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| Sonora, Mexico. The Sonora River can be seen flowing from Ures, southwest, through the state capital of Hermosillo |
La Jornada: Ulises Gutiérrez Ruelas
Hermosillo, Sonora - This Friday, residents of the Sonora River region blocked two highways to protest Grupo México's foot-dragging in remedying the damage caused in the region by what federal authorities consider to be the worst toxic spill in the history of mining in Mexico.
Inhabitants from the municipality of Ures blocked the highway from that area to Mazocahui; meanwhile residents from the municipalities of Aconchi, Baviácora and Arizpe closed the road from Mazocahui to Cananea [where mine is located].
Pedro Armando Lugo López, mayor of Aconchi and a participant in the protests, declared:
"We demand that Grupo México respond now for the damages it has inflicted on us: millions of pesos in losses in agriculture and livestock. The people do not have enough water; they have no money and no work. It is an emergency."Mayor Lugo López added that the people demand that better attention be paid to the emergency in the villages along the Sonora River, where they are living through an economic and social tragedy caused by the toxic spill from the Buenavista del Cobre mine operated by Grupo México in Cananea.
The Mayor explained:
"Grupo Mexico must respond now. Their directors must come. They can't send employees with neither the capacity nor the authorization to negotiate. They come just to listen, but they don't put forward alternative solutions for the 22,000 people who are suffering from this catastrophe."Mayor Lugo López stated that several mayors from the Sonora River region will accompany local residents who are deciding on measures to be taken. These measure could escalate in the coming days to, for example, the closure of streets and highways in the Sonoran capital [Hermosillo].
This Friday, at a meeting of the Emergency Committee attended by officials from the three levels of government, Adolfo García Morales, a representative from the Secretariat of Government Relations [SEGOB], acknowledged that an intense crisis exists in the region and that the institutions have been so worn down by the emergency that they have lost credibility with the people.
García Morales admitted:
"Grupo México is at fault and responsible for what happened in the Sonora River; nonetheless, we must recognize that we authorities must provide solutions and help get out from under this problem."García Morales acknowledged that the people along the Sonora River are tired not only of dealing with the emergency for nearly a month, but of meetings where promises are made but alternative solutions are not implemented.
In an interview, Francisco Javier Durán Villa, mayor of Baviácora, said that roadblocks are ongoing in communities like Mazocahui, Ures and Aconchi; furthermore, in their demands for an immediate response to the economic crisis set off by the environmental event, citizens have seized the offices of the region's municipal mayors. Spanish original