The Regional Commission For Environment Of Atacama (corema) To Decide

CHILE: The Regional Commission for Environment of Atacama (Corema), will decide in the coming week whether or not to athorise Canadian mining corporation Barrick Gold's ominous gold project Pascua Lama, on the border between Chile and Argentina. There have been new protests in Santiago de Chile, and a letter to president Lagos signed by diverse chilean organisations, some of them based in Canada (such as the Pablo Neruda Center in Québec) demanding that he not approve the project. These organizations denounce Barrick for mounting a political operation to obtain the approval of the project just two weeks before elected president, Michelle Batchelet assumes the presidency. The Communist Party of Chile (PCCh) has announced that, in the coming days, it will mount mobilisations against the mining project. Here is a Spanish update, drawing on some recent articles in the Chilean press.