El Precio de la Tierra is the result of eight years documenting the silent war waged on Indigenous communities in the Andes, where copper, silver, lithium, and other minerals are extracted to sustain the Global North’s industrial and ecological transitions. In Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, and Ecuador, I have witnessed how resource extraction fuels displacement, contamination, and cultural loss. This project exposes the contradictions of “green” progress: sustainability for whom, and at what cost?
Across all these countries, mining has triggered a systemic deprivation of water—through overuse, contamination, and diversion—hurting agriculture, drinking supplies, and sacred ecosystems. Rivers and aquifers are polluted with heavy metals and toxins, causing health crises, livestock death, and ecosystem collapse.
Mining is expanding rapidly across the Southern Cone. As the North races to meet its energy and technological needs, fragile ecosystems are destroyed, and Indigenous rights are sidelined. Lands are appropriated, traditional ways of life threatened—all in the name of progress.
The mining industry operates under neoliberal policies that prioritize profit over human and environmental rights. Indigenous sovereignty is disregarded, while massive extraction is justified by “necessity.” The result: poisoned water, lost farmland, and irreversible cultural damage.
Yet, this is also a story of resistance. Andean communities continue to fight for land and dignity, invoking Convention 169 of the ILO. Through photography, I seek to honor their struggle, documenting to reveal the human cost of extraction—and to imagine a different future. At the end of 2025, a book will be published that brings together the work of these years.