CHILE: Native Community in Desert Oasis Threatened by Mines

By Daniela Estrada ALTO DEL CARMEN, Chile, Oct 9 (IPS) - The Diaguita indigenous community in Huasco Alto, surrounded by rich gold, silver and copper deposits in the northern Chilean region of Atacama, are engaged in a struggle to prevent mining projects from infringing on their territory and destroying their way of life and ancestral identity. The community of 260 families, comprising 1,200 people, lives in the fertile valley of the El Tránsito river in the municipality of Alto del Carmen, 190 km southeast of the regional capital, Copiapó. The people are known as Huascoaltinos because they occupy Huasco Alto (Upper Huasco), the highest slopes of the wider Huasco Valley. Dozens of Huascoaltinos who spoke to IPS are convinced that the multicoloured valley where they live will be completely destroyed by large-scale mining of... [read full story]