Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlperu



Peru <![CDATA[Peru is affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO), in the center of the country and the Condor Mountain Range, in the sparsely populated Amazon basin. In 1995 during an armed conflict with Ecuador, antipersonnel mines were emplaced along the border in Amazonas, Cajamarca, Piura, and Tumbes departments. Only Amazonas department remains mine-affected.

In the 1980s, mines were also planted to protect infrastructure (primarily high-tension electricity pylons) against attacks from Shining Path and the MRTA. In 1986, when Shining Path destroyed 10 pylons in one day, resulting in a nationwide blackout, the government of Peru decided to mine the pylons to protect them. Mines were also planted around three maximum security prisons in 1993–1996 to prevent prisoners from escaping, and around police anti-narcotics bases as a defensive measure.

Peru has reported that 35 mined areas remain to be cleared in the Achuime river area, and the Cenepa and Rio Santiago districts of Amazonas department in the Condor Mountain Range border area. As of March 2008, the estimated area of contamination in this area was 192,061m2; there was said to be 29,084 mines. In addition, Peru has estimated that a total of 10,500 mines remain around the following: 837 electricity pylons; three antenna transmitters; one electricity substation; three high-security prisons; and two police bases. The total suspected hazardous area outside the Condor Mountain Range is 334,667m2.

In 2003, it was decided that the 1,711 high-tension electric towers that had been cleared would have to be cleared again, when four incidents occurred after the area had been cleared. Inquiries into the incidents established they had been triggered by remnants or components of undetonated mines in the previously cleared areas.

Although the Chilean border is not contaminated on Peru’s side, according to Contraminas it is considered a problem for the government because the main casualties—on the Chilean side of the border—are Peruvian citizens who illegally cross the border.

Most of the casualties in Peru have been recorded around the electricity pylons, where approximately 500 communities are at risk. Many of these high-tension pylons cross Andean mountain areas and grazing lands that range from 3,000m to 5,000m in height and are accessible only by foot. Consequently teenagers, typically shepherds, are particularly exposed to mines when they are out in the fields with their sheep and llamas

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