ARGENTINA: Argentine environmentalists protest mining project they claim threatens the water supply in northern Catamarca province.

Record ID: 446813

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Argentine environmentalists protest mining project they claim threatens the water supply in northern Catamarca province.
  • Date: 11th February 2012
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (FEBRUARY 9, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS RALLY SINGING AGAINST MINES ANTI-MINING POSTER GENERAL VIEW OF PROTESTERS
  • Embargoed: 26th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Environment,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6PT5JQLWNEW8KGXYXEG2JXOTX
  • Story Text: One day after police detained dozens of protesters, Argentine environmentalists rallied in Buenos Aires on Thursday (February 9) to protest the detentions during a protest against a mine in Catamarca.
    Carrying posters and playing traditional instruments, activists congregated outside the local government house for Catamarca, the province where 27 of their fellow activists were detained during the ongoing protests.
    La Alumbrera is the largest copper and gold deposit in Argentina. The Alumbrera mining company is a joint venture between Canadian companies GoldCorp and Yamana Gold and Anglo-Swiss company Xstrata.
    The 27 activists were among a group of protesters who had been blocking a regional highway for 20 days to prevent mining vehicles from entering the area.
    Provincial police broke up the protest, detaining dozens of activists who have since been freed.
    Protest leader Vilma Ripoll said authorities had chosen to side with the corporation behind the project instead of with local citizens.
    "We want to tell them to stop repressing the people who defend the highlands, who defend their lives, who defend water, who defend the conditions in which they live in order to defend the multinational mining companies' interests," she said.
    There have also been conflicts in La Rioja province against Canadian mining firm Osisko, which has caused that project to be put on hold.
    Thousands of residents of La Rioja's Famatina mountain range have participated in the anti-mining protests.
    Five years ago, Barrick Gold abandoned its controversial mines in the Famatina region which residents say contaminated local water sources.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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