The Seque Jahuira community, part of the Aymara Nation in Bolivia and located in the municipality of Viacha, began a determined struggle in 2024 against 23 mining plants installed on their territory. These plants are responsible for leaching mining waste brought in from other regions of the country. Mining activities have caused ecological devastation throughout the region near the Seque Jahuira community, contaminating water and soil, causing the death of animals, affecting agricultural production, and forcibly displacing community members.
On August 26, 2025, a hearing was held to address these complaints before the Municipality of Viacha, where the communities expressed the need to cease mining activity and implement a plan to effectively verify the impacts on the communities. An environmental audit was requested to determine pollution levels, along with an analysis of the type of treatment being carried out by the companies for mining exploration and extraction. Despite the participation of the community's Indigenous authorities and residents, the environmental authorities presented ambiguous proposals, attempting to shirk responsibility.
The Ombudsman's Office of the Plurinational State of Bolivia published a statement on August 27, 2025, titled Demand for Response to the Pollution of Viacha, following a tour conducted on August 22, 2025, which confirmed the presence of cyanide in the waters of the mining area that is posing a risk to health and the environment. "The finding of a highly toxic substance in waters that flow even through public roads constitutes a threat to the health of people who live in or travel through the area," the statement said.
Faced with neglect by the State and the lack of protection of their rights, and even after having made an intervention in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Seque Jahuira and the surrounding communities organized a big protest on September 1st to keep denouncing the issue. It resulted in the takeover of the municipality of Viacha, achieving the passage of Law 042/2025 by the Councilors of the Municipality of Viacha, which declares the municipality free of mining, instructs the mayor to immediately close the mining cooperatives, and initiates a mechanism for mitigation and compensation for damage caused to tributaries. This regulation is pending enactment by the mayor, an essential procedure for its immediate implementation.
Cultural Survival has accompanied the community of Seque Jahuira in their struggle to defend their territory, which has been invaded by mining companies, jeopardizing the health, lives, territory, and environment of these Indigenous communities, and we will continue supporting them and amplifying their calls for justice for the Indigenous Peoples in Bolivia.
