Hear the concerns of the poor in mining disputes, Pontifical Council told

August 06, 2015

Following a papal call for a “radical paradigm change” in mining in order to protect the poor and their land, representatives of some of the Latin American communities affected by mining have written an open letter to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

“The Church cannot simply be a neutral mediator between the communities and the companies,” said the letter’s signatories, who stated that companies, “often in alliance with national and local governments and with the mining sector’s strong influence and lobby in all spaces of power, … seek to protect their operational projects and profit interests.”

“With this imbalance of strength and influences, with the lack of an adequate access to justice and to information, and in addition to the severe criminalization of social protest, it is practically impossible for there to be a dialogue with the companies and the governments that respects and accounts for the demands of the poorest people,” the signatories added.

 

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Further information:

• CIDSE open letter to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (Vatican Radio)
• Pope calls for radical change in mining, cites destruction of local communities (CWN, 7/17)