Latin American Update
Published by MAC on 2006-06-25
Latin American Update
25th June 2006
As the strike continues against US coal company, Drummond in Colombia, attempts have been made on trade union leaders' lives. We urge our readers to support a global call to protest their "right to life, personal integrity, mobilisation, expression and strike action."
Civil Society organizations are challenging the World Bank/IFC's role in Glamis' Marlin Mine project and calling for the recognition of a community referendum.
Communities in Sipacapa, one of the municipalities impacted by the mine, registered their position on mineral development through a popular referendum in June 2005 with a majority of villages (11 out of 13) stating opposition to mining.
Sander Otten of the Movimiento de Trabajadores Campesinos (MTC -Campesino Workers movement) in San Marcos, Guatemala, reports on actions during the first "Week of Resistance against open-pit mining", which commemorated the first anniversary of the Sipacapa referendum (in Spanish only).
An application by the Guatemala Nickel Company for a mining licence at Lake Izabal also triggers concerns from local fisherpeople.
Another resounding communique is made by the Patagonia Coordinating Assembly for Life and Territory Against Plunder and Contamination. And the Mines and Communities' Latin America, currently travelling through Latin America posts the first of his personal observations, from northern Argentina.