According to the Prime Minister, both bodies want to negotiate an agreement to implement some projects.
Fernando Zavala, Prime Minister, introduced the now Head of the ONDS (National Office for Dialogue and Sustainability), entity under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM). The ONDS will be responsible for preventing and resolving social conflicts and will work together with the Ombudsman’s Office.
Rolando Luque Mogrovejo, former Deputy Ombudsman for Social Conflict Prevention at the Ombudsman’s Office, is now Head of the ONDS.
The Prime Minister declared, “This is a new step to start talks in the country. President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is for a constructive dialogue that could solve the problem. We do not want to hold a dialogue to deceive nobody. We want to hold a constructive dialogue to move forward. It is not easy, but we have the support of all Peruvian citizens.” Additionally, the Prime Minister said the ONDS will work together with the Ombudsman’s Office.
The now Head of the ONDS remarked that while he is in charge, he will have talks with all the groups in conflict. He also said that it is the only way to reach viable agreements in order to put some projects into action and avoid social unrest.
Luque mentioned, “We need to act as a nationwide Government. When social conflict unleashes, communities only make local or regional government responsible; reason enough to act as the State.”
Nowadays, about 200 social conflicts, either latent or active, unleash in Peru. Through this agenda, we want to prevent social conflicts from growing and avoid the shutdown of major projects that may help in the economic growth.
According to some figures prepared by the Department of Energy and Mines (MINEM), if social conflicts are resolved, more than US$20 billion would be invested in mining projects in Peru. Therefore, the ONDS will work together with the Ombudsman’s Office to achieve this goal.
The now Head of the ONDS mentioned that the former administration did not prioritize the agreements made by the Government, in other words, the administration did not follow up the agreement; hence, the deep social unrest.
