In pre-colonial periods, the Spanish were enchanted by the large amounts of metal deposits in the Andes, namely gold and silver. More recently, other metal resources in Peru have been discovered and mining companies have started to exploit these resources as well. These include copper, lead, zinc, and tin. Indigenous communities are faced with the constant struggle of trying to protect their land and their people from the Peruvian path of economic “progress”.
Indigenous peoples that live in Peru’s forest-covered lowlands were, in the early 1900s, allowed to live within and around those forests, but were not granted land titles because Law 1220 gave the state control over Peruvian forests (Stocks 95). Then, surprisingly, in 1974, …show more content…
Law 22175 reversed the ownership of forests, lands, and subsurface rights for all the indigenous communities that were granted these rights under Law 20653. Even further, 22175 contained an article that made permission from or consultation of indigenous communities before projects non-compulsory. It basically allowed the state to retake control over the land that indigenous people habited and construct or install whatever the Peruvian government deemed necessary, including roads, oil and gas pipelines, public drainage systems, and electric lines, all without indigenous