Mexico

MEXICO

Massive Clear-cut For Silver Extraction in Temascaltepec

El Sol de Toluca, Mexico, January 29, 2007
By Sergio Macedo Gonzalez
www.oem.com.mx

TEMASCALTEPEC, Mexico - The unbounded voracity on the part of the mining company, La Guitarra, in their search for gold and silver in the community of San Francisco Albarrada has resulted in the destruction of surrounding forests, and in the last month, the company has clear cut more than 100 hectares without regard to ecological damages. In addition to contaminating springs of drinking water, this has also caused the deaths of thousands of plants and animals of the region, driving away adventure tourists who visited the area, and now the once richly forested zone is a vast open clearing.

Daniel Osorio Reyes recounts that a few years ago the community rented some 50 hectares of the forest to La Guitarra for mining operations under the condition that only underground mining operations would be carried out. But, since the beginning of this year, the company has begun the devastation of thousands of trees in an illegal manner, including tunnels of the supposed mine, to hide the wood. The community representative indicated that the agreement will expire in 2008; however, if in just one month they have destroyed more than half of the common forest land, then in two years there will remain nothing more of the forest, and thus the community is seeking the immediate intervention of corresponding authorities to put a halt to this ecocide.