@REMA
July 22nd is International Day of Action against Open-cast Mining, which has been held since 2009 and originates from the fight against Minera San Xavier in Mexico. In this framework, activities and actions are be carried out that nurture the process of resistance against mining in the region.
Open-cast mining means the destruction and depletion of the planet’s ecosystems, the removal of the forest layer, the destruction of soils, and the contamination of waters, multiple voices have denounced.
Mexico is the number one destination for investment in mining exploration in Latin America. There are thousands of mining concessions in the republic and 1,500 mining companies functioning that have generated dispossession, death and social and environmental destruction.
On July 22nd, the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining (REMA) denounced that the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) “safeguards the continuity of the extractive mining model that results in dispossession and forced displacement, kills life and is a massive attack against the peoples of Mexico.” “Equally depressing is hearing this government say that mining in Canada or the United States is responsible and environmentally correct, because with those kinds of statements they only show cynicism or ignorance to make us believe that a call from the Presidency is enough for foreign companies to behave well in Mexico, just as they do in their countries,” it claimed. It also stated that “it shows a short-term and reductionist vision that reveals, among other things, a great lack of knowledge about the value chains associated with extractivism that feed back into misnamed renewable, green, clean or sustainable energy.”
In this same context, through a live broadcast, the Oaxacan Assembly in defense of land and territory held an event divided into three panels, one of them dedicated to resistance to mining.
Panelist Cristina Auerbach, member of a Pasta de Conchos family in Coahuila, highlighted that “the extractivist model is imposed on any party, any ideology, any government, nothing has changed, the players change but the model does not change.”
The Capulalpam de Mendez Commissariat for Communal Assets expressed that his 15-year struggle “has been to fight capital permanently, because the federal government’s program pleases mining companies and issues concessions.”
“We are going to join any community that needs our support to strengthen their struggles. It is important that they see San Jose as a mirror and that they see that mining has neither brought development nor money”, said Rosalinda Dionisio Bernardo Vasquez, a member of the Coordination of United Peoples of the Ocotlan Valley.
The challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic when mining was always considered an essential activity were also discussed.
More information in Spanish:
Comunicado REMA «22 de Julio: Día Internacional de Acción en Contra de la Minería « (REMA, 22 de julio)
Red de Afectados por la Minería denuncia olvido del gobierno(La Jornada, 22 de julio)
Asamblea Oaxaqueña en defensa de la Tierra y el Territorio(22 de julio, Video Facebook)
More information fom SIPAZ:
Nacional: Urgen a Suprema Corte a no favorecer intereses mineros vulnerando a derechos de los pueblos indígenas(May 13, 2020)
Chiapas : La empresa minera El Puntal S.A. de C.V y el Gobierno de Chiapas amenazan a defensores de Acacoyagua, denuncian (March 24, 2020)
National: National Forum “Nature, Indigenous Rights and National Sovereignty in the Tehuantepec Isthmus” Convened; Head of SEMARNAT Says “Trains Are Going Ahead” (February 16, 2020)
National: No Cancellations but No More Mining Concessions in Mexico – AMLO (March 24, 2019)
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