Join the Ejido's call for good faith negotiations without repression
Since the morning of Tuesday April 1, the Ejido Carrizalillo in Guerrero, Mexico has blocked operations at Goldcorp's Los Filos mine in revindication of their territorial rights following expiration of the company's land use contract with the community and its failure to negotiate a new one on time.
In their statement announcing the mine shut down, the Ejido's negotiating team stated that they would “suspend mine operations until the company demonstrates greater disposition to negotiate or - failing that - demand that it begin to close the mine according to Mexican law to reduce the environmental and health damages that have occurred.” They requested the presence of Mr. Horacio Bruna, Vice President of Goldcorp’s Mexican Operations, at the blockade in order to proceed with talks.
In the flurry of news that has been coming out of the Mexican press, representatives of the Ejido emphasize concerns they have about the long term environmental and health costs of Goldcorp’s highly profitable open-pit gold and silver operation located a mere kilometre from their community.
On Friday April 4th, the Ejido issued another statement indicating that they were filing a lawsuit for restoration of their lands as a result of the company’s continuing refusal to renegotiate a new land use contract under more just conditions for the ejido.
They also called for national and international supporters to be on alert for any acts of intimidation, reprisal or repression against them on the part of the company or related groups.
Please show your support for the Ejido Carrizalillo and call on Goldcorp to expedite good faith negotiations, without repression, intimidation or other provocations that could lead to violence, toward a new land use contract that respects the Ejido's territorial rights.
Use this online action to send your message automatically or send your own message or comment to:
Brent Bergeron, Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Goldcorp
brent.bergeron(at)goldcorp.com
Anna M. Tudela, Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Secretary, Goldcorp
atudela(at)goldcorp.com
Jeff Wilhoit, Investor Inquiries
info(at)goldcorp.com
SAMPLE LETTER
To Goldcorp Management:
Since April 1, 2014, the residents of the Ejido Carrizalillo in Guerrero, Mexico have been exercising their territorial rights and taking back their lands given your company’s failure to negotiate a new contract with more dignified conditions for the community. It is the local population and not Goldcorp that has stopped work at the Los Filos mine, given that the company no longer has a land use contract for the coming year with the ejido.
Goldcorp should expedite good faith negotiations toward a new contract with the Ejido Carrizalillo that respects the human rights and land rights of the owners of more that 1,000 hectares that the company rents. The contract should ensure better conditions for workers and public health, as well as take responsibility for the serious damages that the project has already generated in the health of the local population, their lands and the environment.
We demand that at no point in this process that repression, intimidation, provocation of community divisions, or any other type of retribution or violence be used by the company or related groups against the population of Carrizalillo, respecting that they are exercising their rights in accordance with Mexican law.
If the company is not willing to fulfill its responsibility, or does not desire a new contract, it should immediately ensure and guarantee the return of ejidal lands. It should also make its closure and post closure plan for the Los Filos mine public. This plan should include all the relevent technical and financial aspects, including water management and monitoring for acid mine drainage, measures to protect public health, especially for people already suffering from diverse illnesses; measures to protect the environment and soils; the withdrawal of equipment and adequate management of toxic wastes; and an independently guaranteed financial surety to cover the full costs of this process with independent verification mechanisms.
Attentively,
Include a copy of your letter to:
Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird
john.baird(at)parl.gc.ca
Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Sara Hradecky
sara.hradecky(at)international.gc.ca
The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board
contact(at)cppib.com
General Secretary for the Government of Guerrero
secretariageneral(at)guerrero.gob.mx
Mexican Agrarian Attorney's Office
pagraria(at)pa.gob.mx
SEDATU: Secretary for Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development
jcramirez(at)sedatu.gob.mx
Secretary of the Economy of Mexico
ildefonso.guajardo(at)economia.gob.mx
SEMARNAT: Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico
c.secretario(at)semarnat.gob.mx
MiningWatch Canada
jen(at)miningwatch.ca