Latin America and the Caribbean

Since the early 1990s, the Intag region of Imbabura in northwestern Ecuador has been the target of mining exploration. Japanese and then Canadian interests have claimed substantial finds of copper, and have promoted the idea of building a huge open-pit mine in the middle of one of the most biodiverse areas in the world – the Intag cloud forest falls into both the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena and Tropical Andes hotspots, according to Conservation International.

Communiqué: Twenty-one Honduran environmental, indigenous and human rights organizations have issued a joint statement demanding that the Honduran government create space for real and effective debate over a proposed new mining law. They also report that the congressional commission that wrote the law has been under pressure to get it passed.

News Release: The Panamanian Environmental Advocacy Centre (CIAM) observes that the Investment Agreement between Canadian company Inmet Mining Corporation, owner of the subsidiary Minera Panamá, and South Korean companies Kores and LS-Nikko Cobre Inc. violates Panama's constitution. The proposed open-pit Copper Panama project also poses tremendous threat to a protected area, which the non-profit group will continue to defend. 

Communiqué: With implications for Gran Colombia Gold's proposed open-pit mine, this communiqué from the Marmato Defence Committee and the Regional Indigenous Council of Caldas (CRIDEC) indicates that the local municipality will now prohibit open-pit mining and resettlement of the historic town centre. Recent changes to the municipal land use plan also include recognition of the Embera Chamí indigenous community within Marmato and prioritization of water and environmental protection.