We pulled up to the encampment after sundown. A series of poles supported a tarp overhead long after the rainy season passed.
The community waited for us, anticipating the arrival of hope after a year of struggle. We made ourselves at home on the benches underneath the tarp. “It’s nice to see so many of you here tonight,” an elder exclaimed. Our presence enticed people from the community who hadn’t been seen at the camp before.
A road, a school and a medical center had been promised in exchange for granting permission to a Canadian mining company to dig up the locals’ land and sell off their natural resources. The folks outside of Escuintla, Mexico, weren’t the first community who had been made this offer.
The elders’ presence protected their land from being invaded from illegal mining. The region has a history of foreign extractors coming in, making false promises and poisoning people and the water to sell off minerals. This community had seen enough and was making their desire known to protect their land for Mother Earth and future generations.
The people of Chiapas mirror the resistance we see in our own nation and around the world. MiningWatch and Otros Mundos Chiapas are organizations you can support in solidarity.
Reducing, reusing and recycling your metals are other ways to help prevent mining in communities in resistance near and far. We made a promise to share their story in our country.
We hope you join us. In solidarity,
Jennifer Wheeler
Durango
