Social Pastoral offers its contribution in the debate per mining project in Mendoza

The Social Pastoral of the Archdiocese of Mendoza (Argentina) issued a statement entitled “Mining … How?”, Where offers its contribution to the differences and conflicts around mining exploitation in the region, highlighting the conditions to take into account in terms of the protection of workers, populations and environment.

The pronouncement is part of the debate by the San Jorge project, which proposes the exploitation of open -pit copper, in a deposit located more than 2,600 meters high, already about 55 kilometers from the town of Uspallata.

These days a public hearing in which positions linked to the expectation of the project in terms of economic, and its positive impact on the region are held in Mendoza; with positions that alert about the effects of exploitation in the environment.

This weekend, with the motto “Pure water is not negotiated”, various groups mobilized Uspallata in defense of natural resources. Protesters claim, in turn, that the public hearing will be convened in a difficult access place to ensure that there is no opposition to the project.

Without taking a position in this regard, Mendoza’s Social Pastoral offered a contribution that arises from the concern of the community, and in the face of differences and conflicts calls for a “responsible participation.”

The declaration starts from a context of “confusion and perplexity”, and proposes “a rational, responsible and honest approach to search for meeting and dialogue paths that hearts serene and look for effective solutions.”

To do this, he suggests that before being able to say “mining, yes” or “mining, no”, it is necessary to ask “mining, how?”.

In the mining activity, says the statement, “there is a co -responsibility of its actors, businessmen, state officials, engineers and technical professionals, who, together with the fulfillment of legal and contractual norms, must protect the physical and moral integrity of workers, from the populations involved and the environment.”

In that sense, he warns about the danger of extractivism that “only seeks to ensure economic gains regardless of another human, social and environmental horizon”, turning natural goods into capital goods.

“The claim of infinite economic growth is not sustainable in a world that is finite,”. “Nor is the fact that in the desire to generate material wealth, the living conditions of entire peoples are sacrificed, the water sources are endangered and valuable ecosystems deteriorate,” he adds.

Therefore, the Social Pastoral asks rulers, entrepreneurs, investors and citizens, “to prioritize the life of the settlers, the care of water and biodiversity above any other economic or financial interest.”

“All virtuous economic activity seeks respect for human dignity and promotes the common good,” he recalls, so he encourages “respectfully listening to those who are affected by extractivist projects, as well as” assertively assume the data of science, design dialogue platforms and anticipate the necessary transparent and honest controls oriented to the care of life in our common house. “

Finally, it exposes four requirements for a possible and sustainable mining:

1. Social license of the communities involved, reliably verified in public hearings that all the populations involved can attend.

2. Care and promotion of people, communities and the environment – before, during and after all mining entrepreneurship – without underestimating the deterioration of road infrastructure due to the use of large vehicles, the verification of environmental liabilities, nor the analysis of the runoff of the waters (both superficial and underground) affected by the mining entrepreneurship.

3. Authentic participation in profits by local and provincial communities, with a clear royalty regime, established through a precise provincial legal instrument, which takes into account the common good of the population.

4. Transparent and honest, institutional and citizens, national and international controls that clear all fear of corruption or negligence.

“We must grow in our commitment to the care of creation and the intelligent and responsible use of their gifts, to ensure the future of Mendoza with dignity and greatness of spirit, avoiding replicating dynamics of dispossession and poverty that have delegitimized the mining activity. Without a transparent dialogue with privileged participation of local inhabitants, the extraction of minerals will generate negative social and environmental impacts,” the document concludes.