The Devil Operation

Father Marco Arana isn’t popular with the powers-that-be whether it’s the Peruvian government, foreign mining companies and their Forza security arm or even his own church. This priest has thrown in his lot with the peasants of northern Peru as they try to stop the US-owned Yanacocha goldmine from despoiling the local environment which includes a mountain that they hold sacred. For his trouble, Father Marco is portrayed as a devil; a campaign of harassment, intimidation, and eventually murder is launched against him and fellow anti-mine activists. Stephanie Boyd’s film is done as a kind of detective story peeling back the layers of ruthless power behind ‚’the devil operation’. Despite some challenges of narration and transition, the film combines fascinating footage and interviews while communicating a sense of the sinister forces that distort Peruvian democracy.

RS

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