Central and Latin America
Section Articles 1-20 of 45
Press Responses: October 12, 2006
Mining controversies fly under the radar
Press Responses: June 30, 2006
Canadian Mining Operations Stir Controversy Abroad -
Company plans relocation of glaciers in South America
Letter to World Bank EDs on the Marlin Mine - June 12, 2006
Eight months after the release of a damning report by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the internal auditor of the World Bank's private sector lending arm, about the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) involvement in Glamis Gold's Marlin mine in Guatemala, the CAO has elected to drop the case. The May 2006 Report concludes that dialogue is currently unadvisable and announces that it will close the Marlin complaint. This letter is a response to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman follow-up report issued by four groups who have been monitoring issues related to the mine, and who went to Sipacapa in February 2006.
Press Responses: June 8, 2006
We're selling out the poor by not holding Canuck biz to higher eco standards abroad - "There's Gold in Them Glaciers - WIll Nothing Stop Canuch Mining Disasters Abroad?" NOW Magazine, by Jorge Fernando Garreton.
Letter to Ministers Mackay and Emerson on Metallica Resources - April 28, 2006
This letter expresses grave concern about the activities of Canadian mining company Metallica Resources Inc, and the negative impact these activities are having on the rights and safety of the historic community of Cerro de San Pedro, in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. It requests that the Canadian Ambassador travel immediately to Cerro de San Pedro to investigate how Metallica continues to operate in direct contravention of Mexican law. (April 28, 2006)
The Divisive Demonstration Impact of the Marlin Mine - June 2005
Glamis Gold's Marlin Mine in Guatemala represents the "Company's most important gold asset," and the World Bank's hopes for a poster-child that would set a new standard for "sustainable mining." Yet before operations have even begun, the controversial projecthas become a focal point for protest and has consolidated opposition to mining in the country.
Letter to IFC Executive Directors re Glamis Gold mine - May 31, 2005
This letter to the Executive Directors of the World Bank underscores the completely inadequate due diligence the International Finance Corporation conducted with respect to the Marlin Mine project in Guatemala, for which it provided $45 million, and asks for their assistance in clarifying a number of issues with respect to indigenous rights, consultation, the environmental impact assessment, and the rationale for an investment that would bring little benefit to Guatemala.
Press Response: Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Canadian mine strikes lode of unrest - The debate over the presence of a gold mine in Guatemala has resulted in a call for 'urgent action' by Amnesty International, Kelly Patterson writes.
Press Responses: Sunday, March 27, 2005
Canadian mine in eye of storm; Protests bring moratorium on licences for extraction of gold and silver
Letter to World Bank Canadian ED re Glamis Gold (January 2005)
This letter to the Canadian Executive Director to the World Bank Group informs Mr. Massé about the recent protests and death along the road to the Glamis gold mine in Guatemala, a project being financed by the International Finance Corporation. Among other things, it recommends that WB should suspend any further processing of the existing loan and insist on the establishment of an independent and thorough review of the project, including the tragic events of recent days.
Action Alert Archives: April 12 - April 26, 2004
 | Tell Canadian Noranda Inc. CEO, Derek Pannell that you want the company to SAVE Patagonia and CAN its aluminum smelter project!! Send him a virtual 'can' with your e-petition...(En español) Final sign-on letter with 700+ signatures. |
Press Responses : Monday, December 1, 2003
Rights award calls attention to the plight of abducted -There are more than 40,000 'disappeared' in more than 50 countries, the UN reports
The Urrà dam – Canada’s complicity in a horror story
This two page brief outlines the story of the Urrà dam in Colombia and the struggle of the Embera Katio people, and their leader Kimy Pernia Domico. The brief was written specifically for the 2003 John Humphrey Freedom Award Tour, granted posthumously to Kimy.
Press Responses - Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Aluminum project finds few friends in Patagonia
"Race to the Bottom, Take II" (September 2003)
This report critiques Revision 6 of the OECD Common Approaches on environment and export credits, and documents nine projects (including the Cernavoda2 nuclear power plant and the Three Gorges dam) which have had devastating environmental, social and human rights impacts, and which have all received (or will soon recieve) funding by Export Credit Agencies, including Canada's EDC. The report argues that the Common Approaches did little to mitigate the devastating social, environmental and human rights impacts of ECA-funded projects.
Press Responses : Tuesday, September 2, 2003
Noranda puts off aluminum smelter in Chile's Patagonia region: Company cites economic factors but environmentalists claim victory
Letter to Chilean President Lagos - August 20, 2003
This letter to Chilean President Ricardo Lagos congratulates the President for raising concerns about the environment and Noranda's Alumysa project in Patagonia, and validates these concerns by highlighting Noranda's track record on the environment, and the destruction that the project could potentially bring to the region.
Chile - Alumysa Aluminum Smelter
The Aysén region of Chile is thought to be one of the three least contaminated areas on the planet. Residents of the region have declared Aysén a “Life Reserve”. Yet Noranda has proposed an aluminum smelter in the region that would produce more than 1.5 million tonnes of solid and gaseous waste per year.
Letter to Chilean President Lagos - July 14, 2003
This letter to Chilean President Lagos asks the President to ensure that Noranda's proposed aluminum smelter in Aisen, Patagonia, not proceed in its current form, as it would destroy one of the last unspoiled treasures of the planet, and a vibrant regional and local economy.
