Mexico’s Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is mailing replies to people who wrote letters in response to a Global Response campaign urging Mexican authorities to withdraw mining permits in the Wirikuta Cultural and Natural Reserve. [See our action alert and a model letter for this campaign]. The secretariat says they have not received an application from First Majestic Silver nor from any other mining company in the region of the Wirikuta Reserve. They state that Mexican law requires First Majestic to present an environmental impact study to the secretariat, and that citizens have the right to present their concerns about the proposed mining project during public hearings that are also required by law. The secretariat's letter in Spanish and an unofficial English translation are copied below.
The government's response is confusing, because the Mexican newpaper La Jornada Jalisco reports that First Majestic Silver has opened an office in Real de Catorce (the town nearest the Wirikuta Reserve and the mine site) and that they are distributing pamphlets touting the benefits of their silver mine project. Under cover of a subsidiary called Real Bonanza, the company promises to create 750 jobs with salaries three times the regional average; it fails to say that mining is one of the most dangerous jobs anywhere, and especially in a country like Mexico where safety regulations and enforcement are inadequate.
Also, in recent statements, the company offers to “give away” to the Wixarika people the concession where their sacred site, Leunar (Cerro Quemado) is located. La Jornada reports that Pedro de Aro, founder of the Wixarika community of San Sebastian replied, “All of the Catorce Mountains are sacred, all contain the history of the Earth’s creation, from top to bottom. The veins of silver and gold inside the mountains are sacred mirrors that show how life works; they come from the blood of an ancient eagle.”
See La Jornada article, part 1 and part 2 in Spanish.
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Semarnat’s letter (Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources):
The following has been issued in reference to the e-mail you sent to Lic. Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, constitutional president of the United Mexican States, with a copy to C. secretary of the environment and natural resources, Ing. Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada and other public servants of the federal government, in which it was reported that the transnational company First Majestic Silver Corp has acquired 22 mining concessions in the Real de Catorce mountain range and the Natural and Cultural Reserve of Huiracota [sic], in the 14th municipality of San Luis Potosi, expressing your concern about the future development of a mine for the exploitation of minerals above and below ground, as well as the advisability of the use of cyanide by the same company, requesting that they avoid the proliferation of open-pit mines using such toxic substances in the state of San Luis Potosi.
Regarding this issue, SEMARNAT, being the government branch, must point out what is the established legislation, for this particular case the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration and the law of Federal of Administrative Procedure, and offer a response to any request made for particulars in this area of responsibility.
About the particular case, I would like you to know that no application has been made for a mining project promoted by the cited company or for any other in the region of Real de Catorce. Should they wish to carry out a project of exploitation and profit with the important characteristics mentioned in your communication, the company would need to first receive authorization in matters of environmental impact and risk assessment, for which they would need to present to this office a completed Evaluation of Environmental Impact in keeping with the General Law of Ecological Equality and the Protection of the Environment and their Regulations in Matters of Evaluation and Environmental Impact.
Along the same lines I would like to comment that the Evaluation of Environmental Impact contains mechanisms of citizen participation that allow for any person from the community who meets the established requirements to request a public consultation in which any interested person may propose measures of prevention and mitigation so that pertinent concerns are addressed.
In the name of the titled director of this Secretariat, I thank you for your genuine interest in the protection of the environment and the natural resources of our country.
The director of tracking and control of institutional administration SEMARNAT (Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources),
Roberto Lopez Izquierdo