Delitos perpetrados y acceso a la justicia de las y los campesinos y campesinas en el marco del Proyecto Minero Río Blanco ubicada en la parroquia de Molleturo del cantón Cuenca durante el periodo 2016- 2019

Abstract

Río Blanco is a peasant community located in the Macizo del Cajas biosphere, its territory has around 605,000 ounces of gold, and 4.3 million ounces of silver that are 400 meters from the surface, therefore, it is an economically strategic territory of the Ecuadorian State who sign an agreement back in 2016 with the Junefield Mine without consulting the community members of Río Blanco. That is why given their situation, there are socio-political and socio-organizational conflicts that have resulted in a criminal panorama between community members, the State, and the Mining Company. In this context, this research analyzed the crimes perpetrated and access to justice of peasants men and women in the framework of the Río Blanco Mining Project located in the parish of Molleturo in Cuenca canton during the period of 2016-2019. The methodological design applied was a simple case study with a holistic view. Three actors related to the problem were identified: community members from Río Blanco, activists who support the community, and Azuay authorities. Through a non-probabilistic sampling: snowball, these actors were selected to whom semi-structured interviews were applied. The analysis showed that the emerging victims of the mining project in terms of access to justice report some crimes individually, however the activation of the judicial system wasn’t the most favorable, while when it came to collective complaints, the State in its function of administration of justice, there is no resolution of conflict in favor of the maintenance of order and social peace. Given this situation, it is recommended to address the problem in a critical way for a possible development of public policies that generate changes in access to justice.