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(At the gravesite of Bernardo Vasquez, “Stop the Assassinations”)<\/p>\n
In the dry and dusty town of San Jos\u00e9 del Pacifico, south of Oaxaca, Mexico, a funeral was held on March 17 for Bernardo Vasquez, a slain community leader who actively opposed a Canadian silver and gold mining project in his community.\u00a0 During the somber event, attended by roughly 300 members of this Zapotec community, the collective grief, solidarity and resistance was palpable.\u00a0 Fear also hung in the air; some people held placards proclaiming their resistance in front of their faces to avoid being photographed.<\/p>\n
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(Bernardo’s mother and family grieving their loss)<\/p>\n
The fear is understandable – Bernardo V\u00e1squez was the second anti-mining activist to be shot dead in the past two months.\u00a0 Three others at the scene of the assassination of Vasquez were also shot and remain in serious condition.<\/p>\n
WHY THE VIOLENCE?<\/p>\n
Why all the bloodshed in this small Zapotec community?\u00a0 The common thread connecting the victims of the recent violence is that – together with a coalition of people from other nearby communities – they were all actively opposing the presence of the Canadian company, Fortuna Silver Inc.’s “Trinidad\/Cuzcatl\u00e1n” silver and gold mine in their community in the Ocotl\u00e1n valley, about 45 minutes outside of Oaxaca City.<\/p>\n
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(“Berna, We Will Always Rembember You.\u00a0 You Fought for Us”)<\/p>\n
Bernardo V\u00e1squez was killed on March 16 when he and two passengers were ambushed at an intersection near his community.\u00a0\u00a0 His brother Andr\u00e9s and friend Rosalinda Canseco remain hospitalized in serious condition. In an interview at the hospital, Rosalinda’s father said doctors are concerned they may have to amputate her leg.<\/p>\n
PREVIOUS KILLING OF BERNARDO MENDEZ<\/p>\n
Two months ago, the now dead Bernardo V\u00e1squez was denouncing the murder of Bernardo Mendez, a friend and colleague also opposed to the Trinidad\/Cuzcat\u00e1n mine.\u00a0 During a press conference on January 23, as spokesperson for a local coalition of people opposed to Fortuna Silver’s mine, V\u00e1squez denounced the shooting death of M\u00e9ndez that had occurred several days earlier.\u00a0 That murder happened when a group of people confronted a work crew constructing a water pipeline in San Jos\u00e9.\u00a0 The people suspected the project would divert the arid community’s scarce water resources to the mine.\u00a0 An argument ensued and municipal police arrived on the scene and opened fire into the crowd.\u00a0 Bernardo M\u00e9ndez later died of 7 gunshot wounds.\u00a0 Abigail V\u00e1squez, sister of Bernardo V\u00e1zquez (killed March 16), was seriously wounded in the January killing.<\/p>\n
During the press conference, V\u00e1zquez and the Coalition of People United in the Ocotl\u00e1n Valley (COPOVU) held the Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver and it’s local Trinidad\/Cuzcatl\u00e1n mining activities directly responsible for the murder and other related violence, and called for the suspension and removal of all the mining company’s activities in San Jos\u00e9.\u00a0 The anti-mining group also called for the cancellation and removal of the mining project.<\/p>\n
FORTUNA SILVER DENIES ANY LINKS TO ITS ACTIVITIES AND THE VIOLENCE<\/p>\n
Mining officials dismissed allegations that the mine was diverting water from the community, and denied any links between the recent violence and their mining operation in San Jos\u00e9 del Progreso. \u00a0In response to COPOVU’s accusations that the mine is responsible for the violence in San Jos\u00e9, CEO Jorge Ganoza called the allegations “misinformation”.<\/p>\n
“We, as a company, and our team in Oaxaca, are saddened by these senseless and continued acts of violence in the town of San Jos\u00e9, related to a long-standing political struggle for local power”, he said in statement published by Canadian media.\u00a0 “It is in no way related to our activities or involves company personnel…”. \u00a0Several Oaxaca state government officials in press releases repeat this version of events, but critics point out to a long history of violence in local communities since Fortuna Silver first arrived on the scene in 2006.<\/p>\n
HISTORY OF MINE-RELATED VIOLENCE<\/p>\n
In 2009, roughly three hundred opponents to Fortuna Silver’s mining operation participated in a blockade of the entrance to the Trinidad\/Cuzcatl\u00e1n.\u00a0 After 40 days, the blockade was brutally broken when some 700 police stormed into the community in full anti-riot gear, with automatic weapons, tear gas, attack dogs and a helicopter.\u00a0 People were beaten and more than 23 people were arrested; some were detained for three months.<\/p>\n
In 2010, the mayor of San Jos\u00e9, along with another municipal official, was killed in a confrontation between residents supporting and those opposing the mine. \u00a0A local priest supporting anti-mining activists was brutally beaten and detained.<\/p>\n
The ongoing violence has divided and created a tense, fearful atmosphere in the once peaceful community.\u00a0 One local activist who has been involved in resistance to the mine from the beginning estimated that the vast majority of residents were opposed to the mine when it started originally arrived to break ground in the community.\u00a0 The ongoing repression and intimidation – coupled with bribes to prominent members of the community – has reduced the number of residents who actively resist the mine.\u00a0 Nonetheless, he estimated that roughly half of the community is opposed to the mine, and many others are against the mine but fearful of openly resisting the mining project.<\/p>\n
WHY THE OPPOSITION TO THE MINE?<\/p>\n
In the arid Ocotl\u00e1n valley of Oaxaca, as in many parts of the state, water is a scarce and precious commodity.\u00a0 Residents opposed to the mine argue that processing silver and gold is water-intensive puts their local aquifers at risk.<\/p>\n
Their argument has strong precedent.\u00a0 Another Oaxacan community with years of painful experience with mining operations, Calpul\u00e1lpam, had its water supply devastated by the Canadian “Continuum” mine there.\u00a0 Aquifers were disrupted and local resident report that 13 local streams completely dried up due to mining in their community.\u00a0 Local springs were also so polluted by chemicals used to process ore that livestock were dying from the contamination. The devastation was so flagrant that the Mexican Federal Environmental Protection Agency eventually ordered the mine to suspend all activities.<\/p>\n
Thus the violent confrontation in January between the group of local residents and workers installing a water pipeline is understandable. The actual motives behind the project remain unclear; transparency about public works in San Jos\u00e9 is sorely lacking.\u00a0 While Fortuna Silver continues to flatly deny any link between purported municipal potable water project and mining activities, many local residentS remain unconvinced.\u00a0 And Mexico’s three leading national newspapers, including the respected daily La Jornada, all reported that the disputed water pipeline was indeed related to the mining operation and all linked the violence to tensions in the community around the mine’s activities there.<\/p>\n
HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS SPEAK OUT<\/p>\n
In a recent statement by the Oaxacan Collective in Defense of Territories, an umbrella organization made up of prominent human rights and civil society organization, issued a statement on March 16, the day following the ambush of V\u00e1zquez and his two companions.\u00a0 The declaration points out that V\u00e1zquez had repeatedly alerted state and federal authorities – since 2008 – of the risk of violent confrontations due to the initiation of mining operations by Fortuna Silver without the consent of the community, as legally required by international accords signed by Mexico. The statement says that the members of the anti-mining coalition COPUVO repeatedly complained that the mining company was financing armed groups in the community with the endorsement of the municipal president of San Jos\u00e9 del Progreso, Alberto Mauro S\u00e1nchez.\u00a0 The collective’s statement says argues that the lack of justice and application of law by government officials has created a dangerous atmosphere of impunity in San Jos\u00e9.\u00a0 The statement closes with a demand for the immediate departure of the Trinidad\/Cuzcatl\u00e1n mine.<\/p>\n
EULOGY FOR BERNARDO V\u00c1SQUEZ<\/p>\n
In a eulogy for Bernardo V\u00e1squez, Dawn Paley, an independent Canadian journalist, wrote:<\/p>\n
“Bernardo Vasquez was a clear spoken Zapotec activist, a brother, son, and cousin, who dared to stand up against a mining project in the territory of his people. He was well aware that a paramilitary group was operating in San Jos\u00e9 Progreso, Oaxaca, and that it was organized to snuff out\u00a0opposition to a gold mine<\/a> , owned by\u00a0Vancouver based Fortuna Silver<\/a>. \u00a0… \u00a0One thing is clear: this was a political hit. Bernardo was murdered because\u00a0he dared to speak out<\/a>, ignoring the climate of fear imposed upon his people.”<\/em> (http:\/\/vancouver.mediacoop.ca\/story\/another-activist-murdered-organizing-against-canadian-mine\/10243<\/a>)<\/p>\n THE STAKES ARE HIGH, BUT THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES<\/p>\n Fortuna Silver’s $55 million Trinidad\/Cuzcatl\u00e1n mine began its production in September last year and projected to produce 1.7 million ounces of silver and 15,000 ounce of gold in 2012.\u00a0 Future conflicts are likely as the mine expands its operations in its 58,000 hectares holdings just south of Oaxaca City in coming years, particularly in light of the ongoing impunity enjoyed by local officials and hired guns in San Jos\u00e9.<\/p>\n During the funeral, many residents expressed their concerns that the lack of justice for those responsible for the recent shootings has created an atmosphere of impunity that is likely to foster more bloodshed.<\/p>\n But in spite of the fear and intimidation, the March 17 funeral clearly illustrated that anti-mining activists from San Jos\u00e9 together with other surrounding communities affected by the mine, will continue on in their resistance. Indignation and defiance hung in the air. \u00a0Just before Vasquez’s coffin was lowered into the ground, a friend said: “They can cut a flower, but they cannot stop the Spring.”<\/p>\n (Jonathan Treat is a journalist, professor, activist and founding member of the non-profit organization SURCO (University Services and Knowledge Networks of Oaxaca),\u00a0www.surcooaxaca.org<\/a>.\u00a0 He works with SURCO as Academic Director and Coordinator of Delegations looking at issues related to the defense of indigenous territories in Oaxaca and Chiapas. Jonathan:\u00a0jonathantreat2002@yahoo.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n ******************<\/p>\n WHAT TO DO – WRITE & KEEP ON WRITING<\/strong><\/p>\n Please keep on keeping on sending copies of this information, and your own letters, to Canadian and American politicians and government officials, and to your local media.\u00a0 North American resource extraction companies are operating around the world with the full support of North American governments.\u00a0 Please send copies to pension funds across North America – like the Canada Pension Plan – that are invested in most North American resource extraction companies around the world, with no concern for environmental, health or human rights concerns.<\/p>\n FORTUNA SILVER<\/strong><\/p>\n Suite\u00a0650, 200 Burrard Street<\/p>\n Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6C 3L6<\/p>\n T: 604.484.4085<\/p>\n TF: 866.719.8962<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ih.constantcontact.com\/fs061\/1103480765269\/img\/169.jpg\")
(The Funeral Procession)<\/p>\n