To:
The Union of Assemblies of the Communities of Chubut
The Indigenous Mapuche-Techuelche communities of the province of Chubut
The citizens and organizations of the province,
We, the undersigned organizations, write to you with great concern about the current threat, provoked by the mining lobby of some Canadian mining companies, of the possible zoning of the historic Law XVII-Nº 68 through Bill N 128/2020. If approved, this bill would allow for a a "mining zone" on the plateau of the province.
We believe that this is an attack against the overwhelming will of the people of Chubut to protect their water sources. We also want to echo the position of the indigenous communities in resistance in the Meseta, who are directly affected by the mining projects and this bill. The Mapuche-Tehuelche communities have not given their consent to these mining companies to advance their projects or invade their territories. Nor have they consented to this zoning bill which tries to legitimize the presence of these companies. We consider that both attacks represent a flagrant violation of their rights as Indigenous Peoples to be able to decide on the future of their territories.
We know that Pan American Silver and Yamana Gold will directly benefit from the zoning project as this would allow the company to, with respect to the law, resume its development activities at its "Navidad" project, a project that it bought despite the ban. The company continues to fuel tensions by making economic investments every year despite the strong resistance. Similarly, Yamana Gold allowed a new investor to gain access to its Suyai project (located in the same area) this year. We repudiate their actions as aggressions that surely have implications for the political decisions of the province.
We want to express our solidarity with you, the communities and organizations of Chubut, who, for almost two decades, have expressed your dedication to protect your vital water sources from the devastating activities of large-scale mining. Your struggle is encouraging and serves as a point of reference for our organizations and many communities around the world. As such, we accompany you in your rejection of bill No. 128/2020.
In Chubut, it's not the mining companies who make the decisions, it is the people!
Signed,
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Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CDHAL), Canada
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Comisión Diocesana de Defensa de la Naturaleza (CODIDENA), Guatemala
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Earthworks, United States
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Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Project, United States
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Maritimes-Guatemala breaking the Silence network, Canada
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Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, Canada
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Mining Justice Action Committee, Canada
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Mining Justice Alliance, Canada
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MiningWatch Canada, Canada
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Network in Solidarity with Guatemala (NISGUA), United States
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Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala (PAQG)
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Parlamento Xinka, Guatemala
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Students for Mining Justice, Canada