Juan Raul Junay at Canadian Foodgrains Bank Explores the Connections between Mining & Food Security

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I had the chance to get to know Pastor Francisco Machado, a Honduran citizen who criticizes unjust legislation which supports harmful activities of Canadian mining companies in his country.  He works with the Mennonite Commission of Social Action (CASM) and Association of non Governmental Organizations (ASONOG). He has a great deal of experience in mining issues. For seven years, he has been fighting to change the situation of the mining industry and the communities around it. He said that after hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998, the government of Honduras made a law that provided the companies a lot of exploration benefits in San Andres region. At one Canadian-owned open-pit mine, 3400 hectares of land used. Around 5000 ounces of gold are extracted per month, 70.000 ounces per year. To get the metals from the earth, they need to use cyanide and a lot of water in a big tailings pond. He said they call these “the ponds of death”, and this process is the most destructive for the environment. As he speaks, one can observe that the events surrounding these activities have generated on him the seriousness of the issues.  (Watch the video here)

He recently addressed members of Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba during their annual meetings at Canadian Mennonite University, stating that only 1% of the profits of the company are going to the Honduran state. He also talked about the aggressive strategies that the mining companies use to extract metals. “If the companies are so efficient to extract gold, why aren’t they efficient to protect the environment?” He encouraged Canadians to keep corporate mining activities in mind, highlighting the real issues faced by Hondurans, such as having traces of lead in their blood, and how there have been accidents that have occurred near the mine. Thousands of fish, as well as some cattle, have died as a result of toxic waste in rivers. Some of the pregnant women have experienced the loss of their pregnancies which they link with the proximity to toxic chemicals. For Pastor Machado, the main problem is the law. In 2007, around 20,000 people protested agains the 1998 mining law, which the coursts have cited as unconstitutional.

As a result of his work to bring accountability and transparency to mining in Honduras, he has received death threats, and recently found he was on a “black list” of paramilitary forces, which put him and his family in real danger. According to Pastor Machado, taking a stand as a Honduran citizen has made his life worthless in the eyes of those in power: “For this causes, our life is not worth much, or worth nothing”.

But for those who seek justice, Pastor Francisco Machado is an example to follow. Not only he has faced serious problems with powerful companies, but he has managed to keep fighting for his cause even in complicated situations.

by Juan Raul Junay, IVEP Intern at Canadian Foodgrains Bank

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