LATIN AMERICA WEEK 2013

"Digging at the heart of Mother Earth:
The social and environmental impact of mega-extractive industries"

What is Latin America Week (LAW)?
Latin America Week (LAW) is an annual programme of educational, cultural and campaigning events on issues relating to human, social and economic rights in Latin America. A range of conferences, meetings, workshops, fundraising and cultural events will take place around Ireland.
Latin America Week 2013
With the rise of the price of oil, gold and coal, a global frenzy has been unleashed by mega-extractive multinational corporations. Latin America is a region rich in all kinds of minerals and as such it is at the centre of this worldwide scramble for natural resources. Although massive political and economic changes have been taking place in the region, with the rise of progressive governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and elsewhere, the emphasis in mega-extractives is an issue of concern in the entire region. We want to explore the compatibility of mega-extractive activities with progressive regimes and the social and environmental impact of these activities. We will focus on three of the most unsustainable examples (Guatemala, Colombia, Peru) to see the impact on the communities and how they organize to face this threat. This resistance, is possible only in terms of deep and strong links of community solidarity, strong enough to resist enormous internal and external pressure.
Main events
 Conferences:
o Galway, Friday 5th April, Monday 8th OR Tuesday 9th April (tbc)
o Dublin, Saturday 6th April as part of the 8th Anarchist Book Fair, Red Room - Room 2 - in Liberty Hall. Time: 2.30pm - 4pm
o Gort, Sun 7th, Mon 8th or Tues 9th April (tbc)
o Limerick, Wed 10th or Thurs 11th April (tbc)
o Leitrim, Fri 12th, Sat 13th April (tbc)
LAW 2013 Latin American Speakers (for biographies on speakers please scroll down page)

Biographies of speakers
SANDRA SIERRA, Guatemala
Officer of Trócaire’s Governability, Human Rights, Gender and HIV Programme in Guatemala since 2004. Previously, she worked for Catholic Relief Sercives (CRS) as Education Adviser in the project Food for the Improvement of Education (Alimentos para Mejorar la Educación - PAME) and in Cáritas as Coordinator of the Research and Publication Centre. She has an MA in Management for Sustainable Human Development.
MILTON SÁNCHEZ CUBAS, Peru
From Peru. President of the Celendin Interinstitutional Platform (PIC), a network of 40 grassroots organisations from Celendin Department of Cajamarca, Peru. He is also the spokesperson of Comando Unitario de Lucha, which is a network of grassroots organisations whose aim is to defend the natural resources of the Region of Cajamarca which are threaten by the extractive industries operating in the region. He will talk about the La Conga mining project which is a project of the Yanacocha company. Shareholdes are Newmont (USA), Buenavertura (Perú) and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. This is the greatest mining project ever in Peru and it will impact rives, lakes which in turn will affect local agriculture and the health of 200 communities in 3 provinces. 5 people have been killed and 104 have been injured since resistance to the project began.
AIDA JULIETA QUIÑONES TORRES, Colombia
Lecturer and PhD student in Universidad Javeriana. Member of the Environmental Committee for the Defense of Life which monitors the socio-environmental impact of the La Colosa mine, in the department of Tolima, Colombia. Aida is a militant researcher on the issue of resistance to 3 mining mega-projects in Colombia:

1. the gold mine of La Colosa, Cajamarca-Tolima - population: small farming communities. Transnational Anglo gold Ashanti has been carrying out illegal explorations with a view to have one of the biggest open cast mines in South America. The mine
2. is in a natural reserve. In previous projects in this mine, a family - including a baby - was murdered by state agents.

Sa´th Tama Kiwe - mining concessions have been given in this indigenous ancestral land. The indigenous people have been resisting.

3. La Toma- Suarez in Cauca - mining concession given without consulting the community, which is mainly of African origin. There is also resistance form the population.

In all three cases there is a military presence and militia which is acting illegally and escalating the conflicts.
Why Community Solidarity?
Latin America has a long history of communities in resistance to enormous external and internal pressures, often expressed in a number of economic, social, political and humanitarian crises. In the face of those challenges, communities have managed not only to survive, but to creatively reinvent themselves, while they manage to resist and transform external circumstances. Thus, communities in Latin America have been at the heart of social transformation and have been a driving force in the struggle for the democratic opening of Latin America, for the struggle in defence of the commons and collective rights, and in the implementation of participatory forms of democratic control over the last decades.
Given the current crisis affecting communities all across Ireland, LASC believes that the Latin American experience is insightful and full of valuable lessons of resilience, resistance and creativity. It also provides elements to highlight the potential role of communities in mobilising to turn adverse circumstances in a chance to achieve higher degrees of democracy and social inclusion.
For more detailed info about LAW:
http://www.lasc.ie/node/567/
Or contact LASC on:
Ph: 01 6760435
info@lasc.ie