Latin American Update
Published by MAC on 2006-08-26
Latin American Update
26th August 2006
Mining of a new site at Yanacocha, Latin America's largest gold concession, has been halted following widespread opposition and a people's blockade.
Meanwhile, the Peruvian president is proceeding with his plan to relieve multinational mining companies of royalty payments, subsituting voluntary "social" contributions, amounting to an estimated US$774 million.
Citizens, living around Glamis' San Martin mine in Honduras, are demanding its closure, as they chronicle "a death foretold" from arsenic and lead poisoning in their waters.
"If until now the clientism and corruption was political, now it is transnational!" declares the Argentinian organisation, Self-Organising Neighbours of Fatima in Argentina, taking their stand against a new Barrick mine project.
Also in Argentina, three high level officials of the Canadian mining company Meridian Gold now face "oral proceedings" for disobeying instructions to stop the Esquel project in 2003.
A US/Canadian solidarity delegation recently visited La Guajira, Colombia to investigate the continuing impacts on local communities of the Cerrejon coal strip mine, run by Carbones del Cerrejon SA, owned by Anglo American, BHPBilliton and Xstrata. We publish a report from the North Shore Columbia Solidarity Committee.