 
Mexican Community visited by KAIROS Delegation Celebrates Important
Victory
May 6, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From: KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Residents of Cerro de San Pedro were jubilant hearing a dramatic
court
decision involving a Canadian mining company. “We are very
happy with the
court’s decision,” says Ana Maria Alvarado Garcia.
Alvarado Garcia, member of the Broad Opposition Front, was reacting
to the
court decision, which ratified the previous court decision naming
Cerro de
San Pedro a preservation area and annulling MSX’s operation
permit. MSX is
a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company Metallica Resources.
For over
ten years Cerro de San Pedro residents and community activists have
been
resisting Metallica’s attempts to forge ahead with an open-pit
gold mine.
At the request of the Broad Opposition Front, KAIROS sent a delegation
of
church leaders to investigate the situation in Cerro de San Pedro.
Delegates heard that this mining project would threaten the historic
community, destroy a fragile ecosystem, contaminate the water supply
of the
state capital, and flatten the hill (Cerro) of San Pedro, which
is a state
symbol.
Upon returning to Canada delegates invited Ana Maria Alvarado Garcia
to join
them in Ottawa to meet with MPs, present their findings and urge
the
Canadian government to investigate the situation.
This week the Canadian Ambassador Gaëtan Lavertu visited the
community and
met with the Broad Opposition Front for the first time. “This
visit was a
direct result of the KAIROS delegation,” says Alvarado Garcia,
“we
profoundly thank KAIROS for its accompaniment, advocacy and on-going
support.”
Following the Ambassador’s visit, the Mexican courts handed
down the
victorious decision. “The MSX has lost its most threatening
appeals,” says
Alvarado Garcia, “We are now calling on authorities to ensure
that the
mining company vacates the area and removes all of its operations.”
National Lutheran Bishop Ray Schultz welcomed the news, “I
celebrate with
the residents and congratulate the Broad Opposition Front which
worked so
persistently and faithfully on rousing political will toward this
end.”
Fellow delegation member Rev. Mark Lewis, ex-Moderator of the Presbyterian
Church in Canada added, “Faith can move a mountain...or make
a mountain stay
where it is.”
For more information contact: Rusa Jeremic at 877-403-8933, ext.
225
rjeremic
Rachel Warden at 877-403-8933, ext. 242
rwarden
For background documents on the Mexico Delegation:
www.kairoscanada.org/e/economic/trade/Delegation.ASP
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