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The mining company takes NO TO THE MINE to Court.

Esquel, Chubut - 10/22/06.

The mining company Minera El Desquite S.A., subsidiary of the Canadian company Meridian Gold Inc.[1], has pressed charges against six inhabitants of the city of Esquel arguing that they had disseminated the information about the mining company's plans to "change the will of Esquel". The lawsuit is handled by Judge Luis Schelgel from the 11th National Correctional Court in Buenos Aires

Two of the accused inhabitants work as journalists at a Radio Station. They have aired a recording of a press conference during which the mining plans were discussed. The conference was a meeting between advisors and the heads of Meridian Gold Inc. It took place in September 2003. Given that the people of Esquel had clearly rejected the company's mining activities on the basis of the plundering and the pollution that mining produces, the aim of the conference was to think up strategies for convincing the people to change their mind.

During the Meridian conclave, the participants commented on their connections with the different candidates running for Governor of Chubut Province in the coming elections in 2003; they also mentioned their contacts with Ministers and other government officials. Furthermore, they stated that they will use their employees and their families to influence local inhabitants' meetings, next to other measures for obtaining what they call the "social license to operate". But the perversity of the revealed recording is reflected in one of the sentences literally uttered by one of the executives: "in Esquel, nobody should know that we are going to twist the people's will".

As a reaction to the offending statements of the mining company, the inhabitants of Esquel organized a well attended Assembly where they discussed the strategies to reject and publicly condemn this conspiracy against the community by the mining sector. One of the measures was to continue organising rallies on the 4th of each month, as well as other local and national actions.

A respectful conspiracy

After the referendum on 23 March 2003 in which 81% of the population voted against the mining project, Meridian Gold issued a press release where they said they would "respect the will of the population of Esquel".

However, a few months after the referendum, in the above mentioned meeting in September 2003, the mining company contemplated about how they could reverse the popular rejection of the exploitation of the silver and gold mine. Local and US authorities, together with the US consulting firm Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)2 and the local Braga Menéndez y Asociados3 were part of the meeting.

If they go against one, they are going against all.

The persecution of half a dozen inhabitants is considered in Esquel as an attack on the whole community which hits the streets on the 4th of each month in rallies against the mine4.

This incident has demonstrated that any opposition to extractive projects will be taken to court and legally persecuted, and, what's worse, that the sovereign will of the people from Esquel, who took a firm decision against mining projects, is being ignored.

This case reveals the truth about the decisions taken in that meeting in 2003 and clearly shows that there are plans to go ahead with the mining project regardless of the fact that the project would rely on open pit mining and cyanide lixiviation methods that are banned by law in the province of Chubut5.

First legal attack against the inhabitants

While several communities throughout the country organize non-violent resistance against mining projects, this lawsuit is the first legal attack on the inhabitants of a community affected by mining.

This persecution has its ideological roots in the Argentinean mining laws themselves, which put mining interests above all community or regional interests. Those laws grant inconceivable fiscal, tariff and currency exchange benefits for national and foreign mining companies.

In this regard, the official mining policy, supported by provincial governments and sponsored by the mining sector, creates all types of problems for the communities that resist in defence of sustainable production and natural resources such as water and soil.

SELF-ORGANIZED ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF ESQUEL

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1 In the text of the lawsuit, the company declares that one of its shareholders is a group called Meridian Gold Holdings (Cayman) Ltd., which refers to its likely headquarters in the Cayman Islands, a well known fiscal paradise and financial centre for money laundering.

2 BSR is based in San Francisco and specializes in "responsible social practice" advising companies that face or anticipate conflicts as a result of their activities. Their clients are American Express Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Electric Corporation, General Motors Corporation, IBM, Shell International, Sony Corporation and large mining companies Newmont Mining Corporation, Placer Dome Inc., Rio Tinto plc, among others.

3 This consulting firm advises companies, governments and people in the national and provincial political arena. The firm also designed the electoral campaign for the actual President Nestor Kirchner.

4 One should be reminded that the mining company remains in Esquel, with its offices and storage sites. The government has not withdrawn its concession of the deposit or its financial support, and the mining representatives continuously come up with manoeuvres and conspiracies to be able to exploit the mine.

5 The Provincial Law 5001 states in Article 1 that metal mining activities that use open pit mining and cyanide leaching are banned in Chubut Province.