MEETING ON MINING AND ENERGY ON THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN TOWARD A NEW NATIONAL MINING POLICY

MEETING ON MINING AND ENERGY ON THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN

TOWARD A NEW NATIONAL MINING POLICY AND THE COMPENSATION FOR THE SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS FROM MINING TO THE GUAJIRO PEOPLE

Riohacha, University of La Guajira, 9 and May 10, 2013

1.       Justification

Open pit mining has been practiced in Colombia as a result of its inclusion into the neoliberal international division of labor. This involves the use of financial capital from large multinational companies that have brought deep economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts, while undermining our national sovereignty.

This mining is based on maximizing profits for the big mining companies including coal, nickel and gold. It also consists of high levels of extraction with minimal requirements meanwhile costs are minimized through low percentages of royalties, extensive tax exemptions, and legal security contracts.

Present on this extractive activity are some hidden costs called externalities. These consist on public health problems, destruction of water sources and forests, broad social displacements of different peoples, and the promotion of corruption, prostitution and drug addiction.

In 30 years, mining has taken place on an area of ​​forest  and soil of 11,488 hectares. By mid-2011, only 2,700 had been recovered. Only 1'200 .000 trees have been planted, meaning the reforestation of 1,200 hectares; in other words, only 10% of what were once tropical dry forests has been recovered. In  addition, over 8 bodies of water, such as streams, creeks, and tributaries to the Rancheria River have been destroyed and more than 20,000 peasants displaced from their territories.

The lack of benefits of mining by Cerrejón is obvious. Even as it is 54.4% of GDP in the Guajira, it only produced 2.9% of employment, corroborating the effects of substituting agricultural for mining. The exports between 1985 and 2012 generated revenue of more than 540 million dollars to the company, which gained a profit of 23800 million dollars. Royalties in the same period were only of 2006 million, less than 10% of total production.

There are many initiatives and actions of national and regional resistance in recent years, all opposing the mining and energy policies driven by the national government. Proof of this are the massive mobilizations in defense of Santurban Paramos, the USO workers’ struggles against exploitation by multinationals in the piedmont plains of Pisba, Tota Lake, the Cauca and Nariño opposition to exploitation of multinationals in their territories, the Project of La Colosa in Tolima, and the first National march: "Lets Defend Life and Stop the Mining and Energy Locomotive" of August 1, 2012.

One of the fundamental characteristics of this struggle is that they comprise very localized and dispersed small units with a purely vindictive aim.

The success of the struggles of people defending Santander’s Santurban Paramo and the communities in defense of the Rancheria River in La Guajira, as well as the significant strike of Cerrejón union workers – Sintracarbon – have managed to unify and articulate broad social sectors in society. The result has been a higher impact both at the regional and national levels.

Part of the agenda is to achieve greater coordination and articulation as we involved new scenarios and actors at the national and regional levels. However, this requires from us to take on necessary actions, both politically and organizationally. It is necessary, then, to enter a new stage of protest for the vindication and compensation,

In that sense, this meeting should advance the definition of the main arguments for the policy proposals for alternative energy and mining. This goes from understanding common approaches and identify divergences between different actors in order to give our input on the national debate: First National Energy Mining Meeting and the III National Meeting of RECLAME, which will take place on the 16 and 17 of May in Bogota.

2.       Objectives

I. To define comprehensive guidelines for the design of a basic theoretical framework on environmental and mining policy that gives the state the management and control of the national and energy mining sector.

II. To prepare a List of Demands of the people of La Guajira organized by the social sectors who have made serious analyses of the socio-environmental impacts left by the large transnational mining.

III. To organize local agendas to coordinate regional struggles, making them visible and having an impact at the regional, national, and international levels in order to stop the mining and energy locomotive

IV. To propose pedagogical strategies and local and regional media to generate greater public awareness against transnational mining sector.

3.       Methodology

The Mining and Energy Meeting of the Colombian Caribbean, Towards a New National Mining Policy is part of the regional meetings scheduled for RECLAME in preparation for the national meeting that serves as a way to progress in the consolidation of alternative policy proposals and coordinated action with different social movement of environmental, labor, gender, ethnic, and cultural struggles.

Work Agenda:

May 9: Discussion and panels work

Space where a group of experts, leaders of social organizations, academia, NGOs, research centers, local authorities and ordinary citizens will debate around the construction of the framework for the development of new mining and energy policy alternatives.

May 10: Work tables.

The people of La Guajira with all its social organizations, local authorities, academia and political and parliamentary leaders will create a dialogue to build the Grand List of Demands of the People of the Guajira to demand that the national government, as administrator of non-renewable natural resource, will demand of Ecopetrol, Chevron Texaco, and Cerrejón Limited, the right compensation for the huge economic, social, cultural and environmental damage of La Guajira for more than 30 years

Participants

Delegates from different organizations  that are resisting against transnational mining n the Colombian Caribbean and the rest of the country.

MAURITIUS CABRERA: OFFICER OF THE STATE ENVIRONMENT CONTROLLING AGENCY.

JORGE LUIS GARAY: ECONOMIST, INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

SUAREZ AURELIO MONTOYA: ECONOMIC EXPERT, FORMER CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR OF BOGOTA.

ALVARO PARDO, MINING TAXING AND ROYALTIES EXPERT

FIERRO JULIO MORALES, GEOLOGIST

MARIO ALEJANDRO VALENCIA. ECONOMIST, MEMBER OF TAX JUSTICE NETWORK.

FELICIANO VALENCIA, NASA INDIGENOUS PEOPLES LEADER.

MARYIS PACHECO, CESAR RECLAME LEADER

JUAN C BALCALCER, Prodefensa COMMITTEE OF CIENAGA MAGD.

LUIS FERNANDO ARIAS, SENIOR ADVISER, ONIC.

IGOR DIAZ LOPEZ, PRESIDENT OF SINTRACARBON.

ALVARO IGUARAN, MAICAO MERCHANT GUILD.

JACKELIN ROMERO, MEMBER OF THE FORCE OF WOMEN WAYUU.

JOSE FRANCISCO ROUND, ANUC, BARRANCAS.

JULIO GOMEZ: PRESIDENT FECODEMIGUA.

UNIVERSITY OF GUAJIRA

POPULAR UNIVERSITY OF CESAR.

CONVENERS:

COMITÉ CIVICO POR LA GUAJIRA, SINTRACARBON, UNIVERSIDAD DE LA GUAJIRA, PASTORAL SOCIAL DE LA GUAJIRA, ASODEGUA Y COOTRACERREJON

SUPPORT:

EL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS DEL CARBON, AACIWASUG, FECODEMIGUA, FUERZA DE MUJERES WAYUU, PAINWA, CUT GUAJIRA, LA MANE GUAJIRA, SINDESENA, SINTRABIENESTAR COOTRACERREJON,CEDETRABAJO.

riorancheria.blogspot.com www, www.sintracarbon.com, Uniguajira.edu.co, www.reclamecolombia.org, rancheriariver.blogspot.com