Chile

Watershed, a documentary by Lauren Rosenfeld, intimately captures agrarian life in the heart of the Andes Mountains and portrays the struggle of a Chilean farming community to preserve its culture, land, and water rights. Pascua Lama, an open-pit gold mine owned by the Canadian Barrick Gold Corporation, is the first of many projects under construction in the Cordillera between Chile and Argentina.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is visiting Chile to mark the tenth anniversary of the Free Trade Agreement between the two nations. Representatives from Chilean civil society asked the Canadian embassy in Chile to facilitate a visit between the Prime Minister and communities affected by Canadian mining companies. Their request has been denied.

Oruro, Bolivia, March 9-11, 2007

This past March 9-11, representatives from civil society organizations and churches throughout Latin America met to share and discuss the situation of environmental injustice which communities and organizations are confronting as a result of the activities of transnational mining corporations.

On January 25, 2006, 48 people were arrested when Chilean federal police (Carabineros) broke up the blockade that had been in place since the night of Monday, January 22, to prevent the passage of heavy trucks and mining machinery. After the arrests, the local community returned to re-take the intersection. According to the protesters, the peaceful occupation and blockade will be maintained indefinitely.