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| Father Marco Arana Zegarra | |
| Father Marco Arana was born and raised in Cajamarca, in Peru's northern Andean mountains. Inspired by
liberation theology, Marco became a Catholic priest in 1990 and dedicated his life's work to defending the impoverished and marginalized.
He has a Master's degree in sociology from Peru's Catholic University and studied theology in Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University.
In 2001 he founded GRUFIDES, a non-profit dedicated to protecting peasant farmers and their environment. Three years later he received Peru's most distinguished human rights award in recognition of his role as mediator in a conflict between farmers and Yanacocha, South America's largest gold mine, owned by Newmont of Colorado. TIME magazine named him a 'Hero of the Environment' in 2009. The Catholic Church, however, suspended Marco from the priesthood in 2010 for founding a political party (called 'Earth and Liberty') and allegedly insulting Peru's Cardinal. |
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| More Protagonists |  |
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| "In university they don't teach you that the earth has eyes. But farmers in the Andes know that the
earth has eyes, and through its eyes the earth sees and cries. If you take care of it, it's happy and if you destroy it, the earth cries. We set out to convert the poor, and we ended up being converted." |
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