38 39 cerro de pasco The greatest investment of the XXth century issue has historically and systematically been attributed to the Cerro de Pasco company as a scheme incorporated by the latter. The truth is it wasn’t so. If initially the system was adopted by the company (which it subsequently publicly admitted to be a mistake), it was already prevalent in Peruvian mines. The U.S. corporation was the first mining company in the country to abolish this system, as it considered it to be inefficient. In his 1917 book titled “Travelling through the Republic, Impressions and Facts about Cerro de Pasco”, Marcial Helguero Paz Soldan, the words of Paul Sidney Couldrey are quoted: “Much has been said about the “enganche” system. They have tried to slander us because we used this scheme with the Indians. But are we actually guilty? We didn’t introduce this custom. In Peru it has existed since time immemorial. In the beginning, we made use of it. Nowadays, no longer, since it has produced poor results. The company has lost more than twelve thousand pounds because the workers employed did not live up to their commitments and left with the money they had received as an advance”. A caravan of modernity The arrival in Cerro de Pasco of the first contingents of people, machinery, and tools associated with the company was an event comparable to the parade of a great circus. A long caravan of wagons and carts drawn by mules and other four-legged beasts of burden camped on the outskirts of an astonished town. Notwithstanding the weariness resulting from a five-day trek from Callao along the Yangas, San Buenaventura, Canta, Obrajillo, Huaros and Huallay, these bearded, blue-eyed “gringos” dressed in overalls set up a camp that had been designed in every detail with a swiftness and practical sense alien to the rhythm of highland towns. In the midst of the installations one could clearly make out a headquarters or work office, the tents of the workers’ detachment and the service areas. But the main source of amazement for the Cerro community was the concentration of these tireless men on their tasks and the precision of their movements. Doubtless it was a carefully choreographed sight very much resembling the movements of a machine. The eight papers circulating in Cerro de Pasco greeted the arrival of the mining syndicate, as the local writer and historian Cesar Perez Arauco noted in his Pueblo Martir blog. In its edition of February 1st, 1902, the Eco de Junin notes “A ray of hope shines for our mining, and consequently for our city, that will thus follow the trail of opulence. We have no doubt that not only ourselves, but also neighbouring towns such as those in the Mantaro and Huanuco valleys will have greater opportunities to trade with Cerro de Pasco, which will additionally provide the opportunities for wealth and bounty for those who wish to provide service to the new company”. For its part, El Industrial, in its edition of that same day, underscored the future possibilities for the region: “We are at the threshold of a new takeoff of the economy and jobs, the two pillars of our land. From the plans they have disclosed, we can be certain that this U.S. company will establish a mining monopoly in our city. This is a scheme not known until now, since formerly it was a group of different owners, and thus the competition among them, that determined that our progress would be slow. Now, with the capital and new technology they bring, we have no doubt that we will see good results for our land”. Buoyed by enthusiasm, the Bank of Peru and London offered its good offices so that the foreign newcomers could conduct their operations with ease. But the “gringos” would not allow themselves any distractions. According to reports from El Comercio newspaper of that period, that was closely following the activities of that new economic player on the national stage, on February 2, two days after their arrival, the company began drilling on the Noruega Gradually, the tents that the “gringo” engineers used for their explorations would become a familiar sight. THE EIGHT NEWSPAPERS THAT CIRCULATED IN CERRO DE PASCO HAILED THE ARRIVAL OF THE MINING SYNDICATE. THE ECO DE JUNIN PUBLISHED “OUR CITY WILL THUS ADVANCE ALONG THE PROSPEROUS ROAD TO OPULENCE”.
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