Land Purchases by Ascendant Copper Investigated by IndaAscendant Copper Clears One Hurdle to ListingCodegam Disrupts Parish Assembly in García MorenoIntag Solidarity Network Web Page Up and RunningAnd more....Land Purchases by Ascendant Copper Investigated by IndaOn Saturday, 29 October, the head of Ecuador's Institute for Agriculture Development in Imbabura province paid a surprise visit to the Cerro Pelado area to, in his word, "investigate the rash of illegal land titles given to Ascendant Copper Exploration". The head of INDA, Diego Salgado, claimed there were at least 10 land titles that he thought were illegal, and that this would only be the first of many visits to find and punish the people responsible. DECOIN, together with the head of the Community Development Council, Polibio Perez, has denounced the illegalities of most of Ascendant Copper's land purchases in the Cerro Pelado and Junin area, and have called for an investigation. We will be monitoring the situation to make sure the new head of Inda does his job and every single one of the titles in the company's name are declared null and void.
Ascendant Copper Clears One Hurdle to ListingLast week, the British Securities Commission approved the seriously flawed Ascendant Copper Corporation prospectus. This was one of the pre-requisite for the company listing on the Toronto and other Canadian Stock Exchanges. As you recalled, with support from Friends of Earth Canada and Mining Watch Canada, the law firm of HellerEhrman in the US, the Municipality of Cotacachi, and many others, we have be carrying on a campaign to pressure the Commission to have Ascendant list all of the potential and real risks involved with their mining project. While the prospectus now lists pages and pages of the risks of the project, may of which were not mentioned in the original, DECOIN believes the Commission Ok'd the prospectus without forcing the company to address some of the more substantial risks, such as the ongoing Congressional Anti-Corruption Commission's investigation.
Due to the campaign, the process of approval took four months, instead of the usual few weeks. The Prospectus was approved with several conditions; the main one being that they until January, to privately sell 4 million worth of stock to at least 300 investors. The Prospectus is the document all serious investors look at before buying stock in a business. Experts on Securities issues have told us that, due to the multiple risks involved in the project, they don't see how it will ever get off the ground. The resistance at the community and local government level, plus the uncertainties of the legality of the mining concessions, are some of the most important obstacles they see as making it impossible for it ever to succeed. As a consequence of the approval, DECOIN is consulting with our allies as to the possibilities of presenting a lawsuit in Canada to stop the listing process.
Codegam Disrupts Parish Assembly in García Moreno Yes, Codegam did it again. Led by their leader, Ronald Andrade, CODEGAM and some 50 or 60 followers violently forced their way into the García Moreno Assembly on Saturday the 29th of October. The Assembly had been organized by the Parish government of García Moreno to work on a development plan for the whole Parish, and only communities from the Parish and organizations working there were invited (DECOIN was one of them). Also present were organizations like Ayuda en Acción, and the International Observers. who were able to document the event.
CODEGAM not only invited and paid for the transportation for people from other Parishes to attend, but also saw fit to officially invite people to the Assembly, when this is strictly a responsibility of the Parish government.
When the president of the García Moreno Parish informed the crowd that only people from García Moreno would be allowed in, Andrade started yelling and inciting his followers to force their way in. The police who had been brought in precisely to control this kind of situation, did absolutely nothing to stop them. Even after the Parish president asked people not invited or from García Moreno to abandon the Assembly, CODEGAM refused to ask its members to leave. This recalls the time in April 2005 when CODEGAM violently forced their way in the Municipality of Cotacachi to disrupt a meeting between the Municipal authorities and Ascendant Copper.
After about one hour and much yelling and insults levelled at Parish officials, DECOIN members and foreigners (including the International Observers), the president of the Parish, Gisela Morales, in consultation with community leaders, decided to suspend the Assembly. The situation was so tense that at one time someone heard the head of the police delegation say that "we are getting out of here because this will get out of hand..." This is the police force that was brought in precisely to prevent violence and protect the people!
It is important to point out that CODEGAM is still financed by Ascendant Copper Corporation. Just what is Ascendant's plans? If this is the type of organization and actions they are financing, what can Intag expect later on? Has Ascendant created a Frankeinstein? It seems so, and the information from reliable sources confirm that they are ready to turn against the company if it doesn't meet a number of impossible conditions, contained in a October 26th letter addressed to Ascendant's General Manager, Geovanni Rosanía.
The big loser? CODEGAM proved once again that they are a undemocratic, aggressive and violent entity, ready to violate laws in order to force their agenda on everyone else. Everyone there got a unique chance to see how this false community organization really works. If anything, people came away more convinced than ever of their anti-mining stance. Knowing Ascendant is financing CODEGAM, the other big loser is Ascendant and their whole mining plan. Everyone clearly identifies CODEGAM as being Ascendant's local actor. Therefore, the backlash from Saturday's event will have profound and lasting repercurssions for Ascendant Copper Corporation.
After the end of the Assembly, the President of the Parish, when interviewed by Intag Paper, said she believed that about 80% of the people present from García Moreno at the Assembly were clearly anti-mining. It's especially relevant to highlight that CODEGAM had to bring in truck-loads of people from far away places and other Parishes to beef-up their anti-mining crowd. Even so, their numbers were clearly much less than half.
Intag Solidarity Network Web Page Up and RunningFinally! The Intag Solidarity Network web page is up and running.... Have a look at it, at:
www.intagsolidarity.org We want to thank and congratulate Glen Kuecker, Jake Gross and others at Depauw and Indiana University for their perseverance in building the site (It's still under construction). If you'd like to get involved supporting some of the projects listed there, please get in touch. The site will carry our updates and those from the International Observers, plus other news from Intag, and will serve as a clearing house for those of you who want to get involved in helping to keep mining from destroying Intag and its communities.
And more....In the next few weeks we will be focusing on making sure the illegal land titles in Ascendant's hands are annulled. We'll be supporting the communities most affected by the illegal land purchases. We are also working with a law firm in Quito to help us on this, and other legal challenges to Ascendant's mining concessions.
The rains seem to finally have returned for real. We've had the driest year since we at La Florida started keeping records, 23 years ago. It's great once again to be enveloped in clouds and our air cleaned by the life-giving rains.
In case you want to help, we presently need priority funding for:
The Legal Defense Fund
Helping the Community Development Council pay for a full time nurse in Chalguayacu Bajo
Thanks,
Carlos Zorrilla
La Florida, Intag
Mayor Auki Tituaña sent a scathing letter to the British Columbia Securities Commission earlier this week to let them know just how upset he is with Ascendant Copper's presence in his county. (English translation is available below.) The BCS Commission is looking into whether Ascendant Copper should list their company in the Canadian Stock exchanges, and part of the work is checking into its past and present corporate history.
So far the Commission has not allowed Ascendant Copper to list on the different stock exchanges, thus the company has been unable to get the 15 million dollars they are seeking to finish exploration in Junin and Chaucha (Junín would get most of this funding). Due to the international campaign aimed at supplying the Commission with information casting doubt on what Ascendant is claming and informing them of the position here of the communities and Municipality, the company late last month had to significantly modify their prospectus (that's the document the Commission is examining) and admit to many of the risks they were omitting, or reporting insufficiently. The company has to provide real evidence as to the risks involved to the Commission, and the Commission has to make sure investors are not put at material risks because information Ascendant might have left out, or underreported (or, more common, exaggerated).
In the meantime, and to counter one of Ascendant Copper's more outrageous claims, DECOIN contracted the research organization Jantu Sacha-CDC a couple of months ago to evaluate the status of the Junin community reserve where the most vital part of Ascendant's concession is. Ascendant had been claiming that the area was heavily logged and hardly had any forests. Jatun Sacha discovered more than 60% is primary forests, about 23% lightly logged primary and secondary forests.
So, with that in mind, here's another headache for the company:
Excerpts from Mayor Auki's latest letter:
(draft)
.....It is also necessary to inform you that, as of June of 2005, the Congressional Civic Anti-Corruption Commission of Ecuador-CCCC - commenced an exhaustive investigation of corrupt procedures with everything having to do with the mining concessions in the Intag area of Cotacachi County.
It is lamentable that the presence of Ascendant Copper Corporation in our County is responsible for causing grave conflicts when attempting to divide and confront our population with deviant measures such as the buying of consciousness, offering of gifts, using public installations to give away presents, making themselves out to be economic saviors, and even relying on people connected to the drugs traffic, corrupt ex-military personnel, demagogic politicians and frustrated ex candidates, that the only thing they pretend is to use the people in order to increase their own economic power, knowing it implies the slow death of all our County. This situation is made even more severe with the outrageous attitude of Ascendant Copper Corporation buying vast areas of forest and agricultural lands.
By refusing to trade Ascendant Copper Corporation's securities in the British Columbia Securities Exchange, the opportunity of acting justly and respecting national and international law rests entirely in your hands.
It is the intention of the Cotacachi County government to continue supporting the legal and conscientious resistance to the JUNÍN mining project and we will not give up our strong conviction to defend our mother earth, and will utilize any legal mechanisms in our Ecuadorian Law, and other international treaties of which Ecuador is party to.
Sincerely,
Auki Tituaña Males
MAYOR OF COTACACHI
COTACACHIMANTA JATUN PUSHAKCertified English translation prepared, at Heller Ehrman's request, by Park Evaluations and Translations, of New York:
Municipality Letter (Acrobat PDF)
Original Municipality Letter:
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Page 3Northern Ruffled Feathers:Our July 17, 2005 Intag Update could be read to imply, incorrectly, that a news release from the Canadian Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade had identified Ascendant's Intag project as an example in connection with the committee's recent report relating to the impact of Canadian mining companies abroad. As we stated, the Standing Committee did in fact conclude that mining activities in some developing countries are having adverse and improper effects on local communities, and its report called on the Canadian government to take several specific steps to curb abuses by Canadian mining companies abroad. We are not aware, however, of any statements by the Standing Committee that identify Ascendant or the Intag mining project specifically. The news release we referred to in our July 17, 2005 Intag Update was a July 13, 2005 news release by MiningWatch Canada, which detailed the Standing Committee's report and also identified Ascendant's Intag project as one relevant source of concern. The July 17, 2005 Intag Update posted on this website has been amended to reflect this clarification.
