A new wave of ruthless conquistadors has arrived in Peru, write Aldo Orellana Lopez and Philippa de Boissière – global corporations after minerals, oil, gas, timber, land … And instead of brandishing the Bible and the sword, they proclaim high sounding policies on environment and human rights, while co-opting police and politicians in their pillage of resources.
BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American are among the miners that would be affected by Chile’s new labour bill, aimed at reducing the nation’s huge income inequality, as it may limit mining companies’ ability to replace workers during strikes.
A Chinese state investigation being conducted into the former general manager of metals company Chinalco, which is Rio Tinto’s largest shareholder and a huge customer, found that he accepted “a huge amount in bribes.”
Nowhere is the complex, contested, and contradictory nature of peacebuilding more apparent than on the Melanesian island of Bougainville, which sits on the easternmost border of Papua New Guinea. For most of the 1990s it was embroiled in a bitter war that pitted Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) troops against Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) guerrillas.
The hostilities were triggered by a major copper and gold mine owned by British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.
BHP Billiton’s controversial Indomet coal project in Kalimantan is in doubt following a reported decision by the minister for national development planning to withdraw support for the construction of a railway that would transport coal from the remote mine sites to port.
