Mining companies sharpen confrontation in Honduras
Published by MAC on 2007-08-14Mining companies sharpen confrontation in Honduras
14th August 2007
A new strategy being carried out to divide and weaken the struggle of civic organizations who have unified in the Civic Alliance for Democracy (ACD), consists in the creation of confrontations between mining companies and the institutions comprising this network of resistance. The principal objective of this offensive, according to the ACD, is for mining companies to foment and take advantage of confrontations in order to create space to continue enjoying privileges, such as legal loopholes and shelters, which under the Legislative Decree 292-98, assure them enormous profits.
The alert was issued on Tuesday and distributed in many means of communication to give attention to the violence that these actions might generate against leaders of the organizations of the ACD. According to the press release, mining companies are creating a situation "in order to maintain the benefits of the current mining laws which permit them to continue profiteering with our gold at the cost of the impoverishment of the country, the health of the affected communities and the deterioration of the environment."
Regarding the threats made by mining companies that they will leave the country, the ACD said that these are the same threats that companies make in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador, Perú and Ecuador, to "intimidate the population and to be able to continue with their current privileges".