Advierte frente opositor que no permitirá a la trasnacional desacatar de nuevo un fallo
Anuncia Pro San Luis Ecológico que interpondrá demandas contra la firma y ex funcionarios
Mariana Norandi
Sábado 14 de noviembre de 2009, p. 33
En cumplimiento de la resolución del pleno de la sala superior del Tribunal Federal de Justicia Fiscal y Administrativa (TFJFA), que declaró sin efectos la autorización condicionada en materia de impacto ambiental otorgada a la empresa Minera San Xavier (MSX) para el proyecto de San Luis Potosí, la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat) revocó el permiso a la compañía. Sin embargo, el Frente Amplio Opositor (FAO) a la firma dijo no confiar en que esa industria canadiense deje de operar, pues ya en 2005 desacató una resolución que anulaba su plan.
No nos vamos a confiar, porque el proyecto viene funcionando desde el segundo semestre de 2006, al amparo de una licencia que ha sido declarada ilegal. Es más, ayer, en el cerro de San Pedro, a las tres de la tarde, la minera realizó tres detonaciones
, expresó Juan Carlos Ruiz Guadalajara, del FAO.
El día en que vencía el plazo para que la Semarnat emitiera y notificara a la firma canadiense la revocación de la autorización condicionada que en materia de impacto ambiental le fue otorgada mediante el oficio SGPA/DGIRA/DG 0567/06 el 10 de abril de 2006, la dependencia federal, siguiendo los lineamientos establecidos por dicho tribunal, emitió la resolución.
Ruiz Guadalajara expresó que duda que Minera San Xavier acate la sentencia, debido a que desde 2005, retando a la justicia mexicana, ha declarado en Canadá que dicho fallo no afectará la operación de la veta.
Además, a escala local, la compañía cuenta con la protección del actual gobernador priísta, Fernando Toranzo Fernández, y del Partido Acción Nacional, por lo cual creemos que se va a consumar el desacato. Por tanto, vamos a irnos por la vía penal para detener a la firma
, agregó el activista.
Cabe recordar que el pasado 24 de septiembre el pleno del TFJFA emitió una sentencia final en el proceso legal que Pro San Luis Ecológico siguió contra la operación de la trasnacional New Gold-Minera San Xavier en cerro de San Pedro.
En ella deja sin efectos la autorización condicionada del proyecto minero del 10 de abril de 2006, emitida por la Dirección de Impacto y Riesgo Ambiental de la Semarnat, y le otorgan a ésta, que incurrió en incumplimiento de la sentencia dictada por el órgano jurisdiccional el 5 de octubre de 2005, 20 días para que emita y notifique a la empresa la resolución para que cumpla el fallo. Ayer, cuando se vencía el plazo, la Semarnat decretó la revocación.
Ruiz Guadalajara informó que la semana próxima Pro San Luis Ecológico interpondrá demandas penales contra Minera San Xavier por desacato a la anulación del permiso de operación de 2006, pues continuó con sus trabajos del 15 de octubre de ese año –fecha en que entraba en vigor la anulación– a la fecha.
Otras denuncias serán interpuestas contra el ex director de Impacto y Riesgo Ambiental, Ricardo Juárez; el ex gobernador Marcelo de los Santos Fraga; el director gerente de New Gold-Minera San Xavier, Jorge Mendizábal Acebo; el abogado de MSX, Ángel Candia Pardo, y el ex presidente de la República Vicente Fox Quesada por tráfico de influencias y por haber desacatado ordenamientos constitucionales
.
El integrante del FAO manifestó que no bajarán la guardia y permanecerán atentos ante las posibles reacciones de la trasnacional New Gold en Canadá y de Minera San Xavier, por lo cual los activistas están desde ahora alertando en ambos países a las autoridades y a los legisladores sobre la posibilidad de que la compañía siga operando a pesar de la sentencia.
Más vale que Minera San Xavier se detenga, porque de otra manera, en el corto plazo, lo único que va a provocar es un estallido social en San Luis Potosí, ya que no vamos a permitir el desacato. O la autoridad aplica la ley o tendremos que ser los ciudadanos quienes tengamos que sacar a esa empresa
, advirtió.
Revoca Semarnat autorización a Minera San Xavier
Comunicado de prensa de SEMARNAT
Desde octubre, el TFJFA invalidó permiso de impacto ambiental
Aseguran que la empresa ha causado daños irreversibles en SLP
Angélica Enciso L.
Viernes 13 de noviembre de 2009, p. 42
Parlamentarios canadienses y diputados mexicanos del PRD y PT pidieron a la empresa New Gold-Minera San Xavier cumplir con la legislación, luego que el Tribunal Federal de Justicia Fiscal y Administrativa (TFJFA) invalidó el permiso de impacto ambiental otorgado por la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales en 2006.
La empresa New Gold-Minera San Xavier opera en la ilegalidad, ya que la sentencia emitida no sólo establece la nulidad del cambio de uso del suelo, sino de todo el proyecto, sostuvo por su parte Héctor Barri, abogado del grupo Pro San Luis Ecológico. Precisó que la empresa fue notificada el 15 de octubre de la resolución judicial, la cual es definitiva.
Los coordinadores de los grupos parlamentarios del PRD, Alejandro Encinas, y del PT, Pedro Vázquez, en la Cámara de Diputados enviaron una misiva a los parlamentarios Jack Layton, Paul Dewar y Peter Julian del New Democratic, en la que les piden suscribir el comunicado bilateral, con el fin de detener de inmediato y definitivamente la explotación de oro y plata que realiza la empresa, mediante el método de tajo a cielo abierto y lixiviación por cianuro, en el municipio de San Pedro, San Luis Potosí.
El comunicado bilateral suscrito por los parlamentarios y los legisladores mexicanos señala que mediante la subsidiaria Minera San Xavier, New Gold ha ocasionado severos y en muchos casos irreversibles daños para el valle de San Luis Potosí
habitado por 1.3 millones de personas.
Sostienen que la compañía es responsable de la destrucción de una extensa zona con especies protegidas y endémicas de flora y fauna, así como de la destrucción de edificios y paisaje
. Hicieron un llamado a las autoridades competentes para obligar al cumplimiento de esta sentencia y poner un alto inmediato y definitivo a las operaciones
de la empresa.
Alertamos a los propietarios, directivos e inversionistas de New Gold que todas las operaciones que ha realizado esta empresa desde el 14 de octubre de 2009 (fecha en que fue notificada de la anulación de su proyecto) se han hecho en la ilegalidad. Exigimos a New Gold-Minera San Xavier el cumplimiento de las leyes de México.
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/11/13/index.php?section=sociedad&article=042n1soc
ENTREVISTA DE CAMEN ARISTEGUI AL DR. JUAN CARLOS RUIZ GUADALAJARA (kolektivo azul)
http://www.mvsnoticias.com/ver_noticia.cfm?id=11509
EN CANADA
From The Associated Press, November 13, 2009 - 10:13 p.m.
Mexican revokes permit for Canadian gold mine
MEXICO CITY - Mexico revoked the environmental authorization Friday for a Canadian-owned open-pit gold mine that critics say threatens one of the most historic sites in the north-central state of San Luis Potosi.
The Environment Department said in a statement that it has pulled the permit for Minera San Xavier, a property of Vancouver, Canada-based New Gold Inc., in accordance with a court ruling in October.
The ruling struck down the government's 2006 conditioned approval of the project's environmental impact statement, and ordered environmental authorities to reject the statement.
Opponents welcomed the decision. They say local watersheds were threatened by the cyanide used to leech gold out of huge mounds of crushed rock.
"This is a battle won, because the judges have given the final word," said Ana Maria Alvarado, who represents communal land owners around the Cerro de San Pedro, as the site is known.
The mine has been operating for more than two years, blasting apart mountainsides just a few dozen yards away from the church and main square of the 16th-century town of San Pedro.
New Gold has said it recovers or reuses almost all the cyanide used in the process, and says it has taken measures to protect or respect historic structures in the town center.
The impact of the revocation was unclear as the company said it will continue operating despite the court decision.
"This latest decision does not affect Cerro San Pedro's other permits, including its operating permit or its ability to conduct business," the company wrote it a Nov. 2 statement.
Opponents agree it will be tough to close the mine, especially given high gold prices.
"We're happy, but we can't declare victory yet, because they won't leave so easily," said Rafael Flores, a mine opponent. "It shouldn't be operating, but they have economic power."
The town - and the state - were founded on colonial-era tunnel mines. Shafts, entrances and old miners' housing still dot the hills.
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/article.jsp?content=b133116524
Mexican Court Rules Canadian Mining Company’s Permit Invalid
In the latest development in a long-running legal battle, a Mexican court has ordered the country’s natural resources ministry to revoke a land-use permit granted to a Canadian mining company operating in Mexico.
Vancouver-based New Gold Inc. has been embroiled in controversy triggered by its operation of an open-pit gold and silver mine in Cerro de San Pedro (Saint Peter's Mount) in the state of San Luis Potosí.
The ruling by the Administrative Justice Tribunal of Mexico ends a decade-long legal campaign by Mexican-based Frente Amplio Opositor (FAO), a broad coalition of environmental and community groups.
The court ruled that the company’s all-important land-use permit is null and void and that there is no possibility of appeal. As far as FAO is concerned, this settles a long line of appeals and legal revisions over the years and means the mine should cease operating.
New Gold, however, stated in a press release that all permits and licenses required to operate the mine are “valid and in force.”“It has destroyed about half that town now and has levelled what used to be one of the most historical sites in Northern Mexico." — Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert
“New Gold is confident that all legal requirements related to its Cerro San Pedro Mine are being achieved or exceeded and that ongoing legal activities do not impact the continued operation of the mine,” said President and CEO Robert Gallagher.
FAO has been trying to halt New Gold’s project which they allege has destroyed the better part of what was once a historic and environmental preserve protected by state decrees. This includes a mountain that was the founding site for Cerro de San Pedro in 1592 and is a symbol on the state’s coat of arms.
“They've basically flattened the mountain,” says Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert, a professor of history at McGill University who has been researching and following the issue for over five years.
“It has destroyed about half that town now and has levelled what used to be one of the most historical sites in Northern Mexico. That one mountain is actually historically extremely important—it's like the epicentre for about 400 years of Mexican history.”
The mine is located just 600 metres from the town square and about eight kilometres from the suburbs of San Luis Potosi, the state capital. The pit is 500 metres deep with an 800-metre crater. Constant rock blasting poses a threat to the community and its 400-year-old historical buildings, according to FAO.
Other concerns include the risk of cyanide—a highly toxic chemical used to leach the minerals—contaminating the water supply, and heavy use by the mine of very limited local sources of water.
New Gold says the Cerro San Pedro mine has an “enviable record” of meeting its environmental and social responsibilities and that routine third-party monitoring and reporting is performed in accordance with International Organization for Standardization requirements.
From the outset, opposition to the mine has been broad and includes not only the locals but also civil society and environmental groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace as well as politicians at the state and federal levels.
But while the mine has faced much resistance it also has its supporters, and the community has benefited from New Gold’s presence in the form of steady wages and improved infrastructure, health services, and community projects.
New Gold is the result of a merger between three companies, including Canadian mining company Metallica Resources, the former owner of the mine. New Gold’s Mexican subsidiary is Minera San Xavier (MSX).
The San Pedro operation has been a flashpoint for conflict since its inception 13 years ago.
Mayor Oscar Laredo said publicly that he was threatened with being shot unless he signed the permit that would allow the mine to operate.
FAO lawyer and activist Enrique Rivera Sierra is currently in Canada claiming political asylum after being allegedly harassed and threatened. In April 2006 he was badly beaten on the streets of Cerro de San Pedro. He claims his attackers were MSX employees.
But New Gold has adamantly denied the accusations. In an interview with Canadian Dimension, Geoffrey Rowan, the managing director of Ketchum Relations, a PR firm hired to defend the San Pedro project, described Sierra's claims as "wildly false, absolutely untrue, libelous."
MSX has also been accused of influence-peddling and corruption amongst state and national-level politicians. Mine opponents say this explains why the company has been able to continue operating, despite previous court rulings that have revoked its permits.
“People always say, ‘Oh, Mexico is so corrupt,’ but we have a kind of tragedy here where we have a justice system that's actually functioning, that's doing its work, that's coming out with these different rulings, and then nothing happens,” says Studnicki-Gizbert.
New Gold’s operation in Cerro de San Pedro has become the poster child for critics of Canadian mining projects in Latin America. According to Studnicki-Gizbert’s research, there are currently 1,300 Canadian mining projects across the continent.
“There are a lot of cases like [Cerro de San Pedro]. This may be one of the more egregious ones, but there are certainly a lot of conflicts generated by these companies,” he says.
Organizations such as Amnesty International, KAIROS, and Greenpeace have long been concerned about the growing pattern of Canadian mining companies whose activities abroad are having a negative impact on the environment and human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples.
KAIROS has said that Cerro de San Pedro constitutes a clarion call for regulating Canadian corporate activity overseas through binding legislation.
On Tuesday, FAO lodged a complaint with the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Toronto Stock Exchange, accusing New Gold of “withholding and misrepresenting information that is of central importance to shareholders.”
The coalition fears that if New Gold is allowed to continue with business as usual despite the court ruling, it will set an unhealthy precedent. Previous rulings against the company have not been applied.
FAO is currently organizing a campaign in Mexico and in Canada to urge authorities to enforce the court’s decision. The court gave Mexico’s Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources until Nov. 13 to comply with the ruling and revoke New Gold’s permit.
Nov 12, 2009
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/25099/
