Kinga Harasim
Brazil: mine subsidence destroys Pinheiro
In Brazil, an entire urban neighbourhood emptied out following catastrophic subsidence caused by salt mines. In Sonora, Mexico, ejido members pursue proper compensation and justice from Penmont Mining.
Ecuador: Intag stands up to mining
Intag communities in Ecuador are resisting development of a copper mine at Llurimagua, proposed by Enami and Codelco. In Peru, residents of Aquia, Ancásh, accuse the Antamina mine of encroaching on their land without consultation.
Mining: democracy comes from the street
Protests at Chubut in Argentina highlight the importance of pressure from the streets to force local officials to hold the line against destructive mine development. In Brazil, meanwhile, it is the trans-Brazil FIOL railway project that is mobilising communities to defend their land and livelihoods.
Chile: BHP forced to halt mining
It's not all plain sailing for mining companies. Communities at Cerro Colorado in Chile have put up stiff opposition to BHP, whose mine threatens water supplies from a key a key aquifer. And peasants in Huamachuco, Peru, staged a massive protest against mining in their province.
Glencore and Anglo-American blamed for pollution
At Espinar in Peru and on Chile's Colina river, major international mining companies are once more in the spotlight, suspected of causing pollution, denying responsibility and failing to consult local communities
Ecuador: we’ve decided – no more mining here!
Josefina Tunki and Tania Laurini, two leaders of the Shuar Arutam people in Ecuador have received explicit death threats from Federico Velasquez, senior official at Lowell-Solaris, a Canadian owned mining company. The Shuar are opposing a gold and copper project at Warintza in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
Mining protest criminalised
Local communities in Andalgala, Argentina have been fighting mining companies for 11 years. Now they are being criminalised. US investment giant Blackrock is continuing to finance Anglo American and other miners laying waste the Amazon territories of the Munduruku and others
Ecuador: Cuenca vs the miners
Residents of Cuenca, in Azuay province, voted overwhelmingly in a 'consulta popular' to ban mining that would affect key water resources. Incoming president Guillermo Lasso may find it hard to ignore this result.
Mining: Vale pays out but Antofagasta stalls workforce
Vale mining is finally forced to pay compensation to Minas Gerais state, but the victims of the Brumadinho disaster are not consulted. In Chile, Antofagasta mining faces strike action. From LAB's London Mining Network blog.
Chile: where water is a traded commodity
A small community takes on mining giant Anglo American which drains aquifers of water while households are forced to queue at water tankers ... just part of Chile's dictatorship legacy where water, like everything else, is a trade commodity