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| Miners in Coahuila, in northern Mexico. Photo: Eduardo Miranda |
Proceso: Arturo Rodríguez García
Gold and silver signify wealth… but only for a few enterprising mining companies, not for Mexico and certainly not for the Indian communities and their peasants from which such riches are taken with impunity. But since 1993, the law has allowed it, permitting the extraction of precious minerals at the cost of poisoning the land that could have instead been used for agricultural and livestock purposes. The voracity of these mining companies, which don’t pay royalties and whose low tax bills are almost a joke, are putting the self-sufficiency of natives’ daily sustenance at risk and bringing community tensions to a climax.
MÉXICO, D.F.- The mining policy assumed two decades ago by the Mexican government threatens to provoke both a social uprising as well as a serious hunger problem and, for its sheer scope, turn this issue into a national security problem.
To further extend this policy, last-minute changes to the Mining Law were squeezed into the agenda by Peña Nieto’s PRI [Party of the Institutional Revolution] party during a Congressional session on April 25. The changes, which still have to pass the Senate, do not take into account either indigenous towns or the associated agrarian sector in general and are completely unconstitutional in their violation of international treaties. Furthermore, they contravene the Pact for Mexico and essentially turn their nose up at a separate initiative currently being integrated into the Pact’s advisory board.
These aforementioned conclusions were issued by Jamie Martínez Veloz, head of the Secretariat of Government Relations' Commission for Dialogue with Indigenous Villages, who in recent months has been able to validate the havoc wreaked by mining operations throughout the country. The damage left in their wake includes the essential pillaging and plundering of farming and indigenous communities, the impoverishment of entire village populations where mineral production is most attractive and, in many cases, the irreversible destruction of the environment.
All of this, he adds, has been facilitated by lax laws, politicians with self-serving industry interests, and the indiscriminate looting of mineral resources by companies who pay next to nothing in taxes and exactly nothing in royalties.
According to the official, the risk of social uprising here is very real, and different areas of the country have already witnessed claims by affected indigenous peoples and farmers. Meanwhile, the mining consortia continue boosting their profits without giving anything in exchange.
In accordance with the 2010 report issued by the Superior Auditor of the Federation, multinational mining companies operating in Mexico had revenues of MXN $552 billion [about USD $45 billion] between 2005 and 2010, but only paid about MXN $6.5 billion [about USD $500 million] in taxes. This represents an effective tax rate of just over one percent.
According to Martínez Veloz’s figures, during the entire colonial period of history [1521-1810, almost 300 years] about 190 tons of gold and 150 tons of silver were extracted from the earth of New Spain. By contrast, 420 tons of gold and 35,000 tons of silver were mined from the same ground between 2000 and 2010 alone.
The official added that Mexico is the only country where mining companies don't pay royalties and, in case of foreign firms which have proliferated during the last decade, these don't even pay IVA [Mexico's version of VAT] because they generally bill from their countries of origin.
“The question is, if the mining industry creates jobs, contributes to development and earns big revenues, why are the indigenous communities right in the middle of these mining zones the poorest? A good example is the Sierra Tarahumara,” he suggests.Martínez Veloz points out that with this aforementioned reform, a law was passed that distills this truly complex phenomenon of environmental, social, political and legal variables down to a simple matter for firms of paying a very limited amount – 5% for use of the land, to be exact – in taxes.
“I think that there are many elements that can be questioned in court,” he opines. “But here the question is, what is the hurry in approving an initiative that burdens Mexico's indigenous peoples with an issue so delicate that it can generate clashes within our social fabric all over the country?”Ever since the Mining Law reform of 1993, the handover of mineral riches from subterranean Mexico to big corporations has chalked up alarming numbers: of the roughly 200 million hectares [494,210,760 acres] in Mexico, almost half – or 98 million [242,163,000 acres] – have fallen into the hands of mining enterprises.
According to official statistics provided by the commission representative and accessible online from the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), in 2011 Mexico had a planted surface area of 22 million hectares [54,363,000 acres]. This is the latest year reported by SEMARNAT and also represents the highest planting rate since 1981.
The same figures, updated through June 2012, establish that the total surface area in Mexico fit for both agricultural AND cattle-ranching use is approximately 106 million hectares [261,931,000 acres].
In Martínez Veloz’s opinion, considering that the rest of the national territory is environmentally classified as unproductive, the contrast between the size of this agricultural area and that of the mining industry is frightening: only 7 million hectares [17,297,000 acres] remain for food production. As such, the official prefers to measure the problem in simple terms:
“Mexico has not only handed over half of the country (to miners), but almost all of the land fit for productive use.”Beginning with 1993, when mining became the predominant industrial activity, the numbers have steadily reflected an increase in the territory conceded.
Between 1993 and 2000, the total area privatized to mining added up to more than 38 million hectares [93,900,000 acres]. During the 12 years of National Action Party administration, an even higher 56 million hectares [138,379,000 acres] were given up to industry, of which more than 30 million [74,132,000 acres] were carved up during Calderón’s term of office.
“Presidents Zedillo, Fox, and especially Calderón would have to give an explanation for the way in which they managed this sector and the serious harm they've inflicted on the country,” says Martínez Veloz.Spanish original