The conflict over the Xstrata Tintaya mine in Espinar province of Peru's Cuzco region escalated May 30 as dozens National Police troops in full riot gear stormed the office of the mayor, Oscar Mollohuanca, in the midst of a community meeting he was convening there on the issue, and arrested him—presumably on charges of leading the recent angry protests at the mine site. The raid came without warning, and Mollohuanca had not been told there was a warrant for his arrest. He was initially taken to the police outpost at the mine site, but as a crowd gathered there demanding his release, he was transferred to Cuzco's regional capital. “The detention of the mayor is a huge worry because it has ruined the dialogue process," Veronika Mendoza, a legislator from the ruling Gana Perú coalition, said on Canal N television. Cuzco's regional president, Jorge Acurio, also protested the arrest, charging that Prime Minister Oscar Valdés had betrayed his pledge to suspend further arrests and initiate a dialogue.

Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos and Chinese President Hu Jintao presided over the signing in Beijing May 9 of nine agreements to boost cooperation in a range of industries, emphasizing the oil sector. One pact calls for Colombian parastatal Ecopetrol to join with Sinochem conglomerate and the China Development Bank to build an inter-oceanic pipeline through the Andean country. The plan for the "Oleoducto al Pacífico" is to begin with a feasibility study to be lead by Sinochem's local subsidiary Emerald Energy. Colombian Energy Minister Mauricio Cárdenas, who was also on hand for the signing, said Chinese partners have taken the decision "to enter our country in full, with activities of exploration, with activities of production..." (Portafolio.co, Reuters, May 11; EFE, May 9)

Jimmy Díaz Burbano, governor of Colombia's Putumayo admitted that large areas of the lowland jungle department were shut down by a "paro armado"—a civil strike enforced by the guns of the FARC guerillas. He said the strike had been called in response to government spraying of the glyphosate herbicide across the territory along the Río Putumayo to wipe out coca leaf crops. Díaz said spraying hurts the campesinos and provokes a reaction from the illegal armed groups they sell their coca to, calling for a dialogue on the issue. "I will be a bridge between the community and the Colombian state and do everything possible to assure that the people are heard," he said. (Diario del Sur, Nariño, May 29)

On May 24, the Federation of Ayllus of North Potosí announced that they will march on La Paz to demand the release of Cancio Rojas, the mallku (traditional chieftain) of Sacaca village (Ibañez province, Potosí department), who was arrested on charges related to angry protests over the local operations of the Mallku Khota Mining Company (CMMK), owned by Canada-based South American Silver. Village authorities say several residents were injured in a clash with National Police and private security personnel the previous day in the nearby municipality of Acasio (Bilbao province), where protesters attempted to occupy the mining camp. (See map.) CMMK—which hopes to exploit deposits of the rare element indium, used in semiconductors—says its own personnel were held against their will by the protesters. Rojas is being held in Santo Domingo de Cantumarca prison in Potosí, the regional capital. In a statement from his prison cell, Rojas charged, "They want to decapitate the indigenous movement to appropriate the water of the territory of Mallku Khota, this is the clear intention of the company, and they are extending strong influences" on the local officials.

The struggle against the planned Conga gold mine in Peru's northern region of Cajamarca continues to gain ground, with formation of a "Unitary Struggle Command for the Northern Macroregion and Oriente," coordinating popular movements in adjoining regions. A general strike throughout the Northern Macroregion (comprising the regions of Cajamarca, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Piura, Tumbes and Amazonas) and possibly beyond has been called for May 31. Local struggles are joining their demands to those of the mine opponents in Cajamarca. Farmers in the irrigation district (Usuarios de Riego) of the Valle Chancay in Lambayeque who oppose water-diversion projects that would benefit agribusiness have pledged their support for the strike, as have the rondas campesinas (peasant self-defense patrols) in Ayavaca, Piura region, who oppose the local operations of Río Blanco Copper.

A state of emergency has been declared in Espinar province of Peru's Cuzco region after a confrontation with National Police on May 29 left two campesinos dead amid an indefinite paro (civil strike), called to protest pollution caused by the mining operations of Xstrata Tintaya, local subsidiary of the Anglo-Swiss company Xstrata PLC. After protesters blocked roads with tree-trunks, police opened fire, killing two. Authorities say several police were also hurt. The state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Oscar Valdés suspends civil liberties for at least 30 days.

Lake Cachet II in southern Chile's Aysén region vanished in less than 24 hours last week, leaving behind just some large puddles and chunks of ice. Lake Cachet II's 200 million cubic liters of water gushed out into the Río Baker, tripling its volume and emptying the five-square-kilometer lake bed. (See map.) The lake is usually held behind a natural glacier dam, but rising temperatures weakened the ice. This was actually the 11th time that the lake has drained since 2008, leaving downstream residents terrified of sudden deluges. Lago Témpanos in Magallanes region of far southern Chile drained in a similar fashion in May 2007. "Climate models predict that as temperatures rise, this phenomenon, known as GLOFs [glacial lake outburst floods], will become more frequent," said glaciologist Gino Casassa from Chile's Center for Scientific Studies (CES). The GLOF phenomenon has also been reported in recent years in the Himalayas, and in Iceland due to volcanic activities, Casassa said. (The Watchers, May 23; AFP, May 22; El Mundo, Spain, May 7, 2007)

In the seventh YouTube edition of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg, just returned from Peru where he was on assignment for The Progressive, speaks at the Libertarian Book Club's Anarchist Forum on the Quechua indigenous struggle against US-backed mining projects and in defense of land, water and autonomy in the Andes.