| Hull: The Human Cost of Mining - Jose Julio Perez |
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Thursday 1 February 2007, 7:30pm - 9:30pm
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Routine forced relocations make life easier for British mining companies among others.
Let's show support.
Come and hear what the community of Tabaco is going through.
Britain is the largest foreign investor in Colombia (after US arms money...)
Two representatives of communities displaced by British-owned mining companies will be in Britain. Jose Julio Perez is President of the Relocation Committee of the community of Tabaco in the northerly province of La Guajira.
The village was demolished in 2001 to make way for mine expansion and although many inhabitants accepted the inadequate financial compensation on offer, others are still holding out for community relocation so that they can continue living as a community and farming the land as they did before.
The mine
There are many links between what is happening to the displaced communities in Colombia and us in Britain.
The huge Cerrejon coal mine in La Guajira was opened in the late 1970s. It was 50% owned by the Colombian government and 50% owned by Intercor, a subsidiary of the huge US multinational Exxon. Intercor operated the mine.
It was the guaranteed supply of cheap coal from Colombia which helped the Thatcher Government destroy the British coal mining industry.
For a while, one of the mining concessions at Cerrejon was owned by British mining giant Rio Tinto (at that time known as RTZ). In early 2001, the Colombian government's 50% share of the Cerrejon mine was bought up by a consortium of three companies: Anglo American (British), BHPBilliton (Australian, but listed on the London Stock Exchange and with important offices in London) and Glencore (a private Swiss company).
In August 2001 most of the village of Tabaco was demolished without warning and its inhabitants evicted to make way for mine expansion. The rest of the village was demolished in January 2002. In February 2002 the consortium bought out Intercor and took over operation of the mine. It certainly looks as though Tabaco was demolished to make life easy for them when they took over. In March 2006, Glencore's share of the mine was bought out by another Swiss-based company, Xstrata. This company is listed on the London Stock Exchange as well.
So now all three companies involved raise much of their money in London, all have important offices there and Anglo American has its headquarters there. Many pension funds invest in these companies. Many ordinary working people, without knowing it, are benefiting from the destruction of farming communities in La Guajira by the world's richest mining multinationals.
All three companies have good reputations as socially and environmentall responsible enterprises. The reality is very different.
It will be great to give a talk in Hull on Thursday 1st February. We hope people will be interested in what they hear.
Thanks ever so much.
Richard Solly, organiser.
Colombia Solidarity Campaign |
Location: Friends Meeting House, Percy Street, Hull
Contact: 07812 838 701
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| http://www.sokuto12.karoo.net/jose.htm |
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