Council person Says Small-Scale Miners “Trampled” in Bolívar
Published by MAC on 2005-09-09Council person Says Small-Scale Miners “Trampled” in Bolívar
Caracas, Friday September 9, 2005
www.eluniversal.com
Caracas – Council person Carlos Chancelor called upon the Minister of the Interior and the Attorney General to investigate the conduct of the transnational mining company Crystallex which has allegedly “trampled upon” the livelihood of small-scale miners of the south of the state of Bolívar. Chancelor said that the miners are becoming hopeless by the “continued abuses” on the part of Crystallex, which has been awarded rights to mining operations in Las Cristinas, and he accuses that the company “instead of running their mining operations, is evicting miners, and trampling upon their rights in a continuous and permanent manner.” Chancelor reported that the region is completely militarized and there have been threats of attacks against residents of the region.