By Adrienne Wiebe, MCC Latin America Policy Analyst
Last week five indigenous people died in conflicts related to foreign mining operations in Latin America. One died in a protest in Bolivia related to a Canadian silver mine and four died in Peru in a protest against an American gold mine. Many more people were injured and some were detained by government security forces in these clashes.
Conflicts from Mexico to Argentina
There are currently 160 mining-related conflicts in Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, according to the Observatorio de Conflictos Mineros de America Latina (Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America).
Canadian companies alone have been and continue to be involved in 85 socio-environmental conflicts in Latin America, according the McGill University Research Group Investigating Canadian Mining in Latin America, which maintains an interactive map documenting these conflicts.
Foreign companies are rarely directly involved in the abuses and the deaths in the communities where they operate, however, their activities spawn the divisions and social conflict that result in this violence.
Profit from Weak Government Regulations
National and regional governments often pass legislation in favour of foreign mining investment and grant concessions to foreign companies, arguing that mining is a powerful agent for development, generating jobs and revenue. However the communities directly affected seldom have a significant voice in these negotiations, and often feel that the current mining model impairs sustainable local development processes and creates unacceptable environmental damage.
Weak government legislation and enforcement, and the lack of participatory democratic mechanisms contribute to a context in which foreign companies can operate with few restrictions and earn incredible profits.
“Behind every environmental offense, there is a corrupt public official that enables this situation,” according to Argentine Federal Prosecutor Gustavo Gómez, who has worked for years to enforce environmental regulations on mining operations and eliminate corruption and impunity in northern Argentina.
Divisions within Communities
Social conflict erupts because not all community members are convinced that these mega-projects benefit their communities. Some local residents feel that the jobs created and the revenue generated are worth the environmental costs of mining. Others strongly oppose the destruction of their homes and livelihoods for what they see as little local benefit because the majority of the profits flow out of their communities.
Thus, rather than creating prosperity for everyone these mining initiatives often create division and conflict within communities.
Clearly, international mining companies have a long way to go in convincing local communities that their operations are of benefit to everyone. The challenge for the mining sector today is to demonstrate that extractive industries can create prosperity for local communities and shareholders in Canada and the United States without destroying the local environment or creating community conflict.
As persons concerned with the lives of our global sisters and brothers, we need to advocate that the mining sector operate in ways that benefit ALL people fairly, and that do not compromise environments and communities for the future.
If this is not possible, then maybe those minerals should just be left in the ground
To find out how you can take action against mining injustices around the world, check out MCC Canada’s Mining Justice website.
Reblogged this on and commented:
Over the summer we are occasionally re-posting material from MCC colleagues and partner organizations. Here’s one from the MCC Latin America Advocacy Blog.