Mine opponents burn down Canadian firm's offices
Published by MAC on 2005-12-15
Mine opponents burn down Canadian firm's offices
News Release: Destruction of Ascendant Copper Corporation's Camp
PRESS COMMITTEE; CONSEJO DE DESARROLLO COMUNITARIO (Community Development Council)
15th December 2005
Due to the different versions going around regarding what happened in Chalguayacu Bajo, Cotacachi County, Ecuador, this past 10 of December 2005, in which the Ascendant mining camp was completely destroyed, we wish to let our point of view, based on the truth, be known.
In the act more than 300 local people from approximately 20 communities from the Intag area participated; mostly the ones threatened and more likely to be affected. There were no thefts of company goods, nor was there any one hurt, as the company claims. The police report confirms our version.
The decision to take this action, and for the communities to take control of the lands the company owns was taken in a democratic and participatory manner by all those present. If the company pays no heed to the clamor of the communities, these will be forced to take over other properties as the only defense mechanism.
This measure takes place after nearly two years of the presence of this company in Intag, which has caused great division in the communities. The measure is also a legitimate response to the constant aggressions, and abuses by the company against local governments, organizations, and community leaders who have opposed the mining project; including: death threats, physical aggressions, road blockades, and intents at invasion of land belonging to the Junín community.
The sinister land purchases by the company has been completely repudiated by our communities, and no government authority or institution has been able to put a stop to it.
We reject the company's irresponsible version that says a clinic was destroyed, and the "communities are asking the company to rebuild it". This is another lie. The truth is that what was destroyed was the Ascendant mining camp where their employees frequently met to plan aggressions and intimidations against our communities. Presently, a real clinic is being built in Chalguayacu Bajo with state funds, as it should be. The communities next to the mining site, including La Armenia, Junín, Cerro Pelado, Barcelona, El Triunfo and Chalguayacu Bajo, have not asked the company to do anything except leave the Intag area once and for all.
No one besides the group of people present is responsible for Saturday's action. We emphatically reject the absurd accusation that certain leaders of the DECOIN organization were responsible.
We demand that: 1) The company immediately abandon our lands; 2) that it stops funding the false organization CODEGAM; 3) that it stops purchasing lands in Intag; and 4) that it bring to an end the persecution of community leaders and organizations.
We take the opportunity to denounce to the press that the Ascendant Copper Corporation mining company will soon present its Environmental Impact Statement to the Ministry of Energy and Mines for its mining project, but that it has never gone into the mining area to undertake the studies, as the law calls for. Every time the company has tried to go into the area, it's been stopped. Our communities have never been consulted, and we insist that all the institutions of the State respect our constitutional rights, but specially the right to live in a healthy environment free of contamination; to be consulted, and of choosing the place of residence.
WE DO NOT WANT MINING
Intag's Communities say Enough!
10th December 2005
Communities in Intag Take Direct Measures Against Ascendant's Mining Facilities.
DECOIN (Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag) www.decoin.org
Over three hundred community members from approximately 20 communities in the Intag area of Ecuador gathered together at the village of Chalguayacu Bajo in a community Assembly, and voted unanimously to burn down the facilities belonging to Ascendant Copper Corporation, as a show of protest for the company's presence in the area. The decision was taken in a democratic and participatory manner in an Assembly organized by the Community Development Council to change the Council's board.
NO ONE WAS HURT. In spite of the first distorted version of the event coming from company employees, no one was hurt, and company employees were allowed to take out valuables before the building was set on fire. However, later in the day 20 heavily armed policemen in bullet-proof vests arrived at the scene to investigate a report saying there had been four dead and six injured in the storming and torching of the building. They left after confirming the report was completely untrue.
The facilities consisted of a building used in what was supposed to be a center for agricultural experiments in Ascendants self-described model farm, but which communities saw more as the company's base in Intag and as a permanent source of aggravation.
Confiscation of Ascendant Land Besides the resolution calling for the destruction of the Ascendant infrastructure, the Assembly also decided unanimously for communities to start occupying land formerly belonging to the Ascendant Copper Corporation for distribution to landless people or those with little land.
DECOIN does not condone violence. Yet, it is essential to understand at least part of the context that generated this reaction. The events of today come after 18 months of aggravated assaults, intimidations, death threats, lawsuits, road blockades, violent aggressions against the Cotacachi Municipal government, and many other measures carried out against anyone opposing the Ascendant Copper Corporation's Junín mining project. It comes after a horrible division of communities in Intag that did not exist here before Ascendant's presence. On countless occasions, the communities warned the company not to go into their communities, and to respect their decision to live in peace and free of mining. But it was all to no avail.
The patience of the communities came to an end when they kept seeing the mining company buying land all around their communities. This action triggered a land invasion by traffickers wanting to sell the newly acquired land to the company at outrageously high prices, and resulted in the company owning thousands of hectares of land in the Intag area. Some of this illegally begotten land allegedly includes hundreds of hectares belonging to the Junín community reserve, which they've managed as a part of their community ecological tourism project since 1998. In some other cases, land titles were given on land already having owners who are opposed to the mining project. Unfortunately, this land-purchasing program has not stopped.
This news was relayed to us by eye-witnesses at the site. No one from DECOIN was present in Chalguayacu Bajo
Ecuadoreans burn clinic at Canadian copper mine - 'Outraged' Ascendant says staff assaulted
Globe & Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051214/RATTACK14/Business/Idx
14th December 2005
OTTAWA -- Dozens of Ecuadoreans opposed to a Canadian mining firm's copper venture burned down a building at the company's South American project site.
Ascendant Copper Corp. of British Columbia and a group fighting the mine put forward sharply differing accounts of the incident, which took place last Friday.
But both confirmed facilities were set ablaze at the Junin copper project, located about 135 kilometres northwest of Quito, Ecuador.
In a statement yesterday from Vancouver, the company said about 70 people stormed a medical clinic and demonstration farm used to provide community health services and teach agriculture classes, part of Ascendant's local assistance efforts.
The firm said its employees were physically and verbally assaulted, various articles stolen and the building set on fire, causing damages of up to $20,000 (U.S.).
The company, whose shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, has requested a criminal investigation.
Ascendant is "outraged by this assault against company personnel and assets" dedicated to helping area residents, company president Gary Davis said in the statement.
"We are going to rebuild the medical clinic as soon as possible so that the local communities have access to the much-needed health care provided by our medical personnel."
Ascendant Copper, incorporated in British Columbia, has subsidiaries in Barbados, the U.S. and South America. The company began acquiring the mining concessions to the Junin property last year.
The attack was carried out by "a very small percentage" of the local population and "is not representative of the majority view" of regional communities, said Mr. Davis, who works from the company's Colorado office.
An environmental group, Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag, said more than 300 community members from about 20 villages in the Intag area of Ecuador recently voted at an assembly to burn down the facilities as a show of protest.
"In spite of the first distorted version of the event coming from company employees, no one was hurt, and company employees were allowed to take out valuables before the building was set on fire," the group, known as Decoin, said in a posting on its website.
It added the assembly also decided unanimously "for communities to start occupying land" associated with Ascendant Copper for distribution to people with little or no property.
Mine opponents burn down Canadian firm's offices
Ecuadoran communities oppose Ascendant's planned copper mine in ecological reserve
Kelly Patterson, The Ottawa Citizen
14th December 2005
Opponents of a controversial Canadian mining project in Ecuador have stormed one of the company's buildings, burning it to the ground.
Gary Davis, CEO of Ascendant Copper Corp., said yesterday three employees at its beleaguered Junin project were "roughed up" in Saturday's attack, although there were no serious injuries.
In 1997, Ascendant's predecessor, Mitsubishi Corp., was driven out of the area -- the site of an ecological reserve -- after citizens razed its mining camp to the ground.
"The company is outraged by this assault," said Mr. Davis, vowing to rebuild the facility, which housed a medical clinic and community development program. He also said the building was looted.
However, the project's critics strongly deny anyone was hurt, and say mine staff were allowed to remove valuables from the site before it was razed.
They say the attack was provoked by an aggressive campaign by the firm to overcome opposition.
"We do not condone violence," said Carlos Zorrilla, spokesman for the area environmental group DECOIN, in a phone interview from Ecuador.
But "the community has just reached the boiling point," he said.
He said that for months, mining opponents had received death threats from members of the company-funded community association, CODEGAM.
After a formal complaint was made to the Canadian government, Mr. Davis replaced his community relations staff and warned supporters not to resort to intimidation.
"We are working hard with the community to gain a social licence," he said yesterday, pointing out that the company has done many development projects in the area, such as building bridges and supplying computers to schools.
"This attack was perpetrated by a very small percentage of the population," he said, pointing out that some area communities have already asked the firm to rebuild the clinic.
He said the attack will not affect Ascendant's plans to develop the project in Junin, which holds one of the largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum deposits in the world.
Junin is also one of the world's 34 "biodiversity hot-spots" -- sites that support nearly 60 per cent of the world's plant and animal species, according to the environmental watchdog Conservation International.
Mr. Zorrilla said opposition to a large-scale, open-pit mine in the area is widespread.
The decision to attack the mine's facility came at a meeting of the Community Development Council, attended by about 300 residents from 15 communities in the mining-concession area, said Mr. Zorrilla, who did not participate in the meeting or the attack, but interviewed members of the council yesterday.
"This meeting included the presidents of those communities, and everyone at the meeting voted in a democratic process to send the company a message," Mr. Zorrilla said.
He said the mayor of the county directly affected by Ascendant's project is also vehemently opposed to the mine.
He said the protest was sparked by a recent land buying campaign by Ascendant, which has pitted mine opponents against those eager to accept the mine's offer, even if it means selling off land earmarked as part of the ecological reserve.
"It's very sad; this has led to a lot of conflict, even conflict within families," Mr. Zorrilla noted.
Mr. Davis said many of people are keen to sell their land to the company.
"The turnout is remarkable. We own more than 1,000 hectares of land already. We're giving fair market value for land that is potentially valuable to us.
"If people find that offensive, I'm sorry."
Ascendant is registered in British Columbia. Its head office is in Denver, Colorado.
Ascendant loses a mining asset
Ecuador
13th December 2005
Ibarra Reporting - http://www.elcomercio.com/noticia.asp?id=15759&seccion=2
A property of the Canadian company Ascendant Copper Corporation, interested in mineral development in the Intag zone in the west of Cotacachi, was set on fire Saturday.
According to Carlos Zorrilla, member of the organization Ecological Defence and Conservation of Intag (Decoin), farmers opposed to the mining company occupied one of the facilities and destroyed it.
According to the first information available yesterday, 300 representatives and inhabitants of 20 communities of the Intag zone, meeting in the community of Chalguayacu Bajo, decided to dismantle the facilities of the mining company. In this form they protested in against the presence of the transnational company, interested in exploring and exploiting rich deposits of copper and molybdenum that exist in the zone.
Last Saturday [December 10], the farmers, meeting in an assembly, decided "to destroy the facilities of the company, and that all property pertaining to the mining company is to be occupied by the communities and distributed to landless people".
It transpired yesterday that the functionaries of the company, Ascendant Copper Corporation, met to analyze the subject. One does not disregard that this week the respective judicial actions begin. In the meantime, in Intag, an atmosphere of uncertainty reigns.
This is the second time that a group of inhabitants of Intag have destroyed a mining camp. In May of 1997, 200 farmers, residents of nine communities in the zone, set fire to the camp of the Japanese company Bishimetals-Mitsubishi. As result of the action, the directors of the transnational company abandoned their exploration activities after two years of prospecting.
The dispute between environmentalists and miners was reactivated on March 29, 1994 when Ascendant Coper acquired the Golden 1 and Golden 2 concessions.
Letter to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs on the problems at Ascendant
http://foecanada.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=224&Itemid=113
15th December 2005
The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON
Fax: (613) 996-3443
Dear Minister Pettigrew:
We are writing to bring to your attention a conflict between Ecuadorian communities and a Canadian mining company, and to ask for your support in ensuring a peaceful resolution that is responsive to community concerns.
Tension has grown in the Ecuadorian cloud forest since Ascendant Copper Corporation, a Canadian mining junior, obtained a concession there in late 2004. Local communities in the Intag region of Ecuador, where the project is located, have explicitly rejected mineral exploitation, favouring more sustainable forms of development. Undeterred by local opposition, including that of the municipal government of Cotacachi where the project is located, Ascendant has pushed forward with the development of its project. Local residents, who report having been threatened and intimidated, have grown increasingly frustrated.
Friends of the Earth Canada and MiningWatch Canada have learned that on Saturday, December 10, tensions came to a head in the Intag. According to the Ecuadorian daily El Comercio, over 300 residents, representing approximately twenty local communities, burned a company building.
While we do not condone the use of violence, we do believe that it is essential to understand the frustration that has led to this act of desperation on the part of local communities. Tension has been mounting around this project since it was first proposed by a Japanese company in the 1990s.
Community representatives have communicated the following demands: that Ascendant abandon its Junín mining project and leave the area, and that it stop funding the Corporation for the Development of the Communities of Garcia Moreno (CODEGAM), a local organization that has been the source of significant controversy and that has received substantial funding from Ascendant.
Community representatives also identify the need for an independent third party in Junín, such as a representative from a human rights organization, in order to defuse tension in the area and to establish the conditions necessary for a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
We urge you to call on Ascendant Copper Corporation to comply with local community demands and to help ensure a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Earlier this year, the Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade released a report entitled Mining in Developing Countries and Corporate Social Responsibility, which contains a series of recommendations for the Government of Canada aimed at avoiding the type of crisis that has developed in Ecuador. In its response to the SCFAIT report, the Government pledged to establish a series of multistakeholder roundtables to examine the issues raised in the SCFAIT report.
In the spirit of this commitment and in the interest of avoiding further conflict, we urge you to intervene in the Ascendant Copper dispute.
We also encourage you to ensure that the promised roundtable process is urgently undertaken following the upcoming federal election. It is clear that in cases such as Junín, Canadian mining companies require unequivocal direction in order to comply with international human rights standards and to minimize the environmental impacts of their operations. The adoption of regulatory mechanisms is necessary to provide explicit guarantees to communities around the world that Canadian mining companies can and will be required to respect Canadian values for both human rights and the environment.
We would be happy to discuss this with you in greater detail.
Yours truly,
Graham Saul
International Program Director,
Friends of the Earth Canada
Jamie Kneen
Communications Coordinator,
MiningWatch Canada
cc: Navdeep Bains, M.P.
Maurizio Bevilacqua, M.P.
Diane Bourgeois, M.P.
John Edward Broadbent, M.P.
Stockwell Day, M.P.
Peter Goldring, M.P.
Francine Lalonde, M.P.
Hon. Lawrence A. MacAulay
Alexa McDonough, M.P.
Hon. Dan McTeague, M.P.
Ted Menzies, M.P.
Pierre Paquette, M.P.
Bernard Patry, M.P.
Elizabeth Phinney, M.P.
Kevin Sorenson, M.P.
Hon. Patricia A. Torsney
Ascendant pierde un predio minero
Redacción Ibarra - http://www.elcomercio.com/noticia.asp?id=15759&seccion=2
Ecuador, martes 13 de diciembre del 2005
Una finca de la firma canadiense Ascendant Copper Corporation, interesada en explotar minerales en la zona de Intag, al occidente de Cotacachi, fue incendiada el sábado.
Según Carlos Zorrilla, miembro de la organización Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag (Decoin), campesinos contrarios a la minera ocuparon una de las instalaciones y la destruyeron.
Según las primeras informaciones que se conocieron ayer, 300 representantes y moradores de 20 comunidades de la zona de Intag, reunidos en la comunidad de Chalguayacu Bajo, decidieron desmantelar las instalaciones de la empresa minera. De esta forma protestaron en contra de la presencia de la empresa transnacional, interesada en explorar y explotar ricos yacimientos de cobre y el molibdeno, que existen en la zona.
El último sábado, los campesinos, reunidos en una asamblea, tras decidir "destruir las instalaciones de la empresa, acordaron que toda propiedad perteneciente a la empresa minera sea ocupada por las comunidades y repartida a personas sin tierras".
Ayer transcendió que los funcionarios de la empresa Ascendant Copper Corporation se reunieron para analizar el tema. No se descarta que esta semana se inicien las acciones judiciales respectivas. Entre tanto, en Intag, reina un ambiente de incertidumbre.
Esta es la segunda vez que un grupo de moradores de Intag, destruye un campamento minero. En mayo de 1997, igualmente, 200 campesinos de nueve comunidades residentes en la zona incendiaron el campamento de la empresa japonesa Bishimetals-Mitsubishi. Como resultado de la acción los directivos de la transnacional abandonaron los trabajos de exploración, tras dos años de prospecciones.
La disputa entre ecologistas y mineros se reactivó el 29 de marzo de 1994 cuando Ascendant Coper adquirió las concesiones Golden 1 y Golden 2.
Campamento de 'Ascendant' ardió en llamas
Cotacachi, La Hora - http://www.lahora.com.ec/frontEnd/main.php?idSeccion=6198
13 de diciembre del 2005
En Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Íntag (Decoin) aseguran que fueron cientos de representantes y moradores, de decenas de comunidades de la zona de Íntag, quienes reunidos en la comunidad de Chalguayacu Bajo decidieron desmantelar e incendiar las instalaciones de la empresa minera Ascendant Copper Corporation. Lo hicieron el pasado sábado, para mostrar su rechazo a la empresa y su presencia en el lugar.
Según Carlos Zorrilla, de Decoin, la decisión fue y democrática y la respaldó la mayor parte de presentes en la Asamblea, la cual fue organizada por el Consejo de Desarrollo Comunitario. "No ocurrió como dicen por ahí, que fueron dos o tres personas las que decidieron".
Según un comunicado de Decoin, existieron versiones distorsionadas de empleados de la empresa, que apuntaban a que el acto fue violento, pero "no hubo heridos en la toma e incendio del campamento".
Zorrilla contó que a los empleados de la empresa se le permitió ingresar, para sacar objetos de valor, antes de que la gente encienda el fuego.
La Policía de Imbabura confirmó lo expuesto por la Decoin. Aseguran que no existieron actos vandálicos o violentos, por parte de los comuneros.
Expropiación
Pero, no fue lo único que habría decidido la Asamblea, de acuerdo a lo expuesto por Zorrilla, porque otra de las medidas que aplicarán será la expropiación de todas las propiedades pertenecientes a la empresa minera. "De lo que se trata es que pasen a manos de personas que no tienen tierras, en Íntag".
Se habla de la finca 'La Florida', de Chalguayacu Bajo, de aproximadamente 60 hectáreas. Según la Decoin, 'Ascendant' habría adquirido más hectáreas en los últimos meses.
En Decoin aseguran que no aprueban actos violentos, pero creen que los antecedentes de "constantes abusos" fueron los que provocaron la reacción de los moradores. "Los eventos son producto de 18 meses de asaltos, intimidaciones, amenazas de muerte, cierres de carreteras, violentas agresiones contra el Municipio de Cotacachi, y muchos otras medidas efectuadas en contra de los opositores al proyecto minero Junín", reza un comunicado de la organización. También creen que la acción se debe a la horrorosa decisión en las comunidades de Íntag, que generada a partir de la llegada de Ascendant. Aseguran que no desean justificar la medida de hecho, pero creen que habría que tomar en cuenta los antecedentes, antes de emitir un juicio.
La versión de 'Ascendant' respecto al caso deberá esperar, porque ayer, intentamos conocer la otra parte en el caso, pero en el departamento de relaciones públicas de la empresa dijeron que no habrán declaraciones por el momento.
La medida
Detalles
Sólo existe una versión oficial de Decoin y la Policía Nacional, porque nadie más desea hablar sobre el caso.
El informe de la Policía menciona a 300 personas como las autoras del hecho.
La Policía asegura que se trató de moradores de 20 comunidades de la zona de Intag.
Como resultado de la medida de hecho, el campamento, en donde operaban empleados de 'Ascendant', está destruido.
Las autoridades locales aún no se pronuncian al respecto. Auki Tituaña, alcalde de Cotacachi, aún no se pronuncia. En el Municipio de ese cantón tampoco quisieron dar mayores detalles al respecto.