¿Minería o robo?

Muy interesante el planteamiento del vicepresidente de asuntos corporativos de AngloGold Ashanti (Ramiro Santa, Portafolio, 1 de febrero de 2012) cuando afirma que no se debe seguir hablando de minería ilegal para hacer referencia “a quienes se roban los minerales, no pagan impuestos, ni regalías a la nación…”. Interesante, entre otras cosas, porque llama la atención sobre la inconveniencia de incluir dentro del sector minero a quienes extraen estos recursos del subsuelo, propiedad de la Nación, sin cumplir con las obligaciones fiscales propias de esta actividad. Muy importante también su llamado a hacer no sólo un esfuerzo semántico, sino especialmente a que seamos “coadyuvantes y corresponsables para que esta actividad se realice de la mejor manera”.

Surgen al respecto algunos interrogantes. Si más del noventa y cinco por ciento de la producción de carbón del país es para exportación ¿cómo debe llamarse a estos exportadores, cuando el 68% de sus utilidades registradas en las cuentas nacionales del DANE no aparecen en sus declaraciones de renta que presentan a la DIAN? Si los extractores de metales preciosos, principalmente de oro, declaran sólo el 10% de las utilidades para el pago de impuestos ¿cómo deberíamos llamar entonces a quienes no declaran el 90% restante de esas utilidades? [Para mayores detalles y cifras oficiales, ver Razón Pública].
Guillermo Rudas. lasillavacia.com

Critica al auge minero en Colombia por Alfredo Molano

Columna de opinión de Alfredo Molano, del periódico El Espectador que plantea Interesante critica a la ola de explotaciones mineras legales e ilegales, que abren una negra perspectiva frente al conflicto armado, los daños ambientales y sociales. (Ver Aqui)

Aga es demandada por el proyecto la Colosa en Colombia

El Abogado Ambientalista Juan Ceballos ha demandando formalmente a AngloGold por los prejuicios ambientales relacionados con el proyecto la Colosa.

VER ARTICULO

Parlamentarios del Reino Unido rechazan las actividades de AngloGold Ashanti en la Colosa.

En este comunicado del Parlamento del Reino Unido, varios congresistas expresan su preocupacion por los potenciales impactos relacionados con las actividades mineras en Cajamarca Colombia, realizadas por Anglogold Ashanti.

Aga es la empresa que mas titulos mineros tiene en parques naturales en Colombia

Recomendado este articulo, sencillo y gráfico sobre la entrega de títulos mineros en Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, donde se destaca sin duda la participación de AngloGold Ashanti.

Estamos ad portas de una catástrofe ambiental en Colombia, ex ministro de medio ambiente.

Entrevista hecha a uno de los referentes en materia ambiental en Colombia, la replicamos por su claridad y enorme relevancia.

No puede postergarse por más tiempo un debate serio y en profundidad sobre el los costos sociales, ambientales y económicos de la minería.

Pero también parecen existir nexos entre la dirigencia de la derecha colombiana con las influyentes empresas mineras, como puede verse con el movimiento de empleados públicos del gobierno de Uribe a puestos directivos de la industria minera. Por lo que no se puede extrañar que existan bloqueos y sabotajes a cualquier intento de abrir un debate público y documentado.

“We are on the verge of an environmental tragedy” - former Minister for Mining

In Colombia mining is rampant. So says Manuel Rodríguez in an interview with María Isabel Rueda published in El Tiempo on 10 July 2011.

Just out of curiosity, did you hear the recording on Al Jazeera of the young Colombian executive, who said that, when it comes to mining, to convince the campesino [farmer] families you have to ‘buy’ them?

Yes. I found it grotesque.

Is that not an X-ray view of what is happening with mining in Colombia?

In Colombia, mining is rampant - both legal and illegal. I'm not anti-mining. Mining provides us with essential materials for human welfare. But it can generate many environmental problems if it is done poorly. And this country is going in that direction.

All kinds of mining titles are being granted, and in a lawless and corrupt manner...

What has been happening in recent years is unfortunate. From 2,000 mining titles we have gone up to 8,000, representing 8 percent of the national territory. Mining titles have even been granted for the páramos and the national parks. In Colombia there are 3,600 illegal mining operations, according to recent report by the Ombudsman. And titles have been granted in places where traditional mining is taking place, which is very serious. Many of these families do not have papers allowing them to mine legally, but have lived off of small-scale mining for hundreds of years.

You mean that we should not stigmatize all illegal mining, because it includes artisans?

It is one thing to talk about the traditional miners. In a country where there is so much inequality they are looking to make a living by any means possible. Another thing is to talk about the new, small scale miners who carry out illegal mining with diggers, large dredges and pumps who have multimillion dollar companies behind them, and are simply carrying out illegal mining. This has to be stamped out. The Santos administration is taking steps to do so. But they will have to appoint a special branch of the police force that is capable of moving the machinery, which nowadays can be paralyzed by satellite. They shut the machinery down and when the authorities come to move it, there is no way to turn it on.

And they say some of this illegal mining is linked to organized crime...

To the BACRIMs [Bandas Criminales Emergentes, or emerging criminal gangs], to the paramilitaries, to the FARC ... There is a problem of democratic, environmental and social security.

Is it true that, incredibly, the Colombian mining code was advised by Canadian interest groups?

According to reports from Canadian NGOs, it was developed in part by a Canadian consultancy, and with economic resources originating from Canadian technical assistance. And, what a coincidence, many of the mining companies in Colombia are Canadian. That is unacceptable, in my opinion.

This does seem to be a matter of ‘dirty money’. It is said that the Brazilian mining magnate, Batista, took a busload of councilors and politicians from Dibulla [a municipality in La Guajira], to the Rio Carnival with all expenses paid...

In the words of the Al Jazeera interview, this is a problem that is being resolved with the chequebook. That happened with the mining company MPX, belonging to the Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista. I do not know if they went to the carnival or not. It was the councilors of Dibulla and the director of Corpoguajira [the regional autonomous environmental authority of La Guajira]. It cost, on average, five thousand dollars per person. That case was reported by the Brazilian daily Folha de São Paulo, because to the Brazilians themselves it seemed outrageous. The Dibulla council has granted some tax breaks to the mining company. And it seems that the mining companies’ chequebooks are big enough not only to take councillors for a ride, but also to hire former senior Colombian officials.

Why do you say that?

There are former senior officials from the Uribe administration who have been snapped up by mining companies to be senior executives, and are assigned to handle concessions and environmental licenses.

In which cases? That is a rather sensitive claim...

MPX hired Leyla Rojas, Vice-Minister for Waters until 2010, as legal chief. On her team is Diana Zapata Pérez, former director of environmental licenses from the Ministry, and Adriana Rodríguez, former adviser to the Minister. The former director of Ingeominas [the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining, responsible for granting mining titles], Julián Villarruel, now works for AngloGold Ashanti, the company with the widest range of mining titles (550,000 hectares and seeking an additional 2000,000). The former Foreign Minister, María Consuelo Araújo, is president of Gran Colombia Gold Company, recently merged with Medoro. Gloria Lucía Álvarez, after leaving the post of director of the CAR [regional autonomous environmental authority] of Cundinamarca (2007), joined AngloGold Ashanti as its brand new legal counsel. Today she attacks the director of Cortolima [the regional autonomous environmental authority of Tolima] for publicly questioning the La Colosa project. I also find it outrageous that the former Minister for Mining, Hernán Martínez, is a member of the board of Medoro Resources. During his tenure as Minister for Mining (2006-2010) the mining code was reformed and, in the most chaotic fashion, the highest number of mining titles in the country's history was granted.

Complicated...

Former Justice Minister Rafael Nieto is president of Greystar, after his predecessor failed to obtain a license to exploit the páramo of Santurbán. They will insist. Claudia Jiménez, Executive Director of the Large-Scale Mining Sector, was the coordinator of relations between the Uribe government and the guilds, during her role as ministerial advisor of the Government until 2010. As such, she actively participated in discussions with the private sector on the reform of the mining code. So, what are we talking about?

You tell me...

Why do they hire them? As I have mentioned, some in order to arrange environmental licenses, with their influence due to their time working for the State, others to use the information they have collected while working as State officials, others because their lobbying power can overcome any modifications to the mining code. With the help of these influential officials they will prevent the country from increasing royalties from mining, which many experts and senators have spoken about.

This matter of the mining royalties is creating inequality in this country...

It is not clear why in Colombia, only 4 percent is charged on gold, whereas 12 percent is charged on salt. This is not like other countries where royalties are in line with changes in the international price of gold.

And tax breaks...

I'll give you a figure. According to economist Guillermo Rudas, who has just submitted a magnificent study of mining in Colombia, in 2007 the royalties were 1.1 trillion Colombian pesos [624 million USD] and tax exemptions were 0.59 trillion [335 million USD]. In 2009, royalties paid were 1.93 trillion [1095 million USD] with exemptions of 1.75 trillion [993 million USD].

So the royalties were practically returned! Some privileged people are riding on this mining train...

One would have to explain to the Colombian people why there are such low royalties, and why there are tax exemptions. We need to reform the mining system. The case of gold is grotesque. I do not understand how the companies involved can already be deemed to have acquired certain rights, when the major gold mining operations have not even begun, no environmental permit has been granted, and most operations are in their exploration phase.

Could it be that the large multinational mining companies are breathing down our necks and we no longer have the ability to sort out this avalanche?

Colombia does not have the institutions for that. I was taken aback when the Minister Martínez, in the previous government, wrote a column in response to Salud Hernández [a columnist for El Tiempo], saying that Ingeominas had the technical capacity to monitor and audit mining. This was a lie that he told Colombians. We have extremely weak institutions in the mining sector. The Ministry of Mines is very weak; Ingeominas is like an Ali Baba’s cave. The autonomous regional environmental authorities are not going through their best moment, and they are only now just about to resuscitate the Ministry of Environment. How do you deal with 8500 mining titles, with 19,000 in the queue, and 3,600 operations that are deemed illegal?

Are we in the process of converting Colombia into a large crater?

We are on the verge of an environmental tragedy. In the words of that great environmentalist Julio Carrizosa, Colombia is a country that is more beautiful than it is rich. If Colombians want to know what scenarios we are creating in Colombia, they should watch Mauricio Gomez’s documentaries about central Cesar, which show three things: an environmental disaster, a social disaster, and the fact that they steal all the royalties. They leave us without bread and cheese. Colombia is facing a huge threat. Is this the country that Colombians want?