Great news today from Peru! The Supreme Court has acquitted Máxima Acuña, an indigenous woman and recent recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, for usurping land from Newmont Mining near Celendín, Peru. The struggle has been many years in the making. While Newmont and its partner in Peru, joint owners of Yanacocha, have held that they own the property Máxima and her family now live on since l996, her property title shows that she has owned it since l994.
In recent years, Máxima and her family have been subjected to beatings and harassment at the hands of Yanacocha’s security guards. According to her lawyer, Mirtha Vásquez, the company may now be liable for physical and psychological damages that they have inflicted on the family. This process could take many years, however, since the civil process is still in its beginning stages in Peru.
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