“SINTRACARBON”
SINDICATO
NACIONAL DE TRABAJADORES DE LA INDUSTRIA DEL CARBON
Personería
jurídica No. 000109 del 18 de enero de 1.996
NIT.
890.113.158-1
NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION ON THE
IMPACT OF THE
CERREJON MINE EXPANSION ON THE COMMUNITIES IN THE MINING AREA
During the week of October 30 to November
3, 2006, a
delegation of the National Union of Coal Workers (Sintracarbón)
worked together
with several international NGOs and the Wayuu indigenous rights
organization
Yanama to investigate the living conditions and health conditions in
the
communities in the area of the Cerrejón mine.
The delegation met with the communities of
Patilla,
Roche, Chancleta, Tamaquito II, Albania, and Los Remedios, as well as
the
indigenous reservation of Provincial and the displaced population of
Tabaco. It carried out health clinics,
conducted a public health survey, and listened to testimonies and life
stories
in all of these communities.
These communities are being systematically
besieged by
the Cerrejón company. The company
begins
by buying up the productive lands in the region surrounding the
communities,
encircling each community and destroying inhabitants’ sources of work. These communities have historically relied on
agriculture and herding (cattle and goats).
Another phenomenon we observed everywhere was that the rivers in
the
region have also been swallowed up by the company’s land acquisitions. Now the communities’ residents have also lost
the ability to fish. Because the rivers
have become part of the company’s
private property, residents who have tried to fish there have been
harassed by
the company’s private security forces and by the army.
Some have been arrested and jailed. The
goal of these policies is to eliminate
all sources of employment and the only means that the communities have
of
supporting themselves. The United
Nations has established categories of “poverty” and “extreme poverty”,
but
these communities have reduced to the conditions that we could call the “living dead”. They
do not have even the most minimal
conditions necessary for survival. They
are suffering from constant attacks and violations of their human
rights by the
Cerrejón company.
Another of the company’s macabre tactics
has been to
cut off the communities’ electricity periodically. This
is just another element in the systematic
process of annihilation of the communities, to create despair so that
they will
negotiate from a position of weakness, desperation, and hopelessness,
and agree
individually to the company’s terms.
Each of these communities has been reduced
to a zone
of misery. They have no schools,
hospitals, or basic public services.
Their water supply is unfit for human consumption.
We also saw evidence of many cases of
respiratory diseases, skin infections, mental health problems, and
arthritis. We have not yet analyzed the
results of our study on pediatric health, but we will issue a statement
on that
in the future.
Upon finishing this stage of the
investigation of the
communities affected by the Cerrejón mine by SINTRACARBON,
YANAMA, and the
International Commission, we conclude that the reality is far worse
than we had
imagined. The multinational companies
that exploit and loot our natural resources in the Cerrejón mine
are violating
the human rights of these communities.
Sintracarbón has committed itself
to the struggle of
the communities affected by the mine’s expansion. We
invite all other unions and social
organizations in Colombia and especially in the Guajira to join in the
struggle
of these communities for better conditions and quality of life and to
take on
the communities’ problems as our own problems.
As a union committed to the struggle of
these
communities, we have established the short-term goal of working to help
unify
the affected communities, to participate in their meetings, to take a
stand
with the local and national authorities regarding the absence of public
services in the communities, to begin a dialogue with the company about
the
reality we are now aware of, and to take a public stand locally,
nationally,
and internationally about the situation of the communities affected by
the
Cerrejón mine and its expansion.
SINTRACARBON
STANDS WITH THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE FOR THE COMMUNITIES AFFECTED AND
DISPLACED
BY THE CERREJON MINE!
¡VIVA
LA JUSTA LUCHA DE LAS COMUNIDADES DESPLAZADAS Y AFECTADAS!
POR LA EXPANSION DE LA MINA DEL CERREJON ¡!!!!
SINTRACRBON PRESENTE ¡!!!!