In the Bolivian highlands municipality of Viacha, residents from 61 communities staged a takeover of the mayor’s office on Sept. 1 to protest the activities of 23 metal refining companies in the region. Specifically, the protestors accused the companies of contaminating aquifers and water bodies in their region for years by dumping processing waste into the Pallina River, a tributary of Lake Titicaca, and allowing overflows of holding ponds during the rainy season. The demonstration, which ended peacefully, reflected longstanding public frustration that authorities had been downplaying widespread metals-processing pollution in the municipality. At least in the short term, it appeared to have an effect. Later the same day, a national-government agency ordered one metal-refining plant closed, and the municipal government declared a broad crackdown on the area’s mineral-processing sector. There are no major mineral deposits in Viacha, located 22 kilometers (14 miles) southwest of the... [Log in to read more]