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15 August 2002 | Intag | By Carlos Zorrilla
On August 15th the Junin mining concession in the Intag region
of northwest Ecuador was auctioned off by the Ministry of
Energy and Mines to a private individual, who offered $18,005.00
for 7,000 hectares of some of the most biodiverse forest in
the world. This individual was the only one to show up for
the auction and to make an offer. Not a single mining company
made offers. This was only one of the irregularities connected
with the auction. The auction was not made publicly known,
and not a single community or local government was made aware
of the government's plans.
The auction was carried out in spite of overwhelming opposition
from most of the organizations working in the area and all
local government officials in the County of Cotacachi, Imbabura
province. On the 3rd of August, six Parish governments presidents,
that are in reality much like a small municipality, signed
a strongly worded document asking government officials to
suspend the illegal auction, and stop the granting of further
mining concessions in the whole County. This was the first
time that local governments in Ecuador have called for a halt
to mining activities within their jurisdiction.
Their request was immediately supported by dozens of local
and county organizations, as well as national and international
organizations. On Monday, August 12th, 3 days before the auction,
the County government of Cotacacahi also joined the historic
measure, by publicly passing a resolution supporting the Parish
president's call. Auki Tituana, Cotacachi's Mayor, also came
out strongly supporting the measure, and in a last-ditch effort
to stop the auction, met with Ministry officials hours before
the sale. All to no avail. The government went ahead and "auctioned"
off the Junin concession, in a move that could very likely
prove illegal, in light that no counter offers were presented
and that it was not made public.
The absence of the mining companies was very likely the
result of the campaign carried out by the grassroots environmental
NGO, Decoin, Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag, and
supported by many local organizations, the Mineral Policy
Center (MPC) in Washington, and the Global Mining Campaign
in Washington as well as other networks around the world,
including Global Response in Colorado, and the CNRS Network,
in Italy.
Working feverishly against the clock, since Decoin only
found out about the proposed auction about 2 weeks before
it was to take place, we informed local organizations and
local governments and helped organized, together with the
Cotacachi County Environmental Commission, the August 3rd
meeting which resulted in the historic signing of the document.
The work of the County Environmental Commission was crucial
in gathering the support from most County organizations and
County government. From there, we made the issue known nationally
and internationally by contacting allied NGO's and networks,
asking support in a letter writing campaign, which was supported
by over 50 organizations. Furthermore, MPC agreed to help
DECOIN cover the costs of publishing a letter in the national
and local press denouncing the auction, and calling attention
to the local, regional, national and international opposition
to it. In addition to being sent to Ecuador's President and
the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the letters were sent to
several mining companies that we knew were interested in the
concession. We believe the publication in the press played
a significant role in scaring away the companies. The local
letters, by the way, made it very clear that most of Intag's
population was opposed by most of the population, local governments
and organizations, and that it would mean trouble.
It is a well known fact in the world of the Extractive Industries,
that were local opposition is strong, no mining takes place
(or with great difficulties). This is even more so, where
local governments back the position of the communities. In
light of the struggle against the very powerful mining interests
backed up by corrupt, or short sighted government officials
and the international lending institutions, the support from
local government officials becomes a very powerful proactive
mechanism.
Part of that mechanism is passing legislation prohibiting
mining activities. In the year 2000, Cotacachi was legally
declared an Ecological County by the Municipal government
of Cotacachi, after strong and sustained pressure from local
populations. Among the activities prohibited in Cotacachi,
is mining. And in fact, the Ecological Ordinance was referred
to over and over again in the arguments used against the auction.
Not only that auctioning off a rich copper mining concession
would very likely lead to mining, therefore violating our
County Ordinance, but that it would also disrupt the Ordinance
main objective, which is to promote sustainable development.
In the near future, we plan to challenge the legality of
the auction in court, and will be pressuring for the applying
of the Ecological Ordinance. More importantly, we will be
strengthening local and regional opposition to possible mining
projects resulting from the illegal sale of the Junin concession.
It is in this last strategy that our best hopes lay, and
the one which we shall be concentrating on. We know full well
how slanted the courts tend to be in this country racked by
corruption and nepotism, and the importance local resistance
plays in effective and lasting opposition to extractive projects.
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