Statement of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and Agricultural Community, Chile April 28th, 2010 |
Presented at the
Barrick Gold Annual General Meeting by: Idolia del Carmen
Bordones Jorquera Jaime Nibaldo Ardiles
Ardiles Mar�a In�s Bordones
Jorquera Daniela Guzm�n
Gonz�lez (interpreter and advisor) We have come from the
Huasco Valley in Chile, representing the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and
Agricultural Community. We are the direct heirs of the Native People of Huasco
Alto, and we have inhabited this land since time immemorial. Our Community consists
of 250 families of indigenous peasants, farmers and herders; we are the only Diaguita
community that remained organized after the Spanish colony in Huasco Valley and
we also have title to our lands. Huasco Valley is the
last unpolluted valley of northern Chile. Our lands guard important natural and
cultural resources, and they hold the major fresh water reservoirs of this
valley. That is why in 2006 we decided to make our Community territory a
Natural and Cultural Reserve. This is incompatible with Barrick�s Pascua Lama
and future Pachuy megaproject. Barrick Gold, without
respect for our traditions, our plans and our right to self-determination,
wants to force us to accept the mega mining in our Reserve. In 1998, Barrick
Gold seized about 124,000 acres of ancestral lands that belong to our
Community. Then, Barrick installed a locked gate that prevents the passage of herders
through our own land. This gate is illegal as this road is public, but Barrick
continues to refuse public access. The Pascua Lama
project was approved by the State of Chile in 2001 without permission from our
community. So we sued the State of Chile in the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rigths, and this demand was admitted for processing in February of this year. Although the project
officially began this year, Barrick exploration has led to the degradation of
the glaciers near the Pascua Lama project. In 2005, the General Directorate of
Water of Chile issued a report that blames the company for the loss of 50-75%
of glaciers in the area. Recently, on November 11, 2009, the Chilean Government
fined Barrick Gold for, among other things, continuing to damage the glaciers,
drawing water from unauthorized sites and breaking occupational health and air
quality commitments. Now, Barrick has
illegally extended its work to other sectors of our domain title. In those
areas, we can already see the destruction of wetlands and forests, and the extraction
of water from unauthorized sites, among other damages. These actions have led
us to bring two lawsuits against the company in the courts of Chile which are
now being processed. Also, in seeking to
better its image, Barrick Gold, in conjunction with the National Indigenous
Development Corporation of Chile, has promoted the creation of Diaguita
Communities with no territorial base. With financial support from the company, Barrick
has manipulated and corrupted our culture. They have denied that we, Huascoaltinos,
are an indigenous people, they have raised false community leaders, and they have
brought professionals to teach the Huascoaltinos about our own culture. What
right do you have to come to teach us about our own traditions? What right do
you have to manipulate our traditions, inventing costumes, dances, forms of
weaving and pottery that are not our own? With this, the company has divided
and confused the identity of our people, and has caused us great damage. We have
always been aware that in the land of Huascoaltinos there is great mineral
wealth, but our real wealth is its landscapes, the pure water rising in the
Andes, with its unique animals and plants. It is our responsibility to protect
this precious legacy, as a mark of respect to our ancestors, as a gift to our
children and grandchildren, and also as a contribution to the care of Mother
Earth and the heritage of all mankind. Therefore, as Huascoaltinos, we are going
to defend the Valley. We will not allow Barrick to destroy our land and our
culture. We will not allow you to appropriate the legacy left by our ancestors.
Today, we come here to order the closure of Pascua Lama. Shareholders, if you
continue to mine in our lands, you will remain complicit in the pollution and
destruction of our culture and you will be enriched in return for the death of
our people. We are here to tell you again that we do not need your money to
develop and we are not seeking compensation, because there is not fair
compensation for the death of our Mother. We just want you to leave our lands
and allow us to live in peace. |