Peru: the Tambogrande, Rio Blanco, and Candarave votes
The proposed Tambogrande project
In 1999, Manhattan Minerals, a Canadian mining company, proposed to develop a gold and copper mine in- and under-the bustling agricultural town of Tambogrande in northwest Peru. Because of the location of the mine in the town itself, and the belief that the project posed a threat to the local water supply and the rich agricultural lands near the town, many local residents opposed the project. An independent study concluded that the local river would have to be diverted, and that 8,000 of the town’s 20,000 residents would require relocation.
The opponents of the proposed mine engaged in repeated peaceful demonstrations, but in early 2001, a mob burned down the “model” homes that the company planned to give to the families displaced by the first phase of the project. On March 31, 2001, Godofredo Garcia, the leader of the anti-mining movement, was shot to death by a lone gunman when his car was stopped on the road to his home.
Following the arson and the murder, Mayor Alfredo Rengifo, an admirer of Gandhi, attempted to find a nonviolent solution to the volatile issue. He started a petition against mining development, which he presented to Peru’s Congress with the signatures of more than 75% of Tambogrande’s voters. The government declined to act.
The local vote
Mayor Rengifo then discovered an obscure provision in Peru’s municipal law that 
allowed a non-binding “consulta vecinal,” or local vote, which could be conducted by municipalities on issues of local importance. He requested some funding from Oxfam UK to help cover the cost of holding the vote. All told, more than a dozen national and international human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supported the process.
On June 2, 2002, the town of Tambogrande held the world’s first local vote on a mining project. Some 73% of eligible voters participated, and 98% of those citizens voted against the proposed mine.
The national government refused to recognize the results. Even before the vote, Peru’s Minister of Energy and Mines condemned it as illegal and promised that it would carry “no legal weight.” Manhattan commented that the fact that the vote was held three weeks before the release of the company-funded environmental study “should be seen for what it is, a public relations ploy,” and condemned the foreign NGOs that opposed the project for not offering development alternatives, and for “misinforming” the population.
Peru Local Vote
Farmers and townspeople in Tambogrande gather in the town's main square to watch a documentary about their own successful efforts to hold a vote and stop mining development.