La Pachamama dans tous ses États : les leaders indiens réduits au silence par les entreprises minières dans le Nord-Ouest argentin

Abstract

A consequence of the push towards extractivism is the multiplication of social conflicts over environmental issues. This ethnographic article explores the social and ethnic conflicts linked to mining and the political reconfigurations that this produces within the indigenous movement at local and national level. Amaicha and Quilmes, two indigenous communities in the Argentinean Northwest, are 120 kilometers from the La Alumbrera open cast mine. This proximity constitutes an environmental threat (because of air and water pollution) for the villages in the long run. It also represents, however, an asset for the implementation of local collective projects which are financed through the mines’ “social responsibility” program. In this article I will demonstrate how this extractivist multinational company is increasingly involved in the life of both communities. The symbol of the indigene as “guardian of nature”, and her privileged relationship with the Pachamama (mother earth), has helped local activists win a number of agrarian and social battles. It is thus important to analyze the strategies employed by La Alumbrera and the Argentinean government to neutralize all social conflicts and silence the village leaders who have played an important role in the fight for their communities’ rights. Both the mine and the government’s attitudes towards peasant and indigenous communities are subject of ideological and political controversy and debate. I shall demonstrate how this has divided not only the villages but also the national indigenous movement.

Keywords

• environment
• ethnicity
• mining
• social conflict