• The former minister called for the continued promotion of dialogue and respect for people's fundamental rights.

The State must have the capacity to resolve conflicts that arise in our country in order to guarantee respect for people's rights. This was stated by Delia Muñoz, former Minister of Justice and Human Rights, during her presentation on the second day of the virtual event Road to PERUMIN "Challenges of Social Conflict Management".

In her speech, the specialist indicated that a sector of society considers that some of its rights are violated when conflicts develop based on claims of fundamental rights, such as economic activity. This generates an increase in political demands, leading to this type of conflict.

"It should be noted that most of the conflicts in Peru are of a political nature. These occur when actors evade formal or regular means (such as dialogue) and attempt to resolve their disputes using political means, including violence. As a result, there is a perceived lack of prevention on the part of the State," she said.

At another point, the former minister indicated that, during the development of a conflict, the trend is to carry out various actions, such as the detention of suspects, interviews with the actors involved and the establishment of dialogue tables. However, some of them are carried out at a late stage.

"In 99 socio-environmental conflicts reported by the Ombudsman's Office in 2020, it is evident that the intervention of the State, through national, local and regional institutions, was characterized by being reactive, with little coordination between the different instances and has been inefficient," said Muñoz.

Thus, she indicated that it is necessary for the State to react proactively and swiftly to the conflicts that arise in our country. "To achieve such an end, it is important that the state does its part. We need to put aside our differences, put aside confrontation and start building a society based on dialogue," she added.

Road to PERUMIN

Road to PERUMIN is an initiative of the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP) and the Executive Committee of PERUMIN 36. It includes an agenda of virtual activities that seek to generate spaces for analysis, knowledge and debate on mining.