By Jennifer Moore
December 7, 2009 - On Wednesday afternoon, Vicente Robledo Ramírez, aged 55 and father of eight children, and Castulo Correa Huayama, aged 36 and father of six, were shot dead in a confrontation with national police. Another six campesinos were wounded and two detained. The police report that they also sustained several wounded, but further details have not been released.
Over the weekend, a reported 2,000 campesinos turned out to mourn the death of the men in the remote rural province of Huancabamba where campesinos have been opposing a Chinese and UK owned mine for the last six years. The Rio Blanco project is principally owned by the Chinese Zijin Consortium together with the UK's Monterrico Metals.
Juan Amancio Romero, son of Vicente, asked authorities “to investigate what took place and to respect the decisions of the people who don't want the mine to continue in the area, nor a NGO [believed to be closely linked to the company] or police.”
The Front for the Sustainable Development of the Northern Border of Peru (FDSFNP by its initials in Spanish) also called for further investigation and reiterated “its will to dialogue” with the government.
The incident brings the death toll in the area to seven. On Nov. 1, two security guards and the mine site manager were killed in an armed attack by unidentified perpetrators at the Rio Blanco mining camp, now the subject of reserved investigations involving national police. Also, in 2004 and 2005, two campesinos were killed as result of repression against protests.
According to the People's Ombudsman (Defensoria del Pueblo), police report that the deaths last week took place after they detained a man in the area of the community of Cajas-Canchaque. The regional police chief Walter Rivera said that the detention was part of investigations into the November attack on the mine camp and that those implicated in this prior incident had been refusing to cooperate. President Servando Aponte of the campesino community challenged the police version saying that officers acted “arrogantly” and that when they entered the home of Lorenzo Rojas to detain him that his neighbours came out in his defence because there was no official warrant for his detention.
For the last six years, the Rio Blanco project, a proposed open-pit copper and molybdenum mine, has generated opposition from campesino communities on whose land it would be located given potential impacts on water supplies and agricultural activities taking place within the watershed. As a result, the company has never obtained the two-thirds approval from local assemblies that it is required to have by law in order to operate in the area. On Sept. 16, 2007, three rural districts in Huancabamba and Ayabaca participated a popular referendum and reaffirmed their opposition to the mine in which a majority voted against any mining activity in the area.
Earlier attempts at dialogue broke down because of government refusal to discuss the results of the 2007 referendum. Since then, around 300 local leaders have faced legal processes believed to be a means of political persecution for their role in the referendum. Most recently, tensions have risen following the Nov. 1 attack on the mining camp for which it is believed that those opposed to the mine are being principally targeted as part of investigations by national police.
Javier Jahncke of the Ecumenical Foundation for Development and Peace (Fedepaz), whose organization is part of a national network that promotes the sustainable use of natural resources and the rights of rural and indigenous communities, says they have concluded that police are leading investigations into the November incident “with a single hypothesis in which they assume that the campesinos were the authors of the crime.”
The day following the attack the FDSFNP, a coalition of local community leaders opposed to the mine, expressed its condolences for the deaths and urged that thorough investigations take place. According to the Peru Support Group, the UK company Monterrico Metals was also “quick to distance itself from any accusations blaming local community groups for this latest violence and indeed thanked local communities for the help they showed the mine camp's employees who escaped the attack.”
However, Jahncke is concerned that police have set aside other possible explanations for the attack to focus on the possible involvement of the mine's opponents. He suggests other theories, such that Rio Blanco's workers might have been killed as part of an attempted robbery or that there was a dispute among workers that led to reprisals, are being ignored. He notes that they have not been privy to evidence being considered as part of investigations since they have been reserved by police.
A congresswoman from the northwestern department of Piura has also received testimonies that police have detained and tortured people in local communities as part of efforts to gain confessions concerning the attack.
Jahncke further questions the timing of the recent violence given that a judge in the English High Court has only recently upheld an injunction to freeze the assets of Monterrico Metals saying that 29 men and women from Piura have a “good arguable case” against the company for allegations of abuses which took place at the Rio Blanco mine site in 2005.
“This lawsuit has seriously affected the image of the company Monterrico Metals,” says Jahncke, “and by extension, Zijin.” This raises questions in his mind about the recent violence and how it is being dealt with “because of who is being affected by this situation, and if it isn't the same campesinos that have been resorting to international channels to be able to be heard since such a process has not begun in their own country.”
Fears of Militarization
As a result, Jahncke sees last week's violence as part of a “clear effort at any cost” to make way for the mine. He fears that by creating the public perception of a rural population that is “unmanageable” and “violent” that the state will be able to “justify the militarization of this area.”
Only days after the November attack on the mining camp, Peruvian Prime Minister Velásquez Quesquén indicated that the government was evaluating the possibility of installing a military base in the area. The General Manager Jian Wu of the principal stakeholder in the Rio Blanco project, the Chinese Zijin Consortium, was present at the meeting.
However, says Jahncke, “These conflicts cannot be resolved with the military protecting the company operations. This will just put more fuel on the fire and generate more conflict... For this to go ahead would be the worst thing possible.”
Overall, he is concerned that the government continues to favour the company's presence “over the property rights of the communities.”
He concludes, “Until this situation is seen as the rights of some being preferred over the rights of others, in a situation that is not legal, and in which rights have been violated for a long time, the problem will not be solved and you will see decisions that will collide with community rights and the conflict will continue to grow, which is what we least want and what hopefully the state least wants to see happen as well.”
Republished from UpsideDownWorld
Showing posts with label Campesinos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Campesinos. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Monday, 5 October 2009
Masked gunmen kill ten peasants in the south-east of Peru
Telesur
October 5, 2009. – An armed attack by a group of masked gunmen against a peasant assembly discussing legal proceedings over lands where mineral deposits are located in Puno, in the southeastern Andes of Peru and near the Bolivian border, left at least 10 dead and several wounded, police said Sunday.
The incident occurred last Saturday when about 300 farmers discussed possession and territorial demarcation of the Winchumayo mines located in the Puna district of Ituata and the Valencia mine in the district of Ayapata, both in the province of Carabaya, the epicentre of informal mining in the southeast of the Latin American nation.
Minister of Interior, Octavio Salazar, told the local media “there are five wounded,” but said he could not confirm any deaths.
Contrary to the official version residents of the site area have confirmed the deaths to the local press and have provided the names of those killed in the hamlet of Chacayaje, Ituata district.
According to Leoncio Huamaní Condon, a resident of the area, some of those killed include Jorge Beltran, Christopher Ramos, Camac and Gabriel Ricardo Barraza.
Puno police chief, General Antonio Wivina Oracio, who was quoted by El Comercio, was cautious, saying: “In relation to the deaths, we can not confirm or deny this account.”
“We are waiting for criminal prosecutors to make the necessary investigations,” he added.
It should be noted that the attack occurred in an area of Peru where its people have been struggling for years to reclaim their land, and this has presented difficulties because the deposits are in districts under territorial dispute.
Last June, the farmers of the southeast of the nation went on strike, rejecting a series of government decrees, such as the repeal of the Water Law, which states that resource is a national heritage and sets priorities for its use, and also calling for the cancellation of mining concessions in the region.
Translated by Kiraz Janicke, republished from Telesur
October 5, 2009. – An armed attack by a group of masked gunmen against a peasant assembly discussing legal proceedings over lands where mineral deposits are located in Puno, in the southeastern Andes of Peru and near the Bolivian border, left at least 10 dead and several wounded, police said Sunday.
The incident occurred last Saturday when about 300 farmers discussed possession and territorial demarcation of the Winchumayo mines located in the Puna district of Ituata and the Valencia mine in the district of Ayapata, both in the province of Carabaya, the epicentre of informal mining in the southeast of the Latin American nation.
Minister of Interior, Octavio Salazar, told the local media “there are five wounded,” but said he could not confirm any deaths.
Contrary to the official version residents of the site area have confirmed the deaths to the local press and have provided the names of those killed in the hamlet of Chacayaje, Ituata district.
According to Leoncio Huamaní Condon, a resident of the area, some of those killed include Jorge Beltran, Christopher Ramos, Camac and Gabriel Ricardo Barraza.
Puno police chief, General Antonio Wivina Oracio, who was quoted by El Comercio, was cautious, saying: “In relation to the deaths, we can not confirm or deny this account.”
“We are waiting for criminal prosecutors to make the necessary investigations,” he added.
It should be noted that the attack occurred in an area of Peru where its people have been struggling for years to reclaim their land, and this has presented difficulties because the deposits are in districts under territorial dispute.
Last June, the farmers of the southeast of the nation went on strike, rejecting a series of government decrees, such as the repeal of the Water Law, which states that resource is a national heritage and sets priorities for its use, and also calling for the cancellation of mining concessions in the region.
Translated by Kiraz Janicke, republished from Telesur
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Peru: Protests against Gold Fields in Hualgayoc leave 5 people injured
By Isabel Guerra
The protests in Vista Alegre, Hualgayoc (Cajamarca region) against the mining company Gold Fields have left five injured people so far (three policemen and 2 farmers), when the police was trying to clear a road that the protesters were blocking.
According to El Mercurio de Cajamarca, a group of approximately 300 farmers were not only preventing Gold Fields workers to get to Corona mine, but also tried to take hostages, so the police had to intervene using the force and even tear gas.
The farmers, who have been protesting at a spot called Coimolache (in the Cajamarca-Hualgayoc road) since last Wednesday, demand Gold Fields to meet its promise to provide water service for the town, since water reportedly disappeared in the district once the company started operations in the area more than two years ago.
Since then, Gold Fields has been providing water for the community through a water tank truck.
Gold Field issued an statement promising they would honor the promise, but the villagers continue partially blocking the road, halting any vehicle related to the company.
Republished from LivinginPeru
The protests in Vista Alegre, Hualgayoc (Cajamarca region) against the mining company Gold Fields have left five injured people so far (three policemen and 2 farmers), when the police was trying to clear a road that the protesters were blocking.
According to El Mercurio de Cajamarca, a group of approximately 300 farmers were not only preventing Gold Fields workers to get to Corona mine, but also tried to take hostages, so the police had to intervene using the force and even tear gas.
The farmers, who have been protesting at a spot called Coimolache (in the Cajamarca-Hualgayoc road) since last Wednesday, demand Gold Fields to meet its promise to provide water service for the town, since water reportedly disappeared in the district once the company started operations in the area more than two years ago.
Since then, Gold Fields has been providing water for the community through a water tank truck.
Gold Field issued an statement promising they would honor the promise, but the villagers continue partially blocking the road, halting any vehicle related to the company.
Republished from LivinginPeru
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Crisis in Cusco, Andahuaylas and La Oroya: Simon confronts social convulsion
Angie Lineth Villarroel & Víctor Cachay
The worn out traveling fire-fighter, prime minister Yehude Simon, will travel today to Andahuaylas and later to Sicuani, to try and put out the fires of discontent that are spreading to become a social convulsion – which he insists on attributing to a supposed extremist conspiracy. Although he has moved forward his trip, once again he will arrive late, as the protests in the South have reached the point of overflowing. Andahuaylas remains paralyzed and Cusco, where campesinos from Canchis were on the verge of taking over the airport guarded by Army troops, is virtually encircled
And its not only in the South, as the central highway is blocked by miners from Doe Run in La Oroya, protesting because the company has not complied with its promises and the State has done nothing to put it in its place and protect the interests of the country and the workers.
In the face of the social protests experienced in Andahuaylas and Cusco, Simon will travel to the city of Andahuaylas, in Apurímac province and tomorrow he will continue on to the Sicuani locality near Cusco, to dialogue with the residents and avoid giving rise to another tragedy like of Bagua, [1] which campesino leaders have warned could happen again if official inattention persists
Thousands of residents from Canchis and other provinces arrived yesterday in Cusco chanting phrases such as “if there is no solution, there is no Inti Raymi,” [2], with the aim of making the government attend to their demands. As a result, the Presidency of the Cabinet (PCM) announced that at 7:30am on Wednesday, the cabinet chief would leave from the Cusco to the city of Sicuani, where he will also hold talks with the campesinos about their opposition to the Law of Water Resources, to mining concessions and the construction of the Salca-Pucará hydroelectric plant.
In relation to this, the president of the Regional Assembly of Cusco, Efraín Yépez, speaking to La Primera, said the decision of the prime minister was opportune and important because the Inti Raymi festival attracts thousands of tourists every year on June 24 and influences the economy of the country and of Cusco. He said that the campesinos had to appeal to pressure in order to be heard.
The president of the regional government of Cusco, Hugo Gonzales, in the absence of the executive, when the campesinos from Canchis had entered Cusco and threatened to take over the airport – where a bloody confrontation could have occurred – held a dialogue with them and promised the support of his administration for their demands and later assured that the Inti Raymi festival and activities connected with it would unfold as normal. He said that he met with Alejo Valdez, president of the Canchis Struggle Committee after the demonstrators arrived at Cusco around noon and then remained at Pachacútec Oval, and though they tried to enter to the airport, they were dissuaded through dialogue.
He added that if the people of Canchis do not want the construction of the Salca-Pucará hydroelectric plant, then the project would not be carried out, despite the loss of a $350 million investment. Canchis peasant leader Valeriano Ccama, confirmed the dialogue and demanded the liberty of some demonstrators in order to begin a truce and to wait for the premier, but warned, "the Inti Raymi is still at risk".
Andahuaylas waits
Meanwhile, in Andahuaylas, Eugenio Allcca Díaz representative of the Campesino Community Front, rejected comments by the government and the official press that aimed to link the protest with violent groups and denied the intervention of political parties in financing the mobilizations. “Some of the media wants to discredit our peaceful demonstration, all of us traveled here by our own means,” he said, mentioning that they will not accept the intervention of anyone who is not the Cabinet Chief, who they will make respect their platform of struggle to the end.
Simon will leave today at 8.30am from Lima to the city in the Apurímac region and hold a dialogue over fixing the Ayacucho-Andahuaylas-Abancay highway, one of the central demands of the strike, as well as the Law of Water Resources, which is also rejected by the people of Andahuaylas. Meanwhile thousands of residents await the arrival of the prime minister, gathered in the Feria Dominical on the banks of the River Chumbao.
Miners close entrance road to Lima
More than three thousand mine workers for the Doe Run Company began an indefinite strike in the early hours of yesterday in La Oroya with the total blockade of a highway, due to the disinterest of the company in resolving their union demands. The protest was agreed to after an assembly of delegates and counts on support from the local population.
The blockade of the road stretches 8 kms before and after the entrance to La Oroya, due to the hundreds of vehicles stranded there, while shops as well as private and public companies were closed in endorsement of the mobilization. The show of force is in response to the announcement of the closing of the installations of the foundry and metal refinery. The Doe Run workers union and the residents of La Oroya also reject the proposal of the company to pay only 50% of the remunerations owed to the workers, the union demands that 80% be paid within 90 days.
The company stopped all production at the beginning of the month, four months after the banks cut credit for its operations as a result of the global [economic] crisis. Then it announced it was going to suspend its employees for 90 days, a decision that brought about the strike. The secretary general of the metalworkers of Doe Run, Roberto Guzmán, called for the intervention of the state for the immediate reactivation of the company.
“All the entrances are blocked. We hold the mining company responsible for the consequences of the protests,” the mayor of Yauli- La Oroya province César Gutiérrez, said.
Government
The demonstrators are located 48 km from Corcona. There are three points of the road that are blocked, the exits of Lima, Huancayo and Chanchamayo, miners are waiting for their demands to be resolved while the highway police have tried to persuade them to clear the road. “We call on the government and the authorities of the mining company to avoid repression. We demand compliance with the [collective] contract,” said Washington García, secretary general of the Doe Run union.
Carlos Herrera, dean of the Engineers College of Peru, said that measures related to Doe Run should have been taken a long time ago and stressed that, “the law must be applied, the state cannot continue letting the company do what it likes.”
In the face of this situation, the government has said that it does not have plans to intervene in the Doe Run mining company as a solution to save it from financial collapse, as the workers have been demanding. “An intervention of the government would be very complicated in terms of responsibilities and financial consequences, because is very probable that, in a situation like this, what we would face are international claims”, indicated the minister of Energy and Mines, Pedro Sánchez, in a statement that could further destabilize the situation.
National Day of Struggle confirmed
The General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP) has called a national day of struggle for July 8, calling for an end to the persecution launched by the government against social and political leaders, above all indigenous leaders, as well as a solution to the labour and social demands of different sectors at a national level, Moisés Vega, organisation secretary of the union federation, said yesterday.
A general assembly of delegates agreed to the new protest measure, in place of a national strike that had previously been agreed to in solidarity with the struggles of the indigenous people of the Amazon.
Vega told La Primera, that another point of agreement is the demand for the resignation of the entire cabinet presided over by Yehude Simon, who the social organizations consider responsible for the crisis experienced through out the country in recent weeks, and for the massacre in Bagua in which at least 34 people died.
In relation to the protests in the South-Andean region, Vega indicated that the CGPT also was responding to the demands of the campesino unions, which still have not been resolved by the government, which is why the campesino unions are persisting in their decision to hold a strike from July 7-9.
Miners
Luis Castillo, secretary general of the Miners Federation, told La Primera, that his union would be present in the national day of struggle called by the CGPT and announced it would hold an emergency assembly in La Oroya by the end of the month.
He added that in the meeting the miners would debate new protest measures against the delay by Congress in approving the Law of Mining Pensions, that has already obtained preliminary approval, but is on hold due a call for reconsideration by congressperson Rafael Yamashiro (UN)
Notes:
[1] The massacre of indigenous protesters by Special Forces troops near the town of Bagua over June 5-6
[2] The annual Inti Raymi festival
Translated by Kiraz Janicke, original in Spanish published at La Primera
The worn out traveling fire-fighter, prime minister Yehude Simon, will travel today to Andahuaylas and later to Sicuani, to try and put out the fires of discontent that are spreading to become a social convulsion – which he insists on attributing to a supposed extremist conspiracy. Although he has moved forward his trip, once again he will arrive late, as the protests in the South have reached the point of overflowing. Andahuaylas remains paralyzed and Cusco, where campesinos from Canchis were on the verge of taking over the airport guarded by Army troops, is virtually encircled
And its not only in the South, as the central highway is blocked by miners from Doe Run in La Oroya, protesting because the company has not complied with its promises and the State has done nothing to put it in its place and protect the interests of the country and the workers.
In the face of the social protests experienced in Andahuaylas and Cusco, Simon will travel to the city of Andahuaylas, in Apurímac province and tomorrow he will continue on to the Sicuani locality near Cusco, to dialogue with the residents and avoid giving rise to another tragedy like of Bagua, [1] which campesino leaders have warned could happen again if official inattention persists
Thousands of residents from Canchis and other provinces arrived yesterday in Cusco chanting phrases such as “if there is no solution, there is no Inti Raymi,” [2], with the aim of making the government attend to their demands. As a result, the Presidency of the Cabinet (PCM) announced that at 7:30am on Wednesday, the cabinet chief would leave from the Cusco to the city of Sicuani, where he will also hold talks with the campesinos about their opposition to the Law of Water Resources, to mining concessions and the construction of the Salca-Pucará hydroelectric plant.
In relation to this, the president of the Regional Assembly of Cusco, Efraín Yépez, speaking to La Primera, said the decision of the prime minister was opportune and important because the Inti Raymi festival attracts thousands of tourists every year on June 24 and influences the economy of the country and of Cusco. He said that the campesinos had to appeal to pressure in order to be heard.
The president of the regional government of Cusco, Hugo Gonzales, in the absence of the executive, when the campesinos from Canchis had entered Cusco and threatened to take over the airport – where a bloody confrontation could have occurred – held a dialogue with them and promised the support of his administration for their demands and later assured that the Inti Raymi festival and activities connected with it would unfold as normal. He said that he met with Alejo Valdez, president of the Canchis Struggle Committee after the demonstrators arrived at Cusco around noon and then remained at Pachacútec Oval, and though they tried to enter to the airport, they were dissuaded through dialogue.
He added that if the people of Canchis do not want the construction of the Salca-Pucará hydroelectric plant, then the project would not be carried out, despite the loss of a $350 million investment. Canchis peasant leader Valeriano Ccama, confirmed the dialogue and demanded the liberty of some demonstrators in order to begin a truce and to wait for the premier, but warned, "the Inti Raymi is still at risk".
Andahuaylas waits
Meanwhile, in Andahuaylas, Eugenio Allcca Díaz representative of the Campesino Community Front, rejected comments by the government and the official press that aimed to link the protest with violent groups and denied the intervention of political parties in financing the mobilizations. “Some of the media wants to discredit our peaceful demonstration, all of us traveled here by our own means,” he said, mentioning that they will not accept the intervention of anyone who is not the Cabinet Chief, who they will make respect their platform of struggle to the end.
Simon will leave today at 8.30am from Lima to the city in the Apurímac region and hold a dialogue over fixing the Ayacucho-Andahuaylas-Abancay highway, one of the central demands of the strike, as well as the Law of Water Resources, which is also rejected by the people of Andahuaylas. Meanwhile thousands of residents await the arrival of the prime minister, gathered in the Feria Dominical on the banks of the River Chumbao.
Miners close entrance road to Lima
More than three thousand mine workers for the Doe Run Company began an indefinite strike in the early hours of yesterday in La Oroya with the total blockade of a highway, due to the disinterest of the company in resolving their union demands. The protest was agreed to after an assembly of delegates and counts on support from the local population.
The blockade of the road stretches 8 kms before and after the entrance to La Oroya, due to the hundreds of vehicles stranded there, while shops as well as private and public companies were closed in endorsement of the mobilization. The show of force is in response to the announcement of the closing of the installations of the foundry and metal refinery. The Doe Run workers union and the residents of La Oroya also reject the proposal of the company to pay only 50% of the remunerations owed to the workers, the union demands that 80% be paid within 90 days.
The company stopped all production at the beginning of the month, four months after the banks cut credit for its operations as a result of the global [economic] crisis. Then it announced it was going to suspend its employees for 90 days, a decision that brought about the strike. The secretary general of the metalworkers of Doe Run, Roberto Guzmán, called for the intervention of the state for the immediate reactivation of the company.
“All the entrances are blocked. We hold the mining company responsible for the consequences of the protests,” the mayor of Yauli- La Oroya province César Gutiérrez, said.
Government
The demonstrators are located 48 km from Corcona. There are three points of the road that are blocked, the exits of Lima, Huancayo and Chanchamayo, miners are waiting for their demands to be resolved while the highway police have tried to persuade them to clear the road. “We call on the government and the authorities of the mining company to avoid repression. We demand compliance with the [collective] contract,” said Washington García, secretary general of the Doe Run union.
Carlos Herrera, dean of the Engineers College of Peru, said that measures related to Doe Run should have been taken a long time ago and stressed that, “the law must be applied, the state cannot continue letting the company do what it likes.”
In the face of this situation, the government has said that it does not have plans to intervene in the Doe Run mining company as a solution to save it from financial collapse, as the workers have been demanding. “An intervention of the government would be very complicated in terms of responsibilities and financial consequences, because is very probable that, in a situation like this, what we would face are international claims”, indicated the minister of Energy and Mines, Pedro Sánchez, in a statement that could further destabilize the situation.
National Day of Struggle confirmed
The General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP) has called a national day of struggle for July 8, calling for an end to the persecution launched by the government against social and political leaders, above all indigenous leaders, as well as a solution to the labour and social demands of different sectors at a national level, Moisés Vega, organisation secretary of the union federation, said yesterday.
A general assembly of delegates agreed to the new protest measure, in place of a national strike that had previously been agreed to in solidarity with the struggles of the indigenous people of the Amazon.
Vega told La Primera, that another point of agreement is the demand for the resignation of the entire cabinet presided over by Yehude Simon, who the social organizations consider responsible for the crisis experienced through out the country in recent weeks, and for the massacre in Bagua in which at least 34 people died.
In relation to the protests in the South-Andean region, Vega indicated that the CGPT also was responding to the demands of the campesino unions, which still have not been resolved by the government, which is why the campesino unions are persisting in their decision to hold a strike from July 7-9.
Miners
Luis Castillo, secretary general of the Miners Federation, told La Primera, that his union would be present in the national day of struggle called by the CGPT and announced it would hold an emergency assembly in La Oroya by the end of the month.
He added that in the meeting the miners would debate new protest measures against the delay by Congress in approving the Law of Mining Pensions, that has already obtained preliminary approval, but is on hold due a call for reconsideration by congressperson Rafael Yamashiro (UN)
Notes:
[1] The massacre of indigenous protesters by Special Forces troops near the town of Bagua over June 5-6
[2] The annual Inti Raymi festival
Translated by Kiraz Janicke, original in Spanish published at La Primera
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