Por Roberto Carrasco Rojas, OMI
Con la Laudato Si’ hemos empezado no sólo a soñar sino a dar respuestas concretas. Con la Laudato Si’ hemos empezado a articular mejor nuestro actuar como Iglesia. Con la Laudato Si’ hemos empezado a rescatar el valor de la sinodalidad en la Iglesia. Tenemos como Iglesia Samaritana una tarea por concretizar. Tenemos como congregaciones misioneras una responsabilidad por asumir.
La pregunta cae por su propio peso: ¿qué amenaza a la casa común, pero especialmente a la Panamazonía? Se trata de una amenaza que termina degradando no sólo el ambiente, sino también la persona humana y todo su entorno social. Se trata de una forma de hacer minería, pero de manera irresponsable. Ella representa una de las más grandes amenazas en toda la región panamazónica. Frente a ella ningún estado se siente o pretende ser independiente. Se trata de economías que se basan en la depredación de los territorios y, por ende, de la vida de las poblaciones indígenas y ribereñas que se encuentran en la región. Poblaciones que con el paso de la pandemia Covid 19 se recrudece su situación de vulnerabilidad.
Hace unos días un evento reunía a laicos y consagrados a dialogar en un seminario virtual cuyo tema fue “las Iglesias y las alternativas a economías de desigualdades”. Actividad organizada por la Red Iglesias y Minerías junto a la Confederación Latinoamericana de Religiosos y Religiosas - CLAR. Los temas tratados continúan interpelándonos como creyentes frente al Evangelio que pone al pobre en el centro de la Evangelización. Inequidades e injusticias que van en aumento. El empobrecimiento de casi la totalidad de los habitantes; la contaminación de las aguas de los ríos, cochas y quebradas; un continente bendecido con tantas materias primas que terminan en las manos de unas pocas familias.
“En Guatemala, para la Mina Marlin llegó a ocupar en una hora 250.000 litros de agua. Lo que equivale a la cantidad de agua que una familia campesina del área usa durante 22 años. En Argentina, las madres han tenido que bañar a sus hijos con el agua que saben que está envenenada con cianuro derramado por la Barrick Gold, para le extracción minera. Los cuerpos son envenenados, las extensiones de los cuerpos, amputados, heridos, masacrados. Estos episodios como muchos otros que se viven de forma permanente en muchos territorios de nuestras América Latina, en donde los intereses transnacionales y del capital, actúan por encima de las personas, las familias, la madre tierra, la vida. Como vemos, la minería está íntimamente ligada a la injusticia climática y a la profundización de una economía de desigualdades”.
Resuenan así las palabras de Daniela Andrade, una mujer laica que forma parte de la campaña de desinversión en minería.
“Se llevaron el oro de nuestras tierras. Y ahora nuestros manantiales de agua están afectados. Nuestras casas están agrietadas, y tenemos enfermedades en la piel. Y ahora la empresa se marcha. Han obtenido buenos beneficios con lo que llevaron de San Miguel a Canadá. Y nosotros, nos quedamos con el daño que se ha hecho”.
¿Qué están pensando aquellos que tienen sus inversiones en este tipo de rubros? Recordemos que en el Sínodo para la Región Panamazónica del 2019 “asumimos y apoyamos las campañas de desinversión de compañías extractivas relacionadas al daño socio-ecológico de la Amazonía” (Sínodo de los Obispos. Asamblea Especial para la región panamazónica, Documento Final, 70). ¿Cómo, dónde y quiénes toman las decisiones sobre estos territorios?
Y nosotros como Iglesia Samaritana, como congregaciones misioneras hacia dónde estamos apuntando. “La campaña busca una acción coherente y ética para el manejo de sus inversiones…”, nos lo recuerda Daniela Andrade.
Responsible Mining: A Call to Action
Thanks to Laudato Si’ we have begun not only to dream but to give concrete answers. Thanks to Laudato Si’ we have started to articulate better our call to action as Church. Thanks to Laudato Si’ we have begun to rescue the practice of synodality in the Church. As a Samaritan Church, we have a mission to complete. As missionary congregations, we have a responsibility to assume.
The obvious and most important question we should ask ourselves is: what threatens our common home, but given the context where we live, we should also ask what threatens the Pan-Amazonian region? These threats end up degrading not only the environment, but also the people and the entire social environment. Irresponsible mining represents one of the greatest threats in the entire Pan-Amazon region. When dealing with it, no government feels or pretends to be independent from it. Unfortunately, we have economies in the region that are based on the degradation of the territories and lives of the indigenous and coastal populations. The situation for these vulnerable populations is deteriorating with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently a virtual event brought together laity and religious to dialogue and the theme chosen was «the Churches and the alternatives to economies of inequality.» This activity was organized by the Churches and Mining Network together with the Latin American Confederation of Religious Men and Women (CLAR). The topics discussed continue to challenge us as believers of the Gospel, which places the poor at the center of Evangelization. We realize that inequities and injustices are increasing. The impoverishment of almost the totality of the continent’s inhabitants and; the contamination of the waters (rivers, lakes, and streams) is appalling on a continent blessed with so many natural resources and raw materials that end up in the hands of a few families.
«In Guatemala, Marlin Mine uses 250,000 liters of water in one hour. This amount of water is equivalent to the amount of water that a peasant family in the area uses for 22 years. In Argentina, mothers lack access to clean water and bathe their children in water that is known to be poisoned with cyanide spilled during mining extraction by Barrick Gold mining. Their bodies have been poisoned, and extensions of their bodies amputated, wounded, or massacred. Incidents like these are experienced permanently in many territories of Latin America, where transnational companies put their interests and money above people, families, Mother Earth, and life. We concluded that mining is intimately linked to climate injustice and the deepening of an economy of inequalities».
These words were the witness of Daniela Andrade, a laywoman who is part of the mining divestment campaign.
Latin America is a region where its local leaders and environmental defenders continue to be murdered. Such was the case of a young Asháninka indigenous leader, Mario Marcos López Huanca. He was an ecological defender of the El Sira Communal Reserve and was shot in the head on Monday, May 28th, 2021 in Puerto Bermudez, Pasco region, Peru. He is the seventh environmental defender leader murdered since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.
Activists believe that the extractivist economic model is threatening the life and integrity of people in the region. Latin America is a continent of inequality and the discarded (not to say marginalized). Unfortunately, Latin America is a continent where North American and European companies continue to accumulate large amounts of profits and many privileges.
«They took the gold from our lands, now our water springs are polluted, our houses are cracked, and we have skin diseases. After all they did, the company is leaving and has no accountability. They have made good profits with what they took from San Miguel, Guatemala and returned to Canada. And we are left with the damage that has been done».
These words were the witness of Crisanta López, leader of the Marlin Mine resistance in Guatemala, who shared at the event her deep pain and a summary of what mining has meant for her community in Guatemala.
What are those who have these kinds of investment thinking? Let us remember the commitment made at the Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region of 2019: «We assume and support the campaigns of disinvestment of extractive companies related to the socio-ecological damage of the Amazon» (Synod of Bishops. Special Assembly for the Pan-Amazonian Region, Final Document, 70). How, where, and by whom are decisions made concerning the exploitation and future of these territories?
Therefore we must ask, where are we as the Samaritan Church and as a missionary congregation, and how are we directing our analysis and advocacy? «The campaign seeks a coherent and ethical action for the management of its investments», Daniela Andrade reminds us.
(Translated from Spanish by JPIC OMI USA)
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