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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Fri Mar 22, 2013, 03:00 PM Mar 2013

Study shows resources giveaway in Latin America; Outdated model tramples human rights, environment

Public release date: 22-Mar-2013
Study shows resources giveaway in Latin America; Outdated model tramples human rights, environment

Researcher points to 'colonial mentality' as governments race to attract investors; Cites destruction of forests, rivers, way of life of rural communities in 4 nations


BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA (21 March 2013)—A new study reveals that governments in Latin America have returned to natural resources extraction to fuel development—while paying scant attention to the impact mining, oil exploration and other activities have on the environment or on the people who own the land. The study, which reported on both domestic and international investments, was released at the 14th Rights and Resources Initiative Dialogue on Forests, Governance, and Climate Change bringing stakeholders and indigenous, Afro-descendant and rural community leaders from 13 nations to Bogotá this week.

"We seem to have returned to an almost colonial mentality," said Margarita Florez, Executive Director, Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad, whose study reviewed the recent activities impacts of extractive activities on lands owned by Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants and other forest communities in Colombia, Panama and Guatemala. "Our governments are being shortsighted. They are undervaluing renewable resources such as forests and water, and are putting the rights of foreign investors before those who have lived and worked the land for generations."

Florez's study strengthens reports of a growing trend in the region of increased dependence on the export of non-renewable resources, including gold, silver, oil and natural gas. Foreign direct Investment (FDI) in Colombia, for example, has increased more than 500% between 2000 and 2010, and most of the funds are going into mining and related activities. In Peru, mining now ranks fourth in importance among industries that contribute to the gross domestic product.

In all four countries Florez found repeated instances of forced displacement of local peoples, the presence of non-state security forces, large-scale deforestation, damage to local sources of water in terms of both quantity and quality, loss of access to food sources, illegal land acquisition, the weakening of the social fabric of communities, and the emergence of parallel economic activities with significant implications for traditional communities.

The researchers also provide an overview of the legal and fiscal policies that govern investors and their use of lands, demonstrating that the laws are being interpreted so they benefit investors, with detriment to both the environment and the rights and livelihoods of the people who inhabit the lands.

More:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/bc-ssr032213.php

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