Peru court orders indigenous governor of mining region to 6 years in prison
LIMA, (Reuters) - A Peruvian court ordered the arrest of the indigenous governor of a mineral-rich southern region after sentencing him to six years in prison on Wednesday for leading 2011 deadly protests against a Canadian open-pit silver project.
Walter Aduviri, 39, the governor of Puno and an indigenous Aymara leader, was found guilty in absentia by a criminal court of disturbing public order, the office of the judiciary said on Twitter.
Aduviri did not appear at the trial and ignored a previous judicial order to be held in jail ahead of it.
His current whereabouts are unknown, leaving it unclear who has been governing the highland region rich in gold, silver, tin, lithium and uranium. Agustin Luque, the deputy governor of Puno, was expected to replace him in office.One of Aduviri’s attorneys, Aldo Valdivia, said he continues to deny any wrongdoing and is at an undisclosed “safe harbor” while he resists a judicial process he considers unfair.
A trained accountant and a self-avowed admirer of indigenous President Evo Morales in neighboring Bolivia, Aduviri spent most of 2018 as a fugitive of a sedition conviction before being acquitted on appeal and winning the governor’s race in October regional elections.
The new sentence was a blow one of the more radical local leaders in the country’s mineral-rich south, a bastion for opposition to politics dominated by Lima elites where many clamor for a greater share of mining proceeds.
However, the ruling might also fuel anti-mining sentiment in a region that is already simmering with protests against an industry that drives about 15% of the country’s economic growth and 60% of its export earnings.