The North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Blog
See our home page.(Our old blog on tripod.com is still active, but it is now also appended to the archives of this blog.)
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
from Avi Chomsky
Jose Julio and Armando in Switzerland
------------------------------
Jose Julio and Armando in Switzerland
Stephan Suhner reports on Jose Julio and Armando's week of events in Switzerland:
On Thursday Jan. 18 we met with representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of the Economy. They listened closely and offered their "good services" but not in a very concrete way. But we met with high-ranking officials. Then we met with a journalist from the national radio and from a newspaper from Zug, which is where Glencore/Xstrata have their headquarters. This interview resulted in an excellent article, including responses from Claire Divver from Xstrata attached below. On Thursday and Friday evenings we participated in a theater event in which Jose Julio and Armando gave testimony and we reached a different audience. There were interesting discussions after the play and we sold books and artisanry. The theater group (which is very leftist) gave Armando and Jose Julio the 5000 francs that they received for the performance. Representatives from the city and canton of Zug attended Friday night's performance, and there was a public exchange in the theater between Armando and the Canton's Minister of the Economy. Afterwards we had the chance to speak further with them, making good contacts and possibily funding opportunities.
El viernes y ayer reuniones con más ONG, creo que con un balance positivo, y ayer una charla publica basicamente con estudiantes en Zurich, unas 40 personas. Hoy están en Ginebra en OIT y NNUU, mañana con otro periodista y estaremos presente en un festival de cine donde muestran la pelicula de Fran Garbely sobre el Cerrejón, y donde aparece JJ. A ver que resulta de ahí.
On Friday and Monday we met with other NGOs, and on Monday we held a public event attended by about 40 people, mostly students, in Zurich. Today they are in Geneva meeting with the ILO and the UN. Tomorrow they have another press interview and we will attend a film festival where Fran Garbely's film in Cerrejon, in which Jose Julio appears, will be shown.
(Here is the film's website, in French: http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=370501&sid=6802947&cKey=1151066337000 )
And here are Claire Divver from Xstrata's comments on the Tabaco case. Questions can be addressed to her at cdivver@xstrata.com.
- "The resettlement of the Tabaco village took place over a 5 year period, from 1997-2001. During this period, the Cerrejon mine was owned by a consortium comprising Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Glencore International and Intercor (a division of Exxon). The latter was the operator of the mine. Xstrata first became involved with the mine in March 2006, when we purchased the one third stake owned by Glencore International for US$1.7 billion. Cerrejon is operated by an independent management company. Nonetheless, as one of the current owners of the mine, we understand that there are concerns about the way in which the Tabaco resettlement was undertaken."
- "Although the resettlement of Tabaco was entirely in line with Colombian law, the current shareholders (Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata) recognise that the process did not comply with World Bank standards or with international best practice in resettlement. Based on the recognition that the resettlement of Tabaco did not meet the standards its current shareholders demand of our operations today, Cerrejon has developed a resettlement process which is in line with international best practice and has committed to comply with the World Bank standards for resettlement in full in any future resettlement process. Currently the mine is negotiating the resettlement of 3 small villages located near the mine, in accordance with these standards."
- "Cerrejon is currently negotiating the resettlement of 3 villages (not 6!) - Chancleta, Roche and Patilla - located in the vicinity of the mine. This process is being carried out according to international best practice and the World Bank Standards, in co-operation with the affected communities. As such, the process includes the commitment to ensure collective resettlement, preserving the community's identity and family units, that the resettlement provides at least an equivalent - if not enhanced - standard of living, based on a comprehensive socio-economic baseline study and requires full consultation with the community members. The currently approved expansion plans for Cerrejon do not require the resettlement of any other villages than the three mentioned above, nor any diversion of the river."
Archives
July 2004 December 2004 August 2005 March 2006 May 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 January 2008 February 2008 June 2008 July 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009
