PBI-Canada & Amnesty International Canada webinar on the impact of Canadian mining on Indigenous rights in Mexico, March 11

Peace Brigades International (in Mexico and Canada) in collaboration with Amnesty International Canada is hosting a webinar with Isela González, the director of the Sierra Madre Alliance (ASMAC) and Neftalí Reyes Méndez, a coordinator with Services for an Alternative Education (Educa Oaxaca).

The webinar will take place on Thursday March 11 a 3:30 pm EST.

To register for the webinar, please click here.

The Mexican Network of Mining Affected People has highlighted: “65 per cent of foreign mining companies in Mexico are listed in Canada.”

ASMAC accompanies Indigenous communities such as Coloradas de la Virgen in the Sierra Tarahumara region in the northwestern state of Chihuahua.

Indigenous Rarámuri defender Julián Carrillo had spoken against the environmental impacts of a concession near his community granted to a Canadian mining company without free, prior and informed consent just a week before he was murdered.

Educa Oaxaca also accompanies Indigenous communities that defend their territories from extractive projects, notably those impacted by the Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. owned mine in San Jose del Progreso in the southwestern state of Oaxaca.

That mine also lacks free, prior and informed consent from affected Indigenous peoples (including in the community of Santa Catarina Minas) and has impacted the drinking water in the nearby community of Magdalena Ocotlán.

This webinar will highlight:

– the experiences of the Indigenous communities of Coloradas de la Virgen and Santa Catarina Minas with Canadian mining companies

– the need for Canadian companies operating in Mexico to respect the UN recognized Indigenous right to free, prior and informed consent

– what people in Canada can do to hold the Canadian government and mining companies accountable for the infringement of human rights.

To register for this 90-minute webinar – that will be in both Spanish and English – click here.

PBI-Mexico has accompanied ASMAC since 2018 and Educa Oaxaca since 2013.