Radio Mundo Real

Trade union leader Normando Campos, of Argentina’s Workers Central spoke about the disaster that open-pit mining is causing in several provinces as part of an international campaign to “dismantle corporate power” launched at the Peoples’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Campos said that in some cases the investments in the territory were “disguised as progress and development” in complicity with the local authorities. He mentioned the example of what happened in Bajo de la Alumbrera, to the northeast of Catamarca province and in the Andes cordillera, where after 14 years of exploitation, the mining company is moving to another nearby deposit.

“So the people are resisting again, in whichever way they can. The people have taken their defense in their own hands without need for a constitutional reform”, said Campos.

He mentioned that the mining model is expanding in the arid lands in Argentina and it “is taking all the water”, affecting agroindustrial facilities that create the “real few jobs available”.

“We are defending our jobs. The CTA not only defends employment and stability but we are good citizens”.

The union leader of La Rioja province also talked about the conflict caused by mining in the area. “We have resisted and said ’hands off’ Famatina, this is our hill and our river. It is our people’s peace cry but also a warcry, because if Famatina is poisoned we will compromise the future of the generations to come”.

The CTA representative said that there are alternatives to green economy, they lie in our peoples’ history, in our customs. We need to reclaim Mother Earth rights. We need to reclaim the value of the traditional forms of production, which does not mean going backwards”, he concluded.