MiningWatch Canada,
Common Frontiers,
the United Steelworkers (USW), and
Council of Canadians welcome news of an RCMP raid on the Calgary office of
Blackfire Exploration, the privately-held company whose barite mine in Chiapas, Mexico has been in the news since the November 2009
murder of anti-mining activist Mariano Abarca.
The Globe and Mail reports
that the RCMP raided Blackfire’s offices on July 20, 2011, alleging
that Blackfire “illegally paid local mayor, Julio César Velazquez
Calderón about $19,300 (CDN) ‘to keep the peace and prevent local
members of the community from taking up arms against the mine.’”
“It’s encouraging that Blackfire’s operations are being investigated
under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act,” says Jamie Kneen,
Communications Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada. “It’s really the
only law that holds Canadian companies accountable for their activities
outside the country. We hope that it will bring about some justice in
this case. If a case this egregious can’t be successfully prosecuted
there’s little hope for accountability in the myriad of other cases we
are hearing complaints about.”
Following Abarca’s murder, and at the request of the Mexican Network
of Communities Affected by Mining, MiningWatch, Common Frontiers, and
USW organized a fact-finding delegation to Chiapas. The delegation’s findings brought serious social and environmental impacts of the mine to public attention and led to the request for a bribery investigation, sponsored by nine organizations including the Council of Canadians.
“The RCMP investigation is a positive development, but it’s also just
the tip of the iceberg,” says Rick Arnold, former coordinator of Common
Frontiers, who accompanied the delegation. “Local residents with whom
we spoke held Blackfire responsible for the murder of Mariano Abarca,
which also has yet to be fully investigated."
Following the shooting of Abarca in front of his home on November 27,
2009, three past company employees were jailed, but they still await
court appearance relating to this murder.
Despite company claims that it practices environmentally responsible
mining, the delegation also found no indication of any environmental
mitigation at the mine site, which remains suspended since December
2009. The company initiated legal action in the Chiapas court system to
try to overturn the decision of the Chiapas Ministry of Environment and
Housing (SEMAVI) to suspend the mine.
“Blackfire should leave Chiapas, once and for all, and issue a public
apology to local communities,” said Mark Rowlinson, Legal Counsel for
the United Steelworkers who also participated in the delegation. “We saw
first hand the human and environmental impact of the company's presence
in Chicomuselo. The costs to the community have already been too
great.”
José Luis Abarca Montejo, son of Mariano Abarca, who has taken a
leadership role in his community since his father was killed, made a
visit to Canada in September 2010, when he supported calls for stronger
legislation to regulate Canadian mining companies overseas. “ I think
the government of Canada should be more careful with these companies who
come to Mexico and treat us badly,” Abarca said to Embassy Magazine
in Ottawa. “I call on the Canadian government to do something because
we’re the same as any other citizens. We have rights too.”
