Tambogrande | Journeyman Pictures

Film: Tambogrande

http://www.journeyman.tv/film/3647

Transcript

Scene 1. RAMBO PRESIDENT (Opening):

00:18

FUJIMORI:

Our country, so rich in diverse resources, is finally establishing the foundations for development. And mining will contribute enormously to this.

00:36

NARRATOR:

When I arrived in Peru in the 1990s watching the news was like following a never-ending soap-opera.

Each episode starred the same hero (…)

00:59

FUJIMORI:

(…) as a producer of gold in South America. We’re already first in fish meal, first in gold, second in silver, fourth in lead and zinc. We can already feel proud, and in mining (…)

01:16

NARRATOR:

… Rambo-President Alberto Fujimori, who used brute force to crush terrorism and rescue the

Anyone who got in the way was slandered, threatened, bought off, jailed, tortured or went bump in the night.

Romance blossomed between the dashing leading man and foreign mining companies. Star-crossed lovers, they were brought together by their lust for neoliberalism.

01:46

FUJIMORI:

(…) Okay? And after I’m going to watch the production of the gold bars, because that’s

01:58

NARRATOR:

Meanwhile the rest of us – the extras in the show – were promised the rivers of gold would trickle down and everyone would live happily ever after in the new El Dorado.

02:29 – (title screen) Guarango

02:35 – (title screen) presents:

Scene 2. THE GOLD RUSH

02:40

CROWD:

Farming, YES! Mining, NO!

02:47

CROWD:

A united people will never be defeated. Choropampa is here!

02:59

NARRATOR:

It’s the year 2000, and the gold rush is on. But not everyone is happy. Thousands rise up across Peru.

We’re looking for one man – Godofredo Garcia Baca, a feisty mango farmer from the north, who

03:22

CROWD:

A united people will never be defeated!

03:35

NARRATOR:

Today we hope to film him but his followers eye us with suspicion.

 

I show them my press card and they decide I’m a spy from a Canadian mining company.

 

03:51

ANGRY WOMAN:

You haven’t figured it out. They told you it’s a documentary. But to us it’s an interview with a foreign broadcaster. Do you understand?

We asked you to go away.

Go away. Go away.

 

04:06

NARRATOR:

As a Canadian, I’m used to being welcomed with open arms around the world. Why is everyone so angry at me? Shouldn’t they be happy that gold was discovered on their land? Won’t mining bring prosperity and development? My Peruvian partner and I decide to go there and find out.

04:41

MAN:

This has happened to us before. No, no, no.

04:38

ANGRY WOMAN

Go away, please. Go away.

04:06

(title screen) Tambogrande, Mangos, Murder, Mining

04: 18

Scene 3. VISUAL POEM (no dialogues)

 

ACT I

The valley, the threat, the struggle begins…

 

Scene 4. GODOFREDO INTRODUCES THE STORY

04:37

CROWD

If San Lorenzo dies then Piura also dies.

Farming yes! Mining no!

04:45

GODOFREDO:

We want you to know about the abuse they want to perpetrate against the inhabitants of Tambogrande and the farmers of San Lorenzo.

 

And who’s behind it? Surprisingly, a foreign company, that doesn’t commit such abuses on its own soil, but wants to commit them on Peruvian soil. We’re not going to allow it.

Scene 5. ULISES – MY FATHER GODOFREDO

05:27

ULISES:

My father Godofredo, together with thousands of pioneers, decided to wage his life, his future, his destiny, in transforming a desert into this productive paradise.

05:47

This started in about 1964 and 65, when thousands of people began working on land that didn’t have a single tree.

 

06:10

The desert was transformed into a productive paradise - the result of toil, of work, of investment and most of all, of love for this place.

Scene 6. WISE OLD MAN (Don Berru in his mango orchard)

 

06:36

DON BERRU:

This one is for export. It’s good for the United States or Europe. This one, very clean, this is the mango that goes. This one, so clean too, it also goes. China is also asking for these mangos.

06:55

Lands like these are a treasure, because they produce a lot – everything.

This yields enough to buy gold. With this I can buy a big gold bar, and I can have a chain or a ring made.

Scene 7. MANHATTAN’S THREAT

07:28

NARRATOR:

But underneath Don Berru’s mangos lies another kind of wealth. A large deposit of gold, silver, copper and zinc attracts modern day conquistadores with dreams of striking it rich.

 

In 1999 Manhattan Minerals, a Canadian company, received special permission from the Fujimori government to explore beneath the valley’s streets and farmlands.

 

08:03

Locals woke up one morning to find drilling machines outside their homes.

Scene 8. MANHATTAN PROMISES

 

08:20

NARRATOR:

Manhattan tries to tranquilize the community, promising 300 jobs, once the mine is up and running. Locals are not impressed. Agriculture already employs more than 40,000 people.

The company president asks me to produce a promotional video for them. My partner and I decline the generous offer and someone else makes the film.

 

08:49

The movie reveals a dastardly plan: The main square, church, cemetery and a third of the town gone, with just a thin line of trees protecting surviving homes from the mine.

 

Scene 9. WISE OLD WOMAN (Isabel Morales)

 

09:43

ISABEL

I worked during all my pregnancies. At that time we didn’t give birth lying down – instead we crouched, hugging a cushion like this.

Quickly, one, two, three pushes and the child is out. They said ‘Chabela’s giving birth now.’

That’s why I’m not going to hand this over to someone else, who comes and meddles in my papayas, in my farm, my fruit, my land. No, because I love my plants as though they were my children.

I love my children. When they don’t have anything, if I have a sol or two soles I say “take it son and work like me, so you’ll have bread and life for your children. That’s how I raised you.”

10:36

We’ll struggle and struggle until god says, “Now your fight is finished.” For my children and their spouses and my grandchildren. If I die the land will be there for my grandchildren, for their children and so on and that’s something that will last forever. The plants will die, but then they’ll grow again.

HUSBAND

… they put in a replacement plant.

ISABEL

If I give birth to a son, after a bit I’ll have another son. And plants are like that – if one dies I’ll plant another. And the land is never exhausted, the land never wears out, because this is the bread, the mother of us all, to live and eat.

Scene 10. MANHATTAN PRES INTRO

11:24

ROBERTO:

If they don’t want to relocate, there’s nothing that can be done….

NARRATOR:

Roberto Obradovich is Manhattan’s president in Peru.

 

ROBERTO OBRODOVICH

We plan to use state of the art technology. It will probably be the most modern mining project in the country, and will evade all negative impacts from contamination. The population doesn’t have anything to worry about.

Scene 11. WONDERFUL WORLD OF MINING

11:56

NARRATOR:

Nothing to worry about? Right. We’ve witnessed what State of the Art Technology can do.

 

A few years ago we made a film about a village in Peru’s Andean mountains, poisoned by a mercury spill from a mine owned by the world’s largest gold corporation.

 

12:28

More than 900 men, women and children were intoxicated and still suffer from mercury-related illnesses.

 

12:47

Then there’s the unlucky residents of Buyat Bay in Indonesia. Activists sent us these photos of the tumors and skin rashes the locals developed after the Minahasa Raya gold mine dumped toxic waste into their bay.

The activists also told us about a river in Romania contaminated by cyanide from the Baia Mare gold mine.

 

Scene 12. MR SCIENCE

13:15

DR. ROBERT MORAN

One can’t predict a specific future, but I’ve been in a lot of mining sites around the world. And you’d have to be a fool not to be able to generalize from being at hundreds of sites. And certainly dozens and dozens of relatively modern sites. And they always have some degree of contamination.

13:42

NARRATOR

Dr. Robert Moran is a geochemist and hydrogeologist with 32 years experience working in the mining industry.

 

13:52

DR. ROBERT MORAN

In an agricultural area, in the middle of a country where the entire coast is desert, the most valuable resource they have is water. And this company will be using a tremendous amount of water, and therefore they will be increasing the competition between themselves and all the other water users and agriculturalists for the scarce commodity.

Scene 13. GODO – NECESIDAD PUBLICA

14:23

GODOFREDO:

Mankind’s basic needs are food, clothing and housing. There is no public necessity called ‘gold.’ There is no public necessity called ‘copper.’ No one lives on gold or copper. People live by eating food, and that’s what humanity needs.

 

14:46

Where did these gringos come from, telling us the Peruvian government needs to produce copper, silver and gold? No, the Peruvian people need to produce food. Man lives by what he eats.

Scene 14. ALL THE PRESIDENTS’ MEN

15:05

NARRATOR:

But the government survives on the strength of its coffers.

 

President Alberto Fujimori did a favor for his buddies in Manhattan, declaring their project a public necessity. This allowed Fujimori to over-ride a constitutional provision and pave the way for the mine’s development.

 

Now its election time and Fujimori wants to make friends with the farmers.

 

15:34

FUJIMORI

And after assuming their mandate, they forget about their proposals.

 

NARRATOR

Fujimori is re-elected, but a corruption scandal topples his government and he flees the country in disgrace. Once a national hero, Fujimori is now wanted on charges of torture, summary execution, murder, embezzlement and corruption, among other crimes.

 

 

16:08

New elections, but candidates are still dressing up in the same old costumes and making empty promises.

 

CROWD:

Feel it, feel it, Toledo for President.

16:18

TOLEDO:

My candidacy is based on agriculture and I’ll be a rebellious Indian defending the farmers. There’s not a gringo, no matter how powerful, who can throw us off our land. We have roots here. Yes, we are Peruvian. Never let anyone - no matter how much money they have or if they’re American, Japanese or Canadian - never let them steal our land.

16:47

NARRATOR:

Once elected, Alejandro Toledo embraces many of Fujimori’s old business associates, including Manhattan. And why not? The government owns a 25 percent stake in the future mine.

 

Scene 15. PANCHO DEFENSE FRONT

17:07

NARRATOR:

Francisco “Pancho” Ojeda, a school director and farmer, is president of the Tambogrande Defense Front.

PANCHO:

Nelson, how are you? Good day.

The president came to power and when we banged on his door, he never opened it. He never received us, never gave us an audience. Instead, he sent two of his ministers to tell us that he had found an agreement made by Fujimori, and that he was going to respect that agreement and that nothing was going to make him change his mind.

17:46

And not a single authority, starting with the mayor, had called the population and said: Tambogrande has been handed over in concession to the miners. So there was a group of farmers who met first in Cruceta.

FARMER:

We’re in this final struggle with the government and with the miners.

 

18:10

PANCHO:

Later we met in Tambogrande. We brought together representatives from all the political, agrarian, social, religious and cultural institutions, and we formed the Defense Front. And our first event was held in this same patio of this Pedagogical Institute. The miners and the mayor didn’t show up. So Godofredo had the opportunity to give us an explication of what the miner’s presence means here in the town of Tambogrande.

Scene 16. GODO – PRIVATE PROPERTY

 

18:52

GODOFREDO:

The land in San Lorenzo belongs to us because we bought it; we developed it; we did the legal paperwork. It’s our guarantee of work and property.

If they want to destroy San Lorenzo’s farmland, if they want to trample private property, then we’ll see what happens when those who trample private property are face to face with the defenders.

Scene 17. MANHATTAN HOUSES

19:31

NARRATOR:

And what do clever companies do when they want people to get off their gold deposit? Well, Manhattan built model houses to encourage people to move quietly.

The company president is confident that people will be packing their bags, ready to move.

19:51

OBRADOVITCH

We’ll give them a modern home, made of noble material, with water 24 hours a day, plumbing and paved streets. No one thinks this is a bad deal. On the contrary, there’s a great expectation on the part of the population.

NARRATOR:

Roberto could not have been more wrong.

Scene 18. MANHATTAN BURNS

 

20:10

PANCHO:

Neighbors, farmers, pioneers, people of Tambogrande: we’ve banged on all the authorities’ doors, from Tambogrande to Piura and finally to Lima.

They threaten that if Tambogrande doesn’t hand over her property, they’ll apply the Law of Servitude. The government will appraise your farm, deposit the money in the bank and they’ll take over and we’ll be gone.

22:07

PANCHO:

Gentlemen, we told you to go. The people are indignant; they’re frustrated.

When a person is frustrated, he can hurt himself.

Sometimes he reacts against people or objects and the people have reacted like this today. They have reacted against Manhattan’s objects. The people let off steam because there’s no way to make these gentlemen understand us, no one will listen to us.

CROWD

Only through struggle, will the people be heard!

22:56

NARRATOR:

Pancho Ojeda and other Defense Front leaders were charged with a slew of crimes ranging from aggravated destruction of private property and damages to aggravated robbery.

Scene 18. ULISES ON GODO MURDER

 

23:18

ULISES

A month after Manhattan was thrown out of Tambogrande, my father Godofredo and I were enroute to our farm.

From here we could see an obstacle in the path. As we advanced, I slowed the car down. We were just about to go around it when a masked figure with a gun in his hand jumped out and fired.

23:53

My father said, “They got me in the heart.”

I drove with one hand and held his hand in the other. This part is really sad, and I’ll never forget it. My father died holding my hand. When I got to the hospital he was already dead.

I felt like he wanted to speak more with me, but he couldn’t.

He couldn’t.

Scene 19. GODO BURIAL

 

24:58

CROWD:

Engineer García Baca is here! We shall overcome, with your example.

PANCHO:

Rest assured that the people of Tambogrande and San Lorenzo will follow your example of struggle, sacrifice and defense of our rights until the final consequences.

We’re going to win this fight and here in your tomb we’re telling you, we must win this fight.

25:14

And you’ll be with us in the struggle. From up there you’ll keep watch so that this struggle develops in peace and social justice.

See you soon, Engineer.

CROWD:

We shall overcome with your example!

Farming, YES! Mining, NO!

Go away Manhattan!

Scene 20. GODO TRIAL

 

25:53

NARRATOR:

Who killed Godofredo? Why? No one would give me any answers.

 

The justice system says this young man, a trained commando and former member of Peru’s air force secret service, killed Godofredo for petty cash.

JUDGE:

But you have weapons knowledge?

MELENDEZ

Machine guns, pistols…

 

NARRATOR:

Four years after Godofredo’s death, Melendez Zapata Atoche, was convicted of armed robbery resulting in death and given 25 years.

 

But we all asked the same question: who was the real author of the crime?

 

26:42

JUDGE:

… Defendant, pay attention to the question being asked...

NARRATOR:

I was afraid of more bloodshed, but knew we had to follow the story until the end.

ACT II

Let the People Decide

 

Scene 21. PEACE TRAIN

 

27:00

PANCHO:

Godofredo’s death was a blow that affected the entire valley – everyone who was involved in this struggle. It was a painful moment, with a lot of tears and worry.

27:18

After the incident where the compound was burned, we realized we were losing control of the struggle. And the media in favor of mining in Tambogrande carried out a smear campaign against the people and leaders of Tambogrande, saying we were violent people, terrorists and other things.

We felt an urgent need - we felt obliged - to stop these acts and separate the violent elements from the peaceful ones. We had to get things straight with many people and debate with many comrades who said (violence) was best.

28:09

The forces in conflict within each person, between those who wanted to be violent and others who wanted to be peaceful, were finally channeled into a method.

Through our actions we began to say that the way forward was peaceful. We tried to raise awareness with the authorities through dialogue and logic.

28:48

NARRATOR

I was moved at the way leaders channeled the people’s anger, fear and indignation into organized, peaceful actions.

 

Protests became cultural celebrations, with mangos and limes instead of sticks and stones.

 

Their new weapons were music, art, dance, culture, the media and internet.

29:27

PANCHO:

We’ve set an example around the world by carrying our mangos and our limes in our hands and we’ve exhibited them everywhere we’ve gone. We’ve never carried a stick or a pickaxe or a weapon to defend ourselves.

CROWD:

Farming is a treasure worth more than gold.

 

29:48

PANCHO:

During this crisis of arguments, when we were exhausted of looking for a solution, the idea came forward that we should hold a public consultation, to see if they were really in agreement or not with the model proposed.

Scene 22. PRE VOTE RALLY

 

30:10

PANCHO:

Peru and the world are watching us, but God and Godofredo Garcia Baca are also watching.

The government and Manhattan must realize that there’s a valley, a city, a decided “no”, an empathic “no”, a green paradise, an ecological paradise, and we’re not going to allow this to be trampled.

They have to figure this out, not us.

Scene 22. GOV’T LOVE AFFAIR WITH MINING

 

30:40

NARRATOR:

Tambogrande’s celebration of democracy was contagious and we arrived in Peru’s capital city full of hope for a peaceful solution. It didn’t take long for the government to throw cold water on the party. Jaime Quijandria, Minister for Energy and Mines, says the referendum won’t be legally binding.

 

31:03

JAIME QUIJANDRIA (Minister for Energy and Mines)

It doesn’t seem very democratic for a small nucleus of the population to say they have all the information and can decide what's right for the population based on this campaign.

It seems important that they decide knowing all the information, because maybe its better not to carry out the project, but that decision must be made based on statistics, numbers and facts.

31:39

NARRATOR:

What’s behind the government’s love affair with mining? Peru has become Latin America’s top gold producer, raking in more than 4 billion dollars a year in gold exports. But the wealth hasn’t trickled down to Peru’s mining communities, which boast some of the country’s highest levels of poverty.

Scene 23. REFERENDUM DAY

 

WOMAN (voice in off):

I want to go and vote to defend our town, no matter what.

 

32:16

WOMAN (voice in off):

I met some friends, “Are you going to vote?”

“Yes, for ‘no’?” “Of course, we must defend our town.”

32:29

MAN (voice in off):

Note the lively mood among the people who come from farms far away to carry out their civic duty, for their community.

32:49

WOMAN (voice in off)

During elections it’s like going to mass, you wear your best outfit.

33:08

SONG:
Because life is a treasure.

Farming – yes!

And it’s worth more than gold.

Mining – no!

 

A united people will

never be defeated.

The people can’t be bought.

Defend our town.

 

33:33

MAN (in off):

There’s no fine here, you won’t be prevented from doing business because your identity document isn’t stamped.

33:53

WOMAN (in off):

So many people lined up. People came to vote freely, so many people. During normal elections you never see so many people and this time everyone came freely.

WOMAN (in off):

If you agree that they build a mine, then you mark “yes.” And if you don’t agree you mark “no.”

34:17

NARRATOR:

Manhattan tried to ignore the referendum, hoping it would go away. But the vote was the first of its kind in the world and there was so much attention from the press the company finally had to face the media.

34:33

ROBERTO OBRADOVICH (Manhattan president):

In other countries there are high levels of culture, the population’s education level is very high, and probably in these developed countries you could apply a model of this type. But in our country, where the population is so easily manipulated, I believe that if this type of referendums continue, throughout the country, the country will be paralyzed. I’m trying to be realistic, right?

35:10

ULISES:

We’re going to go down in history for this action. And it’s about time. Because this hasn’t come cheap. It’s cost a lot of energy and sacrifice. It cost a life.

 

35:24

PANCHO OJEDA (president of the Defense Front):

Here’s an advance, to give you an idea of how the voting has gone. With 50 polling stations at 25 percent, the “No” has 95.24 percent.

35:52

I made a public promise that if the “Yes” won we would go on foot to invite the mine to setup in Tambogrande. But since that didn’t happen, we’re asking that they respect the results and Tambogrande’s decision. So we’re asking them to pack up their mattresses and go.

CROWD:

The people triumph!

Go away miners.

36:38

NARRATOR:

The day after the vote, Manhattan’s shares dropped 28 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Where did this promising company go wrong? We asked Robert Kozak, Peru’s Dow Jones bureau chief and a veteran business reporter.

Scene 24. THE JOURNALIST (Robert Kozak interview)

 

36:56

ROBERT KOZAK:

In Peru I think people realized that Manhattan was the exception. A junior mining company, few assets, rolling the dice to get a mine going in a place where there’s been ongoing opposition.

I think in the case of Manhattan hype became a reasonably large part of their corporate strategy. I wouldn’t say strategy, that makes it sound it was planned that way. I think they just hyped things.

Scene 25 REFERENDUM FEVER (copy-cat votes in Argentina and Guatemala

37:29

NARRATOR:

The story of Tambogrande’s success was picked up by the mainstream media and traveled beyond Peru’s borders. The town of Esquel in Argentina followed Tambogrande’s example and held a referendum in 2003 against a proposed mine by the Meridian Gold company.

37:49

ARGENTINIAN RADIO:

20,000 voters have voted in this referendum on mining in Esquel.

NARRATOR:

Over 80 percent voted against the mine.

ARGENTINE RADIO

The “No” to mining has won, has triumphed overwhelmingly this historic day in the city of Esquel.

38:13

GUATEMALA VOICE:

We are in front of the eyes of the World and I think this is going to be seen not just in Guatemala, but also outside, as the manifestation of the people.

38:30

NARRATOR:

Two years later referendum fever hit Sipakapa in Guatemala, with help from Ulises Garcia and non-profit groups.

 

More than 98 percent voted against Canadian company Glamis Gold’s plan to build a mine.

GUATEMALA LEADER:

Say “No” to mining.

When they have made the decision to say “No” to Montana Explorations of Guatemala.

ACT III

THE FINAL FRONTIER

 

Scene 26. PANCHO ELECTED MAYOR

 

39:10

NARRATOR:

Tambogrande uses democracy again to foil Manhattan, electing Pancho Ojeda as their new mayor.

 

Now the Defense Front holds the reins of local power. And the new mayor’s farming roots run deep.

39:27

PANCHO:

This is where we get fertilizer for the plants, and it’s better than chemicals.

39:48

The idea of promoting me as mayor came about because the mayor has the jurisdiction to make our defense of Tambogrande much more legal. If the government approves the environmental impact study, the mayor has to second the approval. And they know that while I’m here as mayor, as president of the Defense Front, with my nine counselors, they’ll never set foot on … of our municipality, or even try to do so.

Scene 27 MANHATTAN VISIT (in English)

 

40:18

NARRATOR

It was time to explore Vancouver’s financial district, in search of Manhattan’s global headquarters.

 

We wanted to interview Manhattan’s president, but after weeks of writing, faxing and phoning, we still hadn’t gotten a response.

 

We were surprised to discover that Peru’s new conquistadores were housed in a small suite alongside dentists, massage therapists and a beauty salon specializing in facials and waxing.

 

40:56

RECEPTIONIST:

Hi, may I help you?

STEPHANIE:

Yes, we’d like to set up an interview with Lawrence Glacer.

RECEPTIONIST:

Okay

STEPHANIE:

Sure, we sent this fax, I wanted to make sure you guys had received it. I sent it from Peru and then I sent it again last week from Vancouver.

RECEPTIONIST:

Do you have a contact number here?

 

STEPHANIE:

You could just say we’re here, if he wants to do it now, we’re available.

RECEPTIONIST:

No, I’ll pass him the information and he’ll get back to you. That’s all I can do.

 

STEPHANIE:

You can’t ask him now?

RECEPTIONIST:

No I can’t, I’m sorry.

RECEPTIONIST:

Yeah, I’ll get back to him and I’ll let him get back to you.

RECEPTIONIST:

Thank-you very much. Have a good day.

STEPHANIE:

Bye

 

41:34

NARRATOR:

But they didn’t get back to us or return our calls.

 

Scene 28. EIA PRESENTED

 

NARRATOR:

Maybe Manhattan is busy finishing its environmental impact study? The government must approve the study before the mine can move forward.

 

41:54

After numerous extensions the study is finally released. The government convokes public hearings and the community is expected to wade through 6 volumes containing more than 3,000 pages of technical jargon, weighing in at 10 kilos and measuring nearly 1 kilometer.

 

Citizens can make comments on the study, but they won’t be asked if they want a mine or not. In reality the hearings bring Tambogrande one step closer to having a mine.

 

Scene 29 STRIKE! - LIMA VIGIL

 

42:47

NARRATOR:

Tambogrande’s leaders decide to boycott the hearings. The night before the first hearing, Tambogrande’s supporters in Lima hold a vigil outside the building where the event will be held.

 

LIMES:

Do we keep going?

Yes!

43:06

CROWD:

Farming – yes!

Mining – no!

Scene 30 STRIKE! – BLOCKADE SETUP IN TAMBO

43:22

CROWD:

Let’s go people, damn it. The people don’t sell out, damn it.

Let’s go people, damn it. Defend our town, damn it.

 

NARRATOR:

Back home, Tambogrande prepares for a general strike to protest the hearings. The goal is to shut down the town and block the main highway between Peru and Ecuador for three days.

CROWD:

A united people will never be defeated.

Scene 31. STRIKE! LIMA HEARING CANCELLED

43:53

PIERRE DEFAGO (Manhattan official) :

I’ve come to verify that the place is closed and the people from the ministry will also come and the meeting will be recorded.

NARRATOR:

Pierre Defago is Manhattan’s legal representative.

 

The Lima hearing is cancelled because of last night’s protests.

 

PIERRE DEFAGO:

This doesn’t affect us because it’s a legal process. The correct procedure here is to reprogram a new hearing.

 

44:22

NARRATOR:

Pierre and his colleagues rush off to prepare for the second and final hearing, which will be held tomorrow in Piura.

 

Meanwhile, back in Tambogrande, the town celebrates the victory.

Scene 32 STRIKE! GODO VIVE MONTAGE (visual poem with music)

 

44:39

SONG:

For all the farmers,

for all our peasant brothers!

 

For a free and conscious people,

to my land from the heart.

 

And valiant countrymen who fight, farmers, men with honor.

 

44:58

ISABEL:

Sometimes we have needs and we don’t have money. We say, “Child, go to the farm and fetch some mangos, a yucca.”

But once these things are gone, we won’t have anything.

The money these gentlemen bring, sure it lasts for a few days, then it’s gone. But life never ends and the soil never dies.

SONG:

Our master died for justice,

And in life he fought tyrants.

 

Godofredo died for justice,

And in life he fought tyrants.

 

He never faltered in the struggle, damn it.

And always believed in his people.

 

He never faltered in the struggle, damn it.

And always believed in his people.

 

He never faltered in the struggle, damn it.

And always believed – Tambogrande - in his people.

 

46:01
Godofredo García Baca is here!

Scene 33 STRIKE! PIURA HEARING

 

46:12

NARRATOR:

D day in Tambogrande. Thousands journey to the state capital of Piura to protest the second and final hearing.

 

46:25

Manhattan must hold at least one hearing for the mine to move forward. This is the company’s only project in the world. Both sides have everything to lose.

 

46:40

CROWD:

Farming - yes!

Mining - no!

47:21

PANCHO OJEDA:

We’ve coordinated with the captain. We’re going inside in an ordered and disciplined manner. Please, please.

CROWD:

Farming yes, mining no

CROWD:

A united people will never be defeated.

48:23

NARRATOR:

The hearing has been cancelled. Manhattan and government officials make a speedy exit out the back door.

CROWD:

Defend Tambogrande! Tambogrande won’t be sold!

 

CROWD:

A united people will never be defeated.

Scene 34. STRIKE! VICTORY CELEBRATIONS (closing rally led by Pancho)

CROWD:

Let’s go people, damn it.

The people won’t sell out, damn it.

48:57

WOMAN:

Long live Tambogrande!

CROWD:

Let’s go people, damn it.

The people won’t sell out, damn it.

49:10

PANCHO:

Don’t come to us with another meeting or public hearing. For us, nothing that they do makes any difference. What’s important to us is this sea of humans that has congregated today to tell them to leave, once and for all.

CROWD:

Farming – yes.

Mining – no.

49:36

PANCHO

And starting today, we’re going to take up a public collection to raise money for their journey, so that the miners can go back to Canada.

We must remember Godofredo’s teachings once again, when he said, “Pancho, you don’t have anything to negotiate here. Either they win, or we win. And we’ve won.”

50:23

Thank-you, long live Tambogrande. Long live San Lorenzo. Long live the Left Border.

NARRATOR:

Manhattan left Peru in disgrace and financial ruin. They changed their name and vowed never to return to Peru.

 

50:42

Tambogrande, your story taught us that anger, violence and sorrow can be transformed into peaceful resistance. That the small can overcome the rich and powerful. And that old cliché: that unity is strength.

 

Godofredo, may your memory continue to inspire all of us to overcome impossible odds. Viva Tambogrande.

44. EPILOGUE

WORD SCREEN:

"For Godofredo”

 

GODOFREDO (voice-over)

Nature and God are great and good, but God didn’t come down to plant the mangos or limes that we planted ourselves.

 

45. CREDITS:

 

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Film: Tambogrande

http://www.journeyman.tv/film/3647

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