For more than two years, the Cerro Quebrado company, a subsidiary of mining giant BHP Billiton (Australia-United Kingdom), the world’s largest, has aggressively attempted to get a foothold in the communities of Puranquí, Irubí, and Cazarpamba. As a result, on Saturday, January 18, residents of these and other communities held an Assembly of Communities Affected by the Cerro Pelado BHP mining company to definitively resolve the serious problems the mining company has produced by disturbing the communities’ peace.
The Santa Teresa and Santa Teresa 2 concessions were granted in violation of residents’ constitutional right to be consulted; also violated was the right of local and county governments to be consulted before the onset of activities that will have consequences for the environment of forested territories and populated areas. The areas affected include nine communities in the parishes of Apuela, Cuellaje, and Plaza Gutiérrez as well as thousands of hectares of primary forest with their crystalline rivers. It should be noted that approximately twenty women and men from various communities in the parish of García Moreno also attended the assembly; these residents of communities currently affected by the Llurimagua project attended in support of other communities resisting mining projects.
The success of the assembly exceeded organizers’ expectations. Some 320 residents of 16 communities attended, as did elected officials from the parish council governments of Apuela, Cuellaje, and Plaza Gutiérrez and delegates from the Cotacachi mayor´s office and the president of Cotacachi’s Assembly for County Unity. Resolutions passed unanimously included:
An end to the presence of mining companies in Intag.
A request that local, county, provincial, and national government authorities prioritize investment in agricultural, livestock, and tourism activities.
That authorities take effective measures to stop mining activity in Intag.
A request to county government officials to carry out a plebiscite and to create and pass an ordinance declaring the county free metallic mineral mining.
Request to the national government to revoke all mining concessions in Intag.
A warning to authorities that communities will take measures to eject mining company presence from their territories if said companies continue to violate their rights and continue dividing communities.
(The rest of resolutions below images)
Images of the event
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And, of course, there is always a snack and conversation about the historic event with good friends.
Complete list of Resolutions For Press Release:
1) Request the Municipality of Cotacachi to apply the current ordinances that protect water, forests and communities; including the Ordinance that declared Cotacachi an Ecological Canton; the Ordinance of the Conservation and Sustainable Use Area, Manduriaco-Intag; the Ordinance of Rivers and Riversides; and to assume its competence for the use and regulation of the soil in the whole Canton to prohibit metallic mining.
2) Request the revocation of all mining concessions in Intag for not carrying out the Environmental Consultation of the communities, a right enshrined in Article 398 of the Constitution
3) To request local, sectional and national governments to prioritize investments in agricultural and tourism activities.
4) To request the Municipality of Cotacachi to draft and approve an ordinance declaring the Cotacachi County free of metal mining
5) Support the community controls to prevent unwanted individuals from entering communities
6) Create a support and rapid reaction organization in defense of communities affected by mining
7) Demand the government and different national entities to desist from using the public forces as bodyguards of mining companies
8) To demand that the members of the Parish, Cantonal and Provincial governments express their opinion on metal mining within their jurisdictions.
9) Create new tools to protect water resources, and to prioritize its consumption for human use, and to prohibit it for the use of mining activities.
10) Carry out a popular consultation at the Cou9nty level, so that the people can decide if metal mining should be definitively prohibited, in all its phases, within the Cotacachi Canton.
11) Undertake education and training programs on the impacts of mining
12) To create a Intag-wide organization to, in a more direct way, face and look for alternatives to metallic mining
13) Warn the mining companies of the unwavering will of the citizens of the Intag area to evict the mining companies if they continue to violate their rights
For more information visit www.decoin.org
