The Heart of Our Earth

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

Chinese companies are behind rapid expansion of gold mining in the Mayaya region of Bolivia, and are invading the Madidi National Park. Bolivian journalist and LAB correspondent Sergio Mendoza travelled by canoe down the Beni and Quendeque rivers, witnessing how the illegal mining activity is hidden by Bolivian mining cooperatives and supported or permitted by the government.

Former MiningWatch Canada researcher Jen Moore reports on Global mining companies which have used the pandemic to push unwanted projects on vulnerable communities, who are fighting back — and sometimes winning.

LAB's environmental defenders series is expanded with new articles on Guatemala and Mexico. Worrying news about oppression in Nicaragua. Sobering lessons for the left from the first round of Brazil's elections.

he crowdfunding campaign for The Heart of Our Earth, our project dedicated to community resistance to mining in Latin America, came to an end on 23 December. The Crowdfunding campaign raised just under £9,000, while two separate large donations to the project added a futher £7,250 yielding a magnificent total of approximately £16,250.

Shady River (Río Turbio), named after the mining town in northwest Argentina in which it is set, explores the gendered space of the mine, giving voice to a collective of marginalised women and shedding light on the tragedies that haunt the town of Río Turbio. 

Director Marcos Colón has made a remarkable film about the Amazon, charting how in three countries, Brazil, Peru and Colombia, 'modernity' means exploitation and destruction. He interviews indigenous leaders with a very different vision.

Five water defenders from Santa Marta, Cabañas, El Salvador have been arrested in connection with the 1989 murder of a woman in their community. However, their active membership of an organisation opposed to mining and strong signs that the government wants to subvert the country's mining ban suggest another motive for their persecution

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.

Today, LAB is proud to launch a crowdfunding campaign for a brand new and very important LAB project: The Heart of Our Earth: Community Resistance to Mining in Latin America. But why mining? And why now?