelica, Junín and Áncash Avenues.
Last July, they staged a similar mobilization that gave them good results.
Until the closing of this edition (8:00 pm), the section of Abancay Avenue towards La Victoria, between Áncash and Junín, was still taken over by protesters. There was no vehicular traffic in the area.
Unlike in July, the miners had not yet set up tent camp for the night.
What are you looking for this time? Three demands head its agenda: the extension for five years of the Comprehensive Mining Formalization Registry (Reinfo), the reversal of idle mining concessions and the repeal of Supreme Decree No. 012-2025, which leaves 50,000 miners with expired or suspended registrations in illegal status.
On that occasion, informal and illegal miners occupied a section of Abancay Avenue to demand the extension of Reinfo until December of this year. They did it.
This time they repeat the strategy, but with a more ambitious objective: to achieve a five-year extension of the Reinfo and the reversal of idle mining concessions.
Perú21 confirmed that informal and illegal miners occupied the lanes of Abancay Avenue, between Áncash and Huancavelica streets.
As occurred in the previous legislative period, the illegal miners have the support of the president of the Energy and Mines Commission, Víctor Cutipa, a congressman from the leftist group Together for Peru (JP).
The mobilization left Campo de Marte, led by Máximo Franco and Ismael Palomino, along with advisors Adolfo Valverde and Raúl Noblecilla.
Mobilization put the procession of the Lord of Miracles at risk
The Confemin protest was scheduled to begin this Saturday, which put at risk the passage of the Lord of Miracles procession along Abancay Avenue, on its way to Congress and Barrios Altos.
However, after the revelation made by this newspaper, the organizers decided to change the date of the protest to this Monday.
Concentration on the Champ de Mars
Until 9:30 am, a group of approximately 500 informal and illegal miners, grouped in the National Confederation of Small Mining and Artisanal Mining (Confemin), was concentrated around the Campo de Marte with the aim of marching towards the Congress of the Republic.
The trip to Parliament was scheduled to start at 10:30 am, but it started an hour late, around 11:30 am
The national coordinator of Confemin, Ismael Palomino, announced last week that it was likely that the protesters would set up a camp with tents in front of Congress, just as they did last July, when they managed to have Reinfo extended until December of this year.
On this occasion, their demand is more ambitious: they demand a five-year extension of the Reinfo, the reversal of idle mining concessions and the repeal of Supreme Decree No. 012-2025, which declares illegal some 50 thousand miners with expired or suspended registrations.
Demands and political support
The miners hope to materialize their demands through the approval of a bill presented by Congressman Roberto Sánchez, president and spokesperson for Together for Peru.
Although Sánchez’s text proposes only one year of expansion of the Reinfo, the protesters’ demand is for five years.
This request occurs despite the fact that the Government of Dina Boluarte, through the then Minister of Energy and Mines, Jorge Montero, declared that there would be no further expansions of the Reinfo.
Another demand they have is to repeal Supreme Decree No. 012-2025, which excluded 50,000 miners from Reinfo, who were considered illegal, due to having their registrations suspended and/or expired.
What they want is for those 50 thousand miners to return to being informal.
In September, Perú21 revealed that Víctor Cutipa, head of the Energy and Mines Commission, committed to approving bills favorable to illegal and informal miners.
Unofficially, it was learned that this first march would last five days, and the next protest would take place on November 5.
They surrounded Congress
The mobilization arrived around 1:00 pm at the intersection of Abancay Avenue and Jirón Junín, near Parliament.
Initially, the protesters occupied the lane towards Rímac, but they cleared it after about 20 minutes. Then, as happened last July, they took over the lane again in the same direction.
For approximately seven hours, until the closing of this office, there was no vehicular traffic in the area.
Some merchants took advantage of the occasion to set up mobile food stalls—chaufa, mostrito, and broaster chicken—as well as drinks—water and sodas—and mining items, such as helmets.
At one point during the day, protesters held a rally from a truck adapted with speakers.
The national coordinator of Confemin, Ismael Palomino, gave the floor to the former president of the Energy and Mines Commission and current congressman from the Alliance for Progress, Segundo Quiroz, who promised to present a bill that extends the Reinfo for five years.
Congressman Segundo Quiroz (APP) promised to promote the expansion of Reinfo for five years.
In parallel, the president of Confemin, Máximo Franco Bequer, declared to Peru21 that the informal and illegal miners of their union will not withdraw from Lima until Congress approves – first in the sector commission and then in the Plenary – the extension of the Reinfo for five years and the reversion of the idle mining concessions.
Until the closing of this edition (8:00 p.m.), informal and illegal miners continued blocking the lanes of Abancay Avenue in the direction of Rímac towards La Victoria.
The mobilization surrounded Congress around 1:00 p.m.
Traffic remained interrupted throughout the area, a situation that was corroborated by a live broadcast on the Confemin Facebook page.
Perú21 will continue to report on the development of the protests in the coming days.
A big question remains after the first day of the demonstration: will they again this time bend Parliament to approve their demands?
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