COMMUNITIES CONFRONT CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Community Autonomy and Self-determination are demands that must be met by Big Mining interests and government officials

Miami - On Thursday April 29 when the third Latin American Mining Congress opens its doors in Coral Gables, representatives from environmental, social justice and labor organizations will be on hand to denounce the negative impact big mining has in several sites throughout the region.

The residents of mining zones in countries like Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina gravely impacted by these unsustainable development projects continue to organize against corporate executives, government officials and investors who persist on developing an irrational exploitation of natural resources.

Since 2005, 42 community referendums have been organized throughout Guatemala and over 600,000 participants have voted ‘NO’ to proposed large-scale development projects, such as mining, hydroelectric dams and oil drilling. The referendums are legally based on national and international laws.

In February of this year over 40 social, religious, ethnic and community organizations, labor unions and research centers launched the COLOMBIAN NETWORK ON LARGE SCALE TRANSNATIONAL MINING, which proposes to struggle against large scale transnational mining, struggle against the laws of plunder and defend the life and the ability to live in their territory, and national sovereignty

In Guajira province, Colombia the Cerrrejon one of the largest open pit coal mines in the world, owned and operated by a consortium of companies including BHP Billiton, Anglo American & Xstrata has been in operation since the mid 1980s. Since then several indigenous wayuu and Afro-Colombian communities and municipalities have been displaced. The restrictions on livestock-raising, loss of pastureland, loss of neighbors to ally with, and the reduction of hunting and fishing weaken the community's economic survival.

On April 18th, 2004 the wayuu community of Bahia Portete (North of Cerrejon) was massacred and displaced by right wing paramilitary groups that left at least 12 people dead, 33 forcefully disappeared and over 300 displaced. Currently the survivors are still living in Maracaibo, Venezuela and fighting to return to their land.

Communities throughout the region are defending their land and labor rights. Government forces have used violence against these organizations like in the case of a massacre of indigenous activists in Bagua, Peru last year and the murder of several miners in Suarez, Cauca Province, Colombia three weeks ago.

The Canadian owned company GoldCorp, has had such a widespread impact on Mayan communities in Guatemala that many of these people have been displaced and now live in Florida communities like Immokalee, Lake Worth & Indiantown.

GoldCorp controls the Pascua Lama project on the border of Chile/Argentina and is in conflict with the residents on both sides of the border, who since 2001 have been denouncing the environmental impact this project will have on the areas glaciers.

WHAT: Organizations denounce the disastrous economic, environmental and human impact of corporate mining interests.

WHEN: April 29, 2010 3:00p.m.

WHERE: Westin Colonnade Coral Gables Florida 180 Aragon Avenue Coral Gables FL 33134