Aura Minerals

GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION OF THE IUCN, BARCELONA, SPAIN

CGR4.MOT141 Exploration and exploitation of open-cast mining activities in Mesoamerica

(UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

WHEREAS there are decisions to invest in the exploitation of metallic minerals in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor that will affect thousands of hectares of primary forests, key watersheds in the area, and marine coastal areas rich in biodiversity, and thus human health and food security for the population;

No one was thinking about the small Mayan community of San Andrés Minas, in Honduras, when political and business “leaders” met in Québec City, April 2001, to discuss the FTAA - “Free” Trade Agreement of the Americas. No one considered the community devastation wrought by Greenstone, a Canadian gold mining company, when it forcibly relocated the community of San Andrés. No one gave second thought to the destruction of San Andres' one hundred year old church. Not one “elected” leader protested the deforestation of surrounding mountainsides. No one cared that Greenstone illegally discharged pollutants into the Lara River. Not a single business leader spoke up to denounce increasing respiratory and other illnesses.