Peru's indigenous hope for a voice, at last, under new president

Maxima Ccalla moves dehydrated potatoes on a field in the Carata peasant community, in Puno, Peru June 18, 2021. Picture taken June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Angela Ponce

CARATA, Peru (Reuters) - Maxima Ccalla, 60, an indigenous Quechua woman, has spent her life tilling the harsh soil in Peru's Andean highlands, resigned to a fate far removed from the vast riches buried deep beneath her feet in seams of copper, zinc and gold.

The Andean communities in Ccalla's home region of Puno and beyond have long clashed with the mining companies that dig mineral wealth out from the ground.