The Council of Canadians is issuing this urgent notice to let authorities in
the State of Oaxaca know that we are monitoring the situation in Magdalena
Ocotlan and San Jose del Progreso. We have received urgent information that
community activists have been threatened and harassed by local authorities and
mining company workers for challenging the construction of a water pipeline to
carry water from municipality of Magdalena Ocotlan to the mine in San Jose del
Progreso without the consent of either community.

The community of San Jose del Progreso is opposed to the Fortuna Silver mine
due which would contaminate and deplete local water supplies. In 2009, 300
community members staged a blockade of the mine and were violently suppressed
by riot police. The community has continued to resist, protesting a new water
system on their land for it would be used to supply the mine. The struggle came
to a climax on March 16, 2012 with the murder of community activist Bernardo
Vásquez Sánchez. His death was the latest in a series of murders and
disappearances.

The Council of Canadians demands an immediate end to the violence against
community members and the protection of those whose lives are currently under
threat.

Please join us in sending a messaging to Oaxacan authorities demanding that
they ensure the protection of members of the community who have voiced
opposition to the mine by sending an email to the addresses below and a copy to:
[email protected]

We also continue to demand that the Canadian government intervene in recent
cases where conflicts around Canadian mining activities have led to violence
and the murder of activists. We are outraged to hear this morning of the deaths
in Chihuaha of Ismael Solorio Urrutia, and Manuela Martha Solís Contreras who
were vocal opponents of the Cascabel mine owned by Canadian firm Mag Silver,
Cinco de Mayo project. To read more about the situation in Chihuaha, please
see: http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/13848

Emails should be sent to:

Lic. Gabino Cue Monteagudo, Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Oaxaca.

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

Lic. Jesús Martínez Álvarez, Secretario de Gobierno del Estad de Oaxaca. Email:[email protected]

 

Lic. Manuel de Jesús López . Email: [email protected]

Mtra. Eréndira Cruzvillegas, Coordinadora para la Atención de los Derechos Humanos del Gobierno
del Estado. email: [email protected]