They disappeared on April 25, but until a few days ago the Executive and the Police doubted that the kidnapping was real. This Sunday the suspicions have dissipated with an bleak scene: 13 inert bodies, naked and handcuffed, inside a sinkhole in the town of Pataz, in the region of La Libertad. The 13 workers of the R&R company that provided services to the powerful mining company, one of the main gold extraction companies in Peru, were executed by alleged hitmen and illegal miners, in the middle of a chain of negligence from the government of Dina Boluarte and the security forces.
On the last Wednesday, when the relatives of the victims marched desperately and attracted the attention of the media, Gustavo Adrianzén, the president of the Council of Ministers, questioned the truth of the kidnapping and, in addition, said that they did not belong to the powerful mining company. “Our security bodies and bodies have been acting in Pataz and have no news that the event that was reported is truthful. There is no complaint so far,” he said. General Guillermo Llerena, police chief of the region, seconded the statements of Adrianzén.
The province of Pataz has been in a state of emergency since February 2024 because of various attacks by illegal miners and mafias linked to extortion. The Armed Forces, in coordination with the Police, have assumed internal control and have carried out various operations in the area. But still they were not certain about the disappearance of the workers. On Friday, the powerful mining company issued a statement in which it states that the 13 workers exercised functions for a “artisanal miner” that maintains an exploitation contract with them, that the kidnapping occurred when criminals tried to take control of the place and that called them “powerfully attention” that last week would mobilize 800 troops for an operation that had no incidence in the areas where the clashes were produced.
When leaving them in evidence, the security forces were activated and began the search late. “The members of the peasant rounds are collaborating with us. With them we are entering the undercuts,” said General Llerena. It transpired that criminals demanded four million soles (1,081 million dollars) to free the 13 workers. But the police denied it. “Who has our boys is a nickname Knife And they have them in the mine of one Galindo. We are negotiating, but criminals don’t want to know anything. That the police have knowledge of this and will rescue them. We are not with a crossed arms, ”said a companion of the kidnapped.
From different corners of the country, relatives traveled to Pataz waiting for the rescue. “No more indifference. Time runs against it,” said one of his posters. But the rescue never arrived. The workers were killed at close range within a sinkhole. For now, nine of them have been identified. This is Nilver Joel Pérez Chuquipoma, César Rospigliosi Arellano, Frank Jesús Monzón Valeriano, Jhon Cristian Facundo Inga, Franklin Vicente Facundo Inga, Josué Carbonell Beltrán, Alexander Domínguez, Juan ñaupari Salva, Darwin Javier Coveñas Panta. His remains have been transferred to the morgue of Trujillo, the capital of freedom, to be recognized for their loved ones.
“Criminality advances before the inaction of the Government, which did not respond with the urgency that the situation demanded, even in full state of emergency. This fact also shows the lack of security guarantees by the company for those who work in their operations,” said the National Human Rights Coordinator. The journalist Paul Acevedo Gutiérrez, columnist of the newspaper Correo, It has been overwhelming: “Pataz does not need more decrees; it needs real presence, operational intelligence and, above all, political will. Because today, in this province, who commands is not the State but the crime.”
This Saturday, on the eve of the murder of the 13 miners, 20 workers of another mine in the province of Pataz were taken as hostages. The criminals broke into the processing plant of the Caravelí Minera, in the Tayabamba district. There was a confrontation and eight injured were reported, two of them are police. They received bullet impacts on the neck, hip and shoulders. They are being treated at the High complexity hospital in Trujillo. At the end of March a powerful mine vehicle was ambushed. Five people died. The armed group also destroyed a high voltage tower, leaving the population in the dark.
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