Report of the Intag Solidarity Network
Denouncing the Activities of
Ascendant Copper in Intag region, Ecuador

This report is free for public circulation.

At the request of the community of Junín, Intag Solidarity Network has maintained an international human rights observer program in Intag region.  We have been present there Since February 2005.    We are recognized and endorsed by Alexis Ponce, director of Asembelia Permanente de Derechos Humanos, as well as Pablo de la Vega, director of Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo S. J.”  The program monitors the activities of Ascendant Copper.  The observers have a keen understanding of local dynamics, community sentiment, as well as the negative impact caused by Ascendant Copper´s presnece.  This denouncement and statement of concern is the product of our being present in the region on a daily basis for more than a year.

Here is a quick summary of our denouncement against Ascendant.

1.    The company uses death threats against those who oppose mining.

2.    Ascendant has paramilitarized sections of Intag region.

3.    It employs armed guards who do not have open forms of identification when operating in public spaces such as roads and community plazas.

4.    The company provokes divisions and conflicts within otherwise peaceful communities.

5.    The company offends campesino values and ways of life.

6.    Ascendant misrepresents local realities and company activities through misleading and often untruthful public statements.

7.    It manipulates resource scarcity within communities as well as regional poverty; it offers services in exchange for declarations of support for the company.

8.    Ascendant utilizes strategies best characterized as low intensity conflict as part of its campaign to eliminate opposition.

9.    The company targets children in its propaganda and “socialization” campaign.

10.    It trespasses on community property, especially in Junín, despite the presence of signs explicitly stating miners are not welcome.

11.    The company is subverting ecologically sustainable development projects pursued by community members, and targets those who organize them.

12.    It sends spies into Junín, people who gain entrance to the community by using false identities.

13.    Ascendant shows a lack of respect for local and regional governing processes, and works to undermine the authority of democratically elected officials.

14.    It fails to honour the Canton of Cotacachi´s ecological ordinance.

15.    The company violates several provisions of the Ecuadorian constitution.

16.    It fails to conduct its affairs in a transparent and honest fashion.

17.    The company attacks the integrity of foreigners working and living in Intag region.

18.    The company requires its workers to attend meetings and rallies that attack its opposition.

19.    The company seeks to provoke conflict and violence in the region as a means to defeat the resistance.

20.    Ascendant refuses to honor the demand of communities that it should leave Intag immediately.

The logic for understanding the problem is simple.

1.    The communities of Intag region are firmly against mining, and have consistently and persistently stated so in an open, transparent, and public fashion.  Communities like Junín have been in resistance to mining projects since the early 1990s.  In 1997 they defeated Mitsubishi Corporation (Bishi Metals).  They have stated to Ascendant Copper, multiple times, that they do not want mining.

2.    Ascendant Copper is a minor, if not insignificant, mining company.  They lack financial resources, technological expertise, experience, and, most importantly, an understanding of Ecuador.  The company is not competent to accomplish building an open-pit mine on the scale as proposed for Junín.  Actually building the mine is not their game.  Instead, they are speculators.  Ascendant Copper seeks to make their fortune by preparing Intag for mining (socializing) and securing concessions.  They hope to sale this package to one of the major mining companies.

3.    Ascendant Copper knows full well that no major mining company will purchase their concession as long as communities like Junín are organized in resistance to mining.  Resistance makes their “product” –an Intag willing to have mining– worthless.

4.    In order to succeed in speculation, Ascendant Copper has to eliminate the resistance to mining in Intag region.  Hence, the company constitutes a real threat to the well being and physical security of community members.

5.    Steadfast resistance to mining also means that Ascendant Copper´s plans for Intag region are delayed, significantly so.  Delay means a drain on the company´s limited financial resources, and a lack of investor confidence (assuming that the company ever enjoyed any investor confidence).

6.    As resistance persists and company resources decline, Ascendant Copper´s action appears to be increasingly desperate and dangerous.

Given this logic, please take into consideration some of the following facts.

1.    Mr. Gary Davis, the American CEO of Ascendant, is on record as stating that Ascendant Copper will ¨respect the wishes of the communities.¨  He has stated that if the communities do not want mining, Ascendant will leave.  The communities of Intag have stated multiple times they do not want mining and want Ascendant to leave.  This statement was most recently made on May 20, 2006, when 7 Parish government presidents, the legitimately constituted authorities of Intag region, demanded that Ascendant leave Intag immediately (See Appendix One).

2.    Mr. Gary Davis is on record as stating that his job as CEO is to look out for the interests of the community of Intag.  He was asked, however, if that responsibility conflicted with his fiduciary responsibilities to the company`s shareholders.  He confirmed that shareholder interest was in fact superior to the interests of Intag communities.  (March 2006 meeting with Gary Davis at his office by members of Intag Solidarity Network—USA).

In addition to disrespecting community demands for the company to leave, Ascendant Copper has undertaken an aggressive campaign against people who oppose mining.

Consider some of the following facts about the guards contracted by Ascendant.

1.    These guards provide no form of open identification.  If someone were in the need to complain against the action of a guard, there is no means for identifying them.  Lack of effective identification means the guards may feel at liberty to act with impunity.

2.    The guards wear black jackets with the letters “GOSEIP” on the back.  We assume “GOSEIP” is the name of the guard company.  There is no information about how to contact the company, how to file a complaint with the company, nor how to hold guards accountable for their actions.  There is no mechanism for holding this company accountable.

3.    The guards patrol the public roads of the region, especially between Chalgoyalco Bajo and Villadorada.  Such patrols are the responsibility of the local, provincial, and federal government, not a private police force.

4.    Guards patrol the roads by riding motobikes, most often in pairs.  We have seen guards riding as the passenger openly carrying weapons, including shotguns pointed toward the roadside.  Our experience working as human rights observers in Colombia warns us that paramilitaries carry out their assassinations by this method (drive by a house and open fire, indiscriminately).  It is a direct form of intimidation, one that creates an atmosphere of fear within the community.

5.    Armed guards have also been seen walking the public roads.  In one case, on June 5, two guards were seen by observers walking with a person dressed in civilian clothing.  This person was wearing dark sun glasses, and carried a shotgun slung over his shoulder.  Again, our experience in Colombia advises us to denounce that such a patrol, especially with the civilian present, is a paramilitary tactic and not the legitimate actions of a private security force.

6.    Guards frequently undertake intimidating measures at the homes of key community members.  In the case of Polivio Perez, for example, guards on motobike do loops in front of the house, especially when Mr. Perez is away from home and his wife Sonia is alone with their 5 young children.  We have direct testimony of Mrs. Perez about her feeling of insecurity, especially when the guards on motobike pass her house with guns.

The Intag Solidarity Network fully recognizes the right of Ascendant Copper to defend its legitimate property rights in Ecuador (virtually all of the company´s property claims are contested in courts right now, the company does not have secure title to property they claim).  We insist, however, that when guards leave the private property of the company and are in public domain, they are not acting as guards but as a paramilitary unit, especially if the guards have no identification or if armed people dressed as civilians are involved.

Ascendant`s paramilitarization of Intag region is part of a larger campaign to eliminate the resistance.  It is best defined as low intensity conflict.  Tactics of fear and intimidation are central to this strategy.  Obviously, armed men patrolling roads is designed to intimidate people, to create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.  The company`s low intensity conflict, however, also includes the use of threats against community members.  A few examples will suffice.

1.    The president of the ecotourism committee of Junín reports receiving death threats.

2.    The 13 year old nephew of Junín´s ecotourism committee president told the observers that he has received death threats.

3.    Polivio Perez is a regular target of death threats.

4.    The president of the ecotourism committee of Junín has received multiple threats that the “miners” (local term for those who support Ascendant) are going to burn down Junín`s ecotourism cabana.  We note with concern that a family with 3 children lives at the Cabana complex.

5.    Recently, the president of the community of Peñaherrera recently received a death threat.  He denounced this threat in a public fashion in May.

6.    The President of the regional coffee grower`s association (ACRII) has also received death threats.  These were denounced by the association in a letter to Gary Davis.  No reply was ever offered.

7.    Carlos Zorrilla, a local member of the grassroots organization DECOIN consistently receives death threats.  He recently received news from a second party that four people driving a brand-new pick-up truck, of the type Daimiservices (Ascendant contractor) is fond of using, were planning to go to Carlos Zorrilla´s house to kill him.  This threat happened just before the May 20 anti-mining rally in Garcia Moreno.  He also received a phone death threat in December 2005, which he denounced to the police.

A core strategy of Ascendant Copper in its low intensity conflict campaign is to create community division as well as exploit those that already exist.  This objective is accomplished by several measures.

1.    The company attempts to buy out community members by offering lump-sum payments for individuals to abandon the resistance.  Polivio Perez, for example, is on record stating the company offered him $100,000 to leave the country.

2.    “Miners” spread rumours and disinformation about community members, creating an atmosphere of distrust.  As these communities receive and distribute information and news orally, those gifted at the art of “chisme” can do considerable damage.

3.    Ascendant attempts to buy land of community members, offering prices well above market price.  In communities like Junín, selling property to the company is an extreme act of betrayal to the community´s agrarian value system, and often leads to deep arguments between community members, and often results in the seller being expelled from the community.  In one example, the former community president, Cesar Calvachi, negotiated with the company to sell his property. He has stated in public that he did not sell because the company failed to deliver upon the agreed price.  Nonetheless, Cesar was removed from his position as community president and effectively banned from the community.  This transpired during the summer and fall of 2005.

4.    The company creates community division by manipulating resource scarcity.  In the community of Barcelona, for example, Ascendant has offered to provide schools with computers.  This offer has stimulated sharp divisions about acceptance of the equipment, with parents arguing over the merits, as well as a vigorous conflict between the community president and the school teacher.  (For documented examples of company efforts to entice communities through offering services and goods, see Appendix Two).

5.    Ascendant exploits existing divisions in communities by purchasing community members who may have grievances with other community members.  In Junín, for example, a community member known as Don Bolivar, was enticed to work for the company as a driver.  Don Bolivar is one of two community members who owns a truck, which provides something of a local collective taxi service.  Previously ardently against mining, Don Bolivar explains his working for the company by asserting he was not receiving enough of the community´s business.  We note that his “betrayal” has caused considerable consternation within the community, as well as anger against the company and Don Bolivar.

The key point in these examples is that Ascendant Copper´s efforts at fomenting community divisions prevents the normal mechanisms of community conflict resolution from functioning.  We find this reality to be especially dangerous.  As any Latin American sociologist will inform, disruptions of internal conflict resolution mechanisms, especially by outside forces of “modernization” or “development,” create highly explosive situations.  It is clear that Ascendant seeks to rip communities apart in its strategy to defeat the resistance.  This has the potential to cause violent conflict within communities and the region, which further advances Ascendant´s strategy of causing fear and intimidation among the population.  As we know from Colombia, internal community conflict is a driving force to the larger structures of normalized violence, and a key factor stimulating conditions for paramilitarization.  We warn that a very dangerous situation is arising–  community conflict may converge with Ascendant´s paramilitarization of the region, resulting in a Colombianization of Intag region.  Once this process starts, a vicious conflict cycle may result, one that could be very hard to stop.  If this scenario happens, a Canadian corporation is responsible for having caused it.

Closely connected to Ascendant Copper´s low intensity conflict campaign is its program of “socializing” the region for mining.  Winning the “hearts and minds” of local residents is the key objective.  Socializing aims to make the presence of the mining company, its discourse, and its agenda “normal” or hegemonic in Intag region.  This objective requires a major paradigm shift, essentially destroying an agrarian world view, one that has developed significant features of an ecologist paradigm.  Re-programming the way people think requires Ascendant to fight a propaganda war, which it has contracted out to Daimiservices S.A.  (The activities of Daimiservices has been denounced by the Alcalde of Cotacachi, see Appendix Three).  The socializing campaign has multiple faces.

1.    The propaganda campaign works closely with the Catholic priest in Garcia Moreno.  Religion is merged with mining.  Everyone in the region knows the priest is pro-mining, especially because the priest is known by locals to allow the company to use Church property for its projects.

2.    The campaign also involves school teachers at the colegio in Garcia Moreno.  A public school using public resources finds it teachers preaching pro-miming positions to the students.  The intensity of peer pressure for a 12, 13, 14 year old person clearly violates basic rights to education free of indoctrination from teachers doing the bidding of a foreign mining company.  Parents of these children have told observers of their meetings with the teachers as well as denouncements to state officials.

3.    Ascendant Copper shamelessly manipulates the region´s poverty and its love for football.  It sponsors football clubs, and distributes jerseys to participating children.  The green jerseys sport Ascendant´s name on the front, making it 100% clear that it is the company bringing organized football to Intag.  During practice, on truck rides and at games, coaches indoctrinate kids to the world view of mining.  When three truck loads of young kids drives through the region, all wearing their Ascendant jerseys, the message to everyone is very clear:  Mining makes your kids happy.  Of course, the jerseys don´t carry a picture of ecological destruction caused by large-scale open-pit mining, nor do the coaches talk with the children about the long term consequences of mining for their lives.

4.    Socialization also means offering jobs to local people.  These jobs carry the appearance of a public works project.  Gangs of Ascendant labor can be seen doing small road repairs, mostly with shovels and picks, which are often undone with the first mild rain.  Many of these workers labor on the Ascendant “farm.”  They clear fields in gang labor formation, often in lines of 20-30 people.  Everyone is required to wear yellow rubber boats as well as yellow hard-hats.  The result is group identity, as well as an open statement to all that they are Ascendant workers.  No question, there is nothing illegal with these practices, and Ascendant is certainly entitled to employee them.  The point, however, is that the work is designed to make labor for the company normal and routine.  It re-works campesino mentality about labor by fostering time-discipline, as well as respect for hierarchy.  More significantly, the plan is to have locals labor in what appears to be innocent work, so that people frame mining as a non-threatening proposition, something that involves infrastructure development (if we can call it that) and agricultural labor, as against environmentally destructive resource extraction.

5.    Also, socialization involves offering basic services to people.  The offer, however, comes with a huge catch.  One has to agree to support mining, attend pro-mining meetings, sign blank sheets of paper (used by the company to claim regional support for its presence), or help spread disinformation about the anti-mining position.  Again, this strategy is a shameless manipulation of poverty.  Offering medical services under these terms and conditions is an insult to humanity. (See Appendix Two for testimony about services).

Ascendant Copper´s low intensity conflict against the resistance also applies a propaganda campaign defined by misrepresentations, if not deliberate lies.

1.    Many of the company´s deceptions were raised last year when Ascendant sought listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  Extensive documentation of the company´s misrepresentations was presented, and Ascendant was allowed to revise its application to address the concerns.  Those fighting to block the company´s listing were not afforded an equal opportunity to rebut its revised prospectus.  We only learned of the approval after the fact.  Like cancer, the company is undermining the legitimacy and accountability that capitalism depends upon.

2.    Typical of the misrepresentations generated by Ascendant is a map of Intag region recently distributed in the area.  It is a propaganda pamphlet, one that pretends to show all of the projects accomplished by Ascendant throughout the region.  Observers have recently visited the communities of Cerro Pelado, Barcelona, and Triunfo, all laying within ground zero of the proposed mine.  Triunfo did not even exist on the map, probably because this town of at least 150 people lies within the claimed concession of Ascendant.  In Cerro Pelado and Barcelona,  community presidents clearly indicated that projects and services listed on the map do not exist or had been firmly rejected by the community.  The map would lead the public to believe that the company has realized extensive development projects.  Unless someone actually travels to these communities and verifies the reality, nobody would know that Ascendant is grossly misrepresenting reality.  These untruths serve to undermine the legitimacy of the resistance, representing them as anti modern discontents irrationally determined to prevent Ascendant from bring the benefits of development, which Gary Davis claims would include bringing Wendys and McDonalds to Intag.  (See Appendix Two for observer report on the map).

3.    Similar to the map´s untruths about development projects is the company´s boldly incorrect claim that the concession area is not primary forest.  Likewise, they wrongly claim that log trucks rumble down roads from the Junín area loaded with freshly cut timber.  The observers confirm that they have never seen such log trucks.  In these instances, Ascendant is either ignorant of the ecology that they claim to protect, or they are flat out lying.  We can add to this record of distortions the company´s absurd claim that the proposed open pit mine would cause minimal environmental damage as well as their claim that assessments of the probable damage are overdrawn.  Gary Davis´ public statements that anti-mining claims about the environmental impact are overdrawn are contradicted by the company´s own environmental impact study, as well as the one conducted by Bishi Metals in the 1990s.

4.    Ascendant´s misinformation campaign targets foreigners resident in Intag region.  In all cases, the individuals attacked by Ascendant are outstanding citizens of region, having provided extensive contributions to the well being of the region, such as the formation of the first regional newspaper, watershed projects, forest protection programs, and endangered species protection projects.  Perhaps most ridiculous of Ascendant´s assaults has been upon Dennis Laporte, a French citizen with a long record of community development projects. We invite you to consult with the Spanish and French embassies in Quito about the direct threats and physical attacks Dennis received by miners last summer.  Ascendant claims that the resistance to mining is the work of these foreigners.  It has gone so far as to use falsified military intelligence records against these individuals as part of their smear campaign.  This argument is profoundly insulting to dignity of people from communities like Junín.  They simply do not need foreigners to be present in order for them to know that the proposed mine would displace their community, obliterating their homes in a huge pile of mining waste.  While attacking these foreigners, Ascendant never explains how and why it is permissible for them to operate in Intag region if foreigners should not be present.  Let´s keep in mind that the company is a Canadian company with a short, uninvited, and hotly contested existence in Ecuador.

The company´s troubled relationship with the truth has become a major cause of concern for the Ecuadorian government as evidenced by recent denunciations by the Alcalde of Cotacatchi province, Auki Tituani, as well as the Ministry of Energy and Mines.  In a letter to Gary Davis, on June 9, the Ministry of Energy and Mines stated, “The Ministry of Energy and Mines, concerned with the escalation of conflicts in the areas of Golden 1 and Golden 2, take no responsibility for the social problems caused by the activities carried out by your company  in the Intag Zone.”  The letter concludes by stating that Ascendant does not have the right to proceed with its operations, which currently places the company squarely in contradiction of Ecuadorian law. (See Appendix 4).    The alcalde is quoted by La Hora as having a conversation with the Canadian Ambassador in which he called Ascendant an ¨White Elephant¨, one that has violated the constitution of Ecuador.  On June 6, the Alcalde wrote a 4 page denunciation of Ascendant and Daimiservices.  The letter explicitly suspends any and all relationships between the Canton of Cotacachi and the company.  It also charges Ascendant with violations of the Ecuadorian Constitution (see Appendix 3).  When placed in the context of Occidental Petroleum´s recent expulsion from Ecuador, as well as the leftward shift in Latin American politics, Ascendant Copper´s many misdeeds should be a major cause of concern for the Canadian government, legitimate Canadian businesses in Ecuador, as well as the investing public.  One very bad, rotten apple can ruin the harvest for all.

The company has publicly stated that the resistance to mining in Intag is the equivalent to Islamic fundamentalism.  Given the current global war on terrorism, and the green light it has given for some to subvert civilized sanctions against violations of human rights and constitutionally guaranteed protections of individual liberty, we are greatly troubled by the facility with which the leaders of Ascendant Copper slap the Islamic fundamentalist label on the resistance.  In a similar tone, the company calls the resistance ¨eco-terrorism.¨  This language aims to defame a grassroots movement that has been in existence for 15 years.  It aims to justify their tactics of low intensity conflict.  It aims to shift the terms of debate about mining away from the actions and intent of Ascendant Copper.  Their use of the rhetoric of the war on terrorism constitutes an insult to those in the United States who endured the real terrorists of September 11th, and is a slap in the face of thousands of service men and women fighting today in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The company uses the December 2005 burning of Ascendant´s “farm” to justify its campaign against the resistance.  We note that this event is still under investigation, and we note that several members of the resistance face possible lengthy prison sentences if found guilty.  We also note several key points in consideration of this event.

1.    In Latin America, there is long tradition, reaching back to the early days of Iberian colonization, of peasant communities taking direct action when their security and autonomy is threatened, especially when the threat is perceived as unjust.  Direct action most often followed a prolonged but frustrated process of peasants petitioning their governments.  (See William Taylor´s Drinking, Homicide, and Rebellion). The burning of Ascendant´s “farm” is consistent with actions undertaken through history when redress of grievances are denied and peasant community existence is threatened.  While we may debate the justification, there is no question that the action is consistent with the history of peasant communities.  It should be no surprise to anyone that it happened.

2.    The fire needs to be framed within the context of the May 1997 burning of the Bishi Metals´ camp, an act that proved decisive in driving the company out of Ecuador.  If the resistance is found responsible for the fire, such accountability needs to be understood as being part of the community arsenal of resistance, one that worked in the past.

3.    The fire targeted a highly visible space (it is right on the main road).  The “farm” is located in a provocative place in the eyes of those seeking to prevent mining.  It is located within a five minute walk of Polivio Perez´s home.  As the “farm” has a history of housing armed men, its location close to Polivio Perez´s house constitutes a direct threat to him and his family.  It is also now a center for Ascendant´s drive to paramilitarize the region.

4.    Those who started the fire took measures to protect human life and guard against individual property.  This measure was the practice in 1997.  It was very far from a terrorist attack, as those who did it did not indiscriminately aim to wound or kill humans as part of a strategy to cause terror in society.

5.    Ascendant would have think that the burning of the farm was the first act in this conflict, that the original sin belongs with the resistance.  To the contrary, the fire was most likely the consequence of Ascendant´s aggressive behavior.  It is our analysis that the company´s strategy of low intensity conflict is to provoke those against mining to take direct action, such as burning the farm. Ascendant pushes, pokes, and provokes people to the point that they respond with violence (in this case, violence against property).  Once that happens, then the company claims justification for bringing in their guards, which opens the door to paramilitarization of  the region.  Also, the strategy of provocation draws the resistance into lengthy and costly legal battles, and carries the potential of jailing key members of the resistance.  Keep in mind that provocation consists of:   uninvited presence of the company, refusal to leave after demanded to do so by legitimate community officials, death threats, presence of armed guards and potential formation of paramilitary squads, trespassing upon community property, prevention of free passage of community members on public roads, threats against children, an hostile education environment for children, provoking divisions within the community, trivial legal cases and lawsuits, misinformation campaigns, slanders against foreign residents, etc. Yale University sociologist James Scott calls such situations a violation of peasant´s Moral Economy.  He illustrates how such violations often lead to violent responses, such as rebellions.

6.    The logic of violence in Intag is simple to follow.  When there is no mining threat, people in Intag live in peace.  When there is a mining threat, and petitioning falls on deaf ears and leads to dead ends, the people of Intag live in conflict.  This logic makes it clear that Ascendant is the cause of any violence in the area.  Once they respect the wishes of the communities and leave Intag, peace will return to the land.

To be clear, the communities of Intag have demanded loud and clear that Ascendant must leave.  The company´s refusal to comply with the explicit demands of the community are the cause of the conflict in Intag region.  The company is responsible for creating a tense, unstable, conflictive, violent, and potentially explosive situation in Intag region, an area know for peace and tranquillity when mining companies are not present. We warn that the company may foster conditions in Intag region that they may not be able to control, and we fear that the company may seek such a situation in order to eliminate the resistance.

Intag Solidarity Network
June 12, 2006
Quito, Ecuador

Intag Solidarity Network Newsletter–  June 2006
Volume 2, Number 3

News for the North American community in solidarity with Intag. On the web at http://intagsolidarity.org/newsletter.htm

To contribute information, see the end of this newsletter.
To subscribe or unsubscribe see the end of this newsletter.

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[1] “The Curse of Copper” July 12 screening in Toronto
[2]  Report on May 20 Rally in Garcia Moreno, by Carlos Zorrilla.
[3] Upsidedownworld article by Cyril Mychalejko about May 20 Garcia Moreno Rally.
[4] Canadian Embassy Newsletter article about Ascendant.
[5] June 11– Update, by Carlos Zorrilla (Ministry of Energy and Mine letter and Auki´s letter)
[6] June 16– Friends of the Earth Canada press release
[7] Report of ISN-USA Canadian Embassy visit.

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EDITORS’ NOTE

We apologize for the long lapse since the last newsletter.  The lack of news is not due to a lack of events happening in Intag region.  To the contrary, we have been overwhelmed with activity.  As those who have followed this drama know, there are any number of twists and turns to the plot, as well as high moments when Ascendant has tail between leg and low moments when the resistance appears to have it’s back against the wall.  The chess match between Ascendant and the communities of Intag continues, and the story remains complex.

The most important news we have to report is that on May 20 the democratically elected parish presidents that represent the communities of Intag put forward a declaration demanding that Ascendant leave Ecuador.  The declaration was the product of the provincial assembly held on May 20 in Garcia Moreno during which 500-600 people rallied to firmly say no to mining.  The company was given 15 days to leave Ecuador.  Not surprisingly, the company has not left.  Its continued refusal to respect the wishes of the communities of Intag constitutes a direct contradiction of the company’s own statements (it will respect the desires of the community), as well as any respect for democracy.  After the 15 days, the communities assembled to determine their next step, which resulted in a call for a protest march to Quito.  This march is scheduled for mid July, and promises to be a major moment in the current battle against mining.

Ascendant has launched its summer (read dry season) offensive in Intag region.  It has a short period of time before the window closes on infrastructure development and movement toward exploration phase of their project.  The company is under extreme pressure to produce positive results on the exploration agenda, as stockholders need to see results.  Much of the company’s efforts have focused on so called ¨socialization, ¨ which means fighting for the hearts and minds of the communities.  It is a major propaganda war, one that the company has contracted out to a company called Daimiservices.  Their goal is to convince people that mining is good.  They do this by a wide range of tactics, including offering jobs to locals doing things like building roads or serving as “environmental monitors.”  Workers are easily identifiable, as they wear yellow boots and yellow hard-hats.  Gangs of these workers, consisting of 30-40 workers, can be seen laboring on roads, or working on Ascendant’s experimental farm.  International human rights workers have interviewed one such company worker, who reports that Ascendant “obligates” its workers to attend rallies organized by the company in support of mining and prohibits them from attending anti-mining events.

Ascendant has also been aggressive in the area of paramilitarizing the region.  The have used the December 2005 burning of their experimental farm as pretext for bringing in a private security firm, GOESIP.  These guards have saturated the area, and have a constant public presence, often well distant from Ascendant properties.  International observers have seen these guards patrolling the public road by motorbike, with two guards riding on a bike.  The passenger is often carrying a shotgun in the ready position, a tactic used by Colombian paramilitaries to carry out assassinations.  The observers have also seen the guards walking the public roads, accompanying armed civilians, another paramilitary technique.  The company has dangerously escalated the conflict by introducing armed guards in public areas outside of their property, and have set the foundations for a potentially deadly outbreak of violence.

Intag Solidarity Network-USA is greatly concerned about the paramilitarization of Intag region and finds Ascendant to be responsible for this escalation of the conflict.  This concern resulted in ISN-USA´s writing a report denouncing Ascendant.  The report was presented to the Canadian Embassy by two of the International Observers as well as a Canadian citizen and a member of an Ecuadorian human rights observation team.

The ISN-USA report coincides with a campaign launched by Friends of the Earth Canada aimed at the Canadian government, calling upon the Auditor General to investigate Ascendant.  The campaign coincides with hearings underway in Canada about establishing ethical guidelines for Canadian mining companies operating in foreign countries.  We know from an article in the Canadian Foreign Service newspaper that the government is taking the issues of corporate misconduct very seriously.  These efforts also coincide with recent developments within the Ecuadorian government.  Recently, the Ministry of Energy and Mimes wrote a brief but strongly worded letter to Ascendant, effectively threatening to withdraw permission for the company to move ahead with exploration.  This letter came out at the same time as a ripping letter written by Auki Tituani, the mayor of the county that Intag region falls in, and one of Ecuador’s most important indigenous leaders.  The letter takes Ascendant to task for failing to respect provincial government and for not operating in a transparent fashion.

We have a long summer ahead of us.  We anticipate continued aggressive behavior by Ascendant, and we fear that it may include violent tactics on their part.  This summer may prove to be crucial in the struggle.  We thank you for all your thoughts and support.

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[1] “The Curse of Copper” July 12 screening in Toronto

The Curse of Copper Intag Solidarity Film Screening will take place at Toronto’s Metro Hall on Wednesday July 12 at 7pm in Meeting Room 302.  This event is being organized by Friends of the Earth Canada and coincides with a march in Quito organized for the following day, when the citizens of Intag (a region within Ecuador’s cloud forest) will protest the presence of Ascendant Copper Corporation, a Canadian mining company seeking to destroy Intag’s land, people and way of life in order to construct copper mines.

On July 12th, Torontonians from a wide variety of communities will gather to view a film about the Ecuadorian struggle to protect Ecuador’s endangered cloud forest from Ascendant’s greedy paws.  We are honored to have as our guest speaker, Mr. Toby Heaps, distinguished Editor of Corporate Knights magazine.  Toby will be speaking about mining, corporate social responsibility and the downfalls of resource extraction in Latin America.  Please come out, inform yourself, support environmental protection and the people of Intag.

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[2] Report on May 20 Rally in Garcia Moreno, by Carlos Zorrilla.

Intag deals a deadly blow to Ascendant Copper Corporation’s plan to mine copper in Ecuador

It was a hot, perfectly sunny day in the town García Moreno where, depending on three different sources, between 500 and 800 representatives from all of Intag’s Parishes and most of its communities, in addition to most organizations working in the Intag area of Northwest Ecuador, met to try and resolve once and for all the problems created by the presence of Ascendant Copper Corporation, which has generated a strong and determined resistance to their copper mining project (the higher estimate of attendees came from an official police report of the event)

Hundreds of men, women and children of all ages came in more than 12 small pick-up trucks, large trucks and on foot from small villages as far as 3 hours away, bringing colorful banners bearing strong anti-mining messages, and with only one goal in mind: to tell Ascendant Copper Corporation to go home.  The area has been the scene of recent and violent confrontations between communities and mining employees, which last December led to the burning of Ascendant’s mining camp in the area. Three-hundred persons from over a dozen communities assumed responsibility for the torching of the camp, and Ascendant filed three separate criminal lawsuits against 10 women and men from several farming communities as a result of three community direct-action measures.

Many of the speakers at Saturday’s Assembly complained bitterly of the deep divisions created by the presence of Ascendant in this mountainous area of small villages, clean rivers and tranquil lifestyle, situated about 4 hours away from the famous Andean town of Otavalo, Imbabura province.

Though there have been other assemblies with similar resolutions in the past, this time, the resolutions were presented by seven local government officials.  In Ecuador, Parish governments are the equivalent of a small municipal government, with their own jurisdiction, laws and Ordinances.  This is, as far as we know, the first time so many local governments have publicly called for the immediate expulsion of a mining company in Ecuador, and perhaps in the world.

About 90% of the speakers representing the Parish Governments, communities and organizations expressed their heartfelt opposition to mining, including all the Parish government officials.

At the end of the meeting the Assembly approved several resolutions, but the most important one was that,

ASCENDANT HAS TO LEAVE INTAG IMMEDIATELY

The proposal received nearly unanimous support, and a deadline of two weeks was given for them to clear out.

The resolution also called for the expulsion of any other company with links, or being financed by Ascendant- including Daimi Services and Terrambiente, and warned the national government that they will not permit the presence of this, or any other mining company in Intag.

The measure also included the creation of a new Intag-wide umbrella development organization to oversee the area’s sustainable development, based on the conservation of the natural resources.  Intag is within two of the world’s 34 Biological Hotspots, exceptionally rich in water resources, and the copper project was situated in an area rich in primary cloud forests, protecting dozens of mammal, amphibian and bird species threatened by extinction.

There were no violent incidents, due in part to the low turnout of the pro-mining faction, which did not exceed 80 persons; some of which were company employees.

For more information and to view photos of the event, please go to:  www.decoin.org

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[3]Ascendant’s Mining Days in Ecuador May Be Numbered

Written by Cyril Mychalejko
Wednesday, 31 May 2006
Several hundred mining opponents, many carrying colorful banners, marched into the town square of Garcia Moreno, Ecuador on May 20 for a region-wide assembly concerning the mining activities of Canada’s Ascendant Copper Corporation.

A declaration signed by all of the Parish presidents of the Intag region was read to the crowd, which Ecuador’s daily newspaper, El Norte estimated was close to 1,000 people. The declaration demanded that the company depart immediately.  Polibio Perez, the president of the council of communities, said the company would have until June 4 to leave.

The majority of speakers at the four-hour event denounced the company and the environmental destruction the proposed mine would bring.  Chants of “the people united will never be defeated” were repeated after each anti-mining speaker.  Only two people spoke in favor of the mine.

Gary Davis, President and CEO of Ascendant, downplayed the significance of the event. He said that according to three independent journalists (he was unable to recall their names) and company personnel the numbers didn’t exceed 180 people – a huge disparity from Upside Down World, El Norte, and local police estimates.

Edmundo Lucero, the president of Junin, has been baffled by Davis’ refusal to recognize the magnitude of the company’s opposition.

“He’s lying,” said Lucero. “Why?  Why can’t he tell the truth?”

Davis did concede it’s sometimes difficult to get good substantiated facts. “This is Ecuador and the difficulty I have here quite often is people are telling me what I want to hear,” he said.

But, Glen David Kuecker, an associate professor at DePauw University said he agrees with Lucero’s assessment.  He has been doing research and writing about Intag since 2000, well before the company arrived.

“Gary Davis’ representation of the event is entirely consistent with his proven capacity to misrepresent the local reality in the Intag region, as well as mislead the investing public,” said Kuecker. “The Intag I know is equally persistent with saying in a loud and united voice - no to mining.”

Other mining opponents have also suggested that Davis is fudging the facts and numbers to shield the harsh reality of what’s happening on the ground from the company’s shareholders.  But Ascendant’s president doesn’t believe these recent developments will hurt the project.  He said the company will stay the course.

“We have no intention of leaving,” said Davis.

But, residents of Junin are on record saying mining will only happen “over our dead bodies.” Several assembly participants suggested that if Ascendant doesn’t leave by the announced deadline they would organize roadblocks from Otavalo to Garcia Moreno, much like the indigenous free trade/occidental roadblocks which effectively shut down the country in March.

Oxy Today, Ascendant Tomorrow

Recent political developments in Ecuador have sent shockwaves to boardrooms and investors around the globe.  Multinational corporations were put on notice when the Ecuadorian government decided to expel California based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) for violating its contract with the country.

Gloria Chicaiza, The Coordinator of the Ecological Mining Action Campaign believes the government’s decision regarding Occidental was just. “Oxy violated the law and the government sanctioned them for this violation.” She said Oxy should be investigated for its human rights violations and environmental record in the country.

“I think that what happened with Oxy sets a good precedent,” she said. “In Ecuador it wasn’t just Oxy which violated the laws…Ascendant, for example, before it entered Intag already had [been involved with] various conflict in indigenous territories in the Napo province where it also has concessions…and also works with trickery and dishonesty.”

Oxy accused the government of succumbing to nationalist fervor. But the company was hugely unpopular in Ecuador, especially among indigenous groups because of the environmental consequences of the company’s operations.  In the end it came down to a legal matter and the Ecuadorian government exercising its sovereignty.

“It certainly does not help international investment in Ecuador,” said Ascendant’s Davis. “It sends a signal that international investment is tenuous in this country, although I don’t personally believe that to be the case.”

Ecuador’s unstable political environment was previously raised with the Toronto Stock Exchange by the Intag Solidarity Network-USA (ISN) and Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag (DECOIN) as a reason not to list Ascendant.

“The stock Exchange ignored these concerns and the investing public is largely unaware of the investor risks inherent to Ascendant,” said Kuecker, who is also a member of ISN. “Oxy illustrates investors could lose their shirts investing in extractive industries operating in an uncertain and frequently changing political climate.”

Davis admitted that it is possible the Occidental decision could harm his company’s operations in Ecuador, but he is still optimistic.  A recent article in Resource Investor, an on-line news-site covering the extractive industries and geared toward investors says the mining industry will take a hit.  The article suggested that miners “could face similar treatment and could be vulnerable to government takeover.”

In addition, the recent announcement that Luis Macas, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) will run for president of Ecuador could spell more trouble for U.S. and multinational corporate interests in the country.  The indigenous leader, like Bolivia’s Evo Morales, opposes free trade deals and other types of foreign investments that would not benefit the public.

Cyril Mychalejko is the assistant editor of www.UpsideDownWorld.org and is currently based in Ecuador.

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[4]  Ottawa Pressured to Crackdown on Canada’s International Bad Boys

Embassy, June 14th, 2006
EMBASSY REPORT
By Jonathan Montpetit

Extractive firms behaving well in the community where they do business isn’t just an exercise in public relations. It can have a lasting effect on their bottom line when acts of vigilante justice draw attention to abuses and consumers take notice.
Last December, a medical facility in northern Ecuador owned by a Canadian mining company was torched, literally sending more than $20,000 worth of equipment up in smoke.

But the most striking aspect of the fire wasn’t that it was deliberately set, or that a Canadian company was involved. It was that the arson was a community decision.

According to a local environmental group, more than 300 residents gathered the day of the fire to vote on a proposal to burn down the medical facility as a protest against the mining company’s activities in the area.

The mining company, Ascendant Copper Corp. of British Columbia, disputes the environmental group’s version of events. It claims opposition to the project is small, and the fire the work of a few extremists.

Still, the arson in northern Ecuador underscored the importance of good relations between a foreign company and the population where it does business. Needless to say, the prospect of locals dishing out vigilante justice in retaliation for corporate misdeeds, either real or imagined, is enough to unsettle any executive with interests abroad.

Milton Friedman may still be alive, but at least one his maxims –”the only social responsibility of business is to maximize profits” — isn’t aging as well. Corporate social responsibility, once the trendiest of boardroom buzzwords, is slowly becoming an established business practice, and a cure for the jangled nerves within Canada’s international business community. And as more Canadian businesses become dependent on the resources in developing countries to drive their bottom lines, critics say it’s time to entrench the idea of the well-behaved corporation.

“The cool factor is wearing off,” says Jay Handelman, director of the Center for Corporate Social Responsibility at Queen’s University. “Now we have to ask is this really making a difference.”

A handful of recent polls certainly seem to indicate that how a company goes about its business really does matter to Canadians. A GlobeScan survey conducted last year suggested 92 per cent were more likely to buy products from companies they felt were socially and environmentally responsible. Likewise, an Ipsos Reid poll found that seven-in-10 Canadians pay attention to corporate social responsibility issues.

But despite the attention such issues have generated within Canada, companies operating outside the country’s borders don’t always lend the matter the same importance.

Last year, a parliamentary subcommittee looking into sustainable development expressed concern several Canadian mining companies operating abroad were failing to adhere to international human rights standards. According to the report submitted to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, certain businesses were all too willing to take advantage of porous labour and environmental laws in an effort to boost profit margins.

But Mr. Handelman insists that cutting labour costs at the sake of goodwill is a recipe for disaster. The local population is an indispensable tool for a company trying to navigate through foreign customs and geography, he says. “It can be the difference between success or failure for a company.”

The management theory embodied by Mr. Friedman’s maxim encourages executives to keep operating costs at a bare minimum. In this model, assets are tangible and guarded zealously from those outside the boardroom. The social responsibility school of thinking, on the other hand, asks companies to seek value in intangibles.

“We need to protect and build on the reputation of Canadian companies as a form of competitive advantage,” says Andrew Frank, spokesman for Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR). “The fact is that we all live in the same world. One where human rights and environmental regulations should be the same for everyone.”

CBSR joined a group of prominent Canadians and legal experts late last year lobbying the federal government to pass legislation that would hold the country’s corporations more accountable for their actions outside Canada.

The letter was signed by the likes of David Suzuki and former Liberal cabinet minister Gar Knutson, among others, before being sent to then-prime minister Paul Martin. Mr. Frank is hopeful that the new government will be more willing to keep close tabs on what corporations do abroad.

“More and more companies are looking for regulatory certainty around CSR issues like human rights and climate change,” he says by phone from Vancouver. “There are companies who are investing in CSR who would like to see those investments standardized across the board.”

Corporations currently have a host of international standards that they can choose to abide by. Two of the most popular are the United Nations Global Compact and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, both of which are supported by the Canadian government. But while each is a high-profile initiative, neither has policing mechanisms.

Mr. Handelman, who nevertheless remains skeptical about the benefits of legislation, admits that many companies seek to cash in on the clean-image craze while failing to respect the spirit behind such voluntary guidelines. “CSR is not just a cheque a company sends to some cause and then wishes good luck to it,” he says.

Corporations can engage local populations by giving them important positions within the company and consulting them in the early stages of any major project, he says. Though this can be an unnerving and time-consuming process, Mr. Handelman delivers a stern warning to those contemplating a half-hearted embrace of the social responsibility ethos.

“You cannot fake authenticity,” he says from his office in Kingston, Ont. “There wouldn’t be much worse for a company to be exposed as inauthentic.”

Whether or not the federal government decides to clamp down on Canada’s miscreant corporations through legislation, pressure is mounting from elsewhere for companies to seek the moral high ground.

Alcan and Bombardier, two venerable corporations with controversial projects in the developing world, have both had their annual shareholder meetings disrupted by activists accusing company officials of irresponsible business practices. The stunts may not provoke much more than a spate of bad publicity, but shareholder activism is now harder to dismiss outright than it once was. Socially responsible investment funds (SRIs), for example, now count assets of more than $31 billion in Canada alone.

As for Ascendant, the company says since January it has been spending around $70,000 per month in northern Ecuador trying to set up a social network that will allow its mining venture to thrive. “We’re still hoping the strife goes away,” says Llee Chapman, the Vancouver-based company’s chief financial officer.

Mr. Chapman accuses the local environment group of stirring up opposition to its project, convincing locals to distrust Ascendant’s motives. To counter the group’s opposition, which he says is “completely out of control,” the company operates a traveling medical clinic and whenever possible hires locals, even if it’s only on a part-time basis. “It’s their country, it’s their minerals,” he says. “They deserve to be successful if at the end of the day if we manage to do something with the mine.”

But he knows the company, which has also come under attack from Canadian-based NGOs for allegedly shady business dealings, has to first overcome an image problem. “We’re not industrial bad guys, but it’s up to us to bridge the gap.”

editor@embassymag.ca

http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2006/ju
ne/14/pressure/

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[5]  June 11, 2006  Update

WHY IS THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINES SO UPSET AT ASCENDANT?
AND, WHY IS THE MAYOR OF COTACACHI SO PISSED WITH ASCENDANT?
(and other tales Ascendant woes)

“The Ministry of Energy and Mines, concerned with the escalation of conflicts in the areas of Golden 1 and Golden 2, take no responsibility for the social problems caused by the activities carried out by your company  in the Intag Zone”

So starts the June 6th letter addressed to Gary Davis, President of Ascendant, by the Minister of Energy and Mines (in function).

The Minister holds Ascendant Copper solely responsible for the events that took place during the June 3rd meeting, which was organized and paid for Ascendant, as well as other earlier incidences.  On that date, the meeting came undone when Mr. Ronald Andrade, the only person present who wished to challenge what the company’s representatives were telling the crowd, was physically prevented by the company from speaking.  The anti-mining faction, led by all legally represented Parish government presidents and most of Intag’s organizations and communities, boycotted the meeting.

The letter from the Ministry goes on to say that when, and only when, the company lives up to all the social and environmental commitments acquired by the company, will the Ministry go ahead and process future paperwork related to the mining project.  OUCH!

How many NO’s and in how many ways must ascendant listen to before it gets the message?
I think as long as suckers keep being born every minute who are willing to finance such a shoddy operation.

Mayor of Cotacachi Rebuffs Davis and his Crew.
If that wasn’t enough, this past June 9th, Auki Tituaña, Mayor of Cotacachi County, sent Mr. Davis and Daimi Services a damming four-page letter** accusing Daimi Services and Ascendant Copper of, among other things, lying and of having dealings with “drug-traffickers”.

This outburst came as a result of a meeting Daimi Services organized with the supposed cooperation of the Mayor’s office, but that in fact, many things had not been OK’d by the Mayor, and was done, in large part, behind his back.  When Mr. Davis and his fellows showed up for the meeting on the 9th, the Mayor would have none of it, and was outraged at the abuse by Daimi Services of giving the impression the Mayor wanted to meet with Ascendant and Daimi, and setting the venue and taking other liberties without consulting with the Municipality.

In lieu of the rejection by the Municipal governments and organizations, Mr. Davis and Juan Carlos Bermeo* (Ascendant’s Ecuador representative) had to take their party elsewhere, and meet with no more than 20 of their own people.
**We’ll have the full text of Mayor Tituaña’s letter to Daimi Services and Ascendant Copper Corporation up and translated in the next few days.

In the letter, the Mayor referred to the project as completely undoable, because it violates basic Constitutional rights.  In a newspaper interview published in today’s La Hora newspaper, the Mayor said that in conversations with the new Canadian Ambassador, the Ambassador labeled the Junin mining project a “White Elephant”.  A very expensive White Elephant; one getting more expensive by the day.  In said interview and responding the Davis’ argument that mining would bring prosperity to Intag, the Mayor said, “if they are so concerned about bringing prosperity, they should worry about Canada, which also suffers from poverty”.

And what happened to the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) that, since January of this year, Ascendant has been saying it was finished and being socialized with the communities? NOTHING.

Last we heard, the Terms of References had not even approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mines.  Legally, once the Terms are approved, the company is authorized to THEN, AND ONLY THEN, start their EIS.  The operational word here is legally; which is all dependent on the willingness of Ministry of Energy and Mines officials…………

*Juan Carlos Bermeo, Ascendant’s general manager in Ecuador, had an interesting history as head of the Department of Hydrocarbons a few years back.   The Department is part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. In 2002, the Ecuadorian Congressional Civic Anti-Corruption Commission, in an in-depth investigation related to a transfer of petroleum concessions in Ecuador’s Amazon region, found signs of responsibility in Bermeo’s involvement with the irregular petro deal (Arco Oriente y Burlington Resources Ecuador Ltd. Had failed to live up to their contractual obligations)

The main recommendation of the Anti-Corruption Commission was to ask the government to revoke the oil drilling rights in this oil concession.  One is left to wonder if Mr. Bermeo included this in his Curriculum Vitae.

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[6]  AG to investigate corruption by a Canadian mining company

Friends of the Earth calls on Canada’s Auditor General to investigate corruption by a Canadian mining company in Ecuador

(Ottawa, June 14, 2006) On the eve of a federal government-led initiative to debate regulating the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad*, Friends of the Earth has formally petitioned the Auditor General to investigate a junior mining company’s activities in Ecuador’s endangered Cloud Forest.

“The Canadian government provides massive financial and diplomatic support to its mining companies, and Ascendant Copper’s activities (ACX) offer a clear example of how these companies are being allowed to “fly the Canadian flag” abroad with blatant disregard for Canadian values of peace, democracy and corporate accountability,” says Beatrice Olivastri, CEO Friends of the Earth Canada. “The voluntary codes of conduct used to regulate mining companies are clearly not working and FOE urges the Harper government to use the opportunity provided by the roundtable process to put into practice the accountability pledge it so often refers to.”

The petition submits testimony in the form of a documentary film on community unrest incited by Ascendant Copper tactics to undermine the communities’ expressed wish to protect the Intag Cloud Forest from mining exploitation, which can be viewed at www.ascendantalert.ca.  It calls on federal Ministers to detail Canada’s provision of financial, diplomatic and policy support for the activities of Canadian incorporated mining entities that operate abroad and requests additional reports on the enforcement of corresponding laws and accountability on various codes of practice.

“In a situation where even the Ecuadorian Minister of Energy and Mines is writing to Ascendant stating that it is concerned with the escalation of conflict in the Intag and abdicating the government’s responsibility for the social problems caused by the company’s activities, where are the affected communities to turn?” asks Andrée Germain, International Campaigner for Friends of the Earth. “When you listen to the Minister of Foreign Affairs talk about Canada’s respect for democracy, human rights, the rule of law, indigenous issues, civil society participation and corporate social responsibility, you have to wonder if he’s even aware of the role his government is playing in facilitating the advancement of mining in the Intag Cloud Forest.”

“The proposed Junin mine is an expensive White Elephant that is completely at odds with what we hear about Canadian values,” says Carlos Zorrilla, President of Decoin. “We are shocked and dismayed by Ascendant Copper’s underhanded tactics that ride roughshod over democratic processes, generating deep social conflicts in our area.  Is this the kind of company that represents Canada today?”

For more information, please contact:

Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada, cell 613-724-8690
Carlos Zorrilla, President Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag (DECOIN) ++593 6 2648509 or intagcz@imbanet.net
Andrée Germain, International Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Canada 613-241-0085 ext.30

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[7]  Canadian Embassy Meeting Report- June 16th, 2006.

I thought I would send a small report about Friday’s meeting at the Canadian Embassy.  I was able to attend with two international observers from Intag {Wayne and Ping} and Alicia from CEDHU.  We met with Mark Richardson, Trade Commissioner/Vice Consul of the Embassy.  He and the Embassy are well aware of the situation in Intag and have met with Ascendant various times.  He stated that this was the first time he had been approached in person by anyone on behalf of the communities.  I gave him a copy of the report put together by Dr. Glen Kuecker, a copy of the Spanish version La Ruta del Cobre, and the latest Periodico Intag issue (No a la Mineria, Si a la Vida!).

He stated numerous times that the Canadian government is very interested in situation happening in Intag.  He mentioned that “Ottawa” (the government) was well aware of the situation and were willing to participate in sending representatives to the region to see for themselves.  He agreed that the situation has reached a critical point, but he sees the solution coming from an increase in dialogue between both sides, which the Embassy encourages.  He felt that the communities had been misinformed about a mine in the region and that they did not have access or opportunity to listen to the benefits that mining would bring.  He also feels that an increase in dialogue between the two sides will pacify the current situation. He described in detail a visit to Intag by Canadian Government/Embassy officials that was in preparation but fell apart due to the withdrawal of the OECD complaint.  The visit was sparked by the complaint lodged by DECOIN.  He stated that there could still be a possibility of a visit; however, it would include hearing from both sides (including Ascendant), and that ACX would have to have access to all concessions and other necessities for the time of the visit.  Equal time would be given to hear from both sides.  I highly doubt at this point such a process will be accepted by the communities seeing as it includes giving ACX access to various areas in Intag.

From the perspective of the Canadian government, they see mining as development; a model they promote not just in Latin America, but throughout the world.  They believe that mining was fundamental in the development of Canada and, therefore, could be an integral part to development in Latin America (especially in countries like Ecuador which are rich in mineral deposits, yet relatively underdeveloped in the mineral sector).    He stated that the job of the Canadian Embassy is to support and protect the rights of Canadian business in Ecuador until they feel the company is no longer trying to do what is best for the surrounding communities.  He was well aware of the past behaviour of ACX, but seemed to justify it by stating that they have broken connections with those causing the problems in the region and made a turn for the better.

He was VERY surprised to see the letter from Ministry of Energy and Mines.  He was not aware of it and said he would review it along with all the information in the report from Intag Solidarity.

He stated that in the recent meeting with Auki that the Mayor stated that he was not against mining in the region, but he was against the actions of ACX.

He said he had no problem in receiving future visits/meetings about the issue as long as numbers were kept within reason (5 people).  I plan to keep the Embassy well informed from now on.  Mr. Richardson told us his year contract ends in July and his replacement will be taking over at this time.  I will ask for his details as soon as they become available so that I am able to send the new Vice Consul the report and quickly get him up to speed and develop a relationship with him so that I am able to meet regularly (hopefully) to voice community complaints.

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USEFUL LINKS TO STAY INFORMED

Intag Solidarity Network [http://intagsolidarity.org]
Intag Newspaper [http://www.intagnewspaper.org/]
DECOIN [http://www.decoin.org/]

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TO CONTRIBUTE

Members of the ISN community are anyone in solidarity with the struggle in Intag is encouraged to use this newsletter as a forum to share important information. To submit an article, an update, or just a quick note simply e-mail the text to intagsol@intagsolidarity.org.

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TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE e-mail intagsol@intagsolidarity.org.

This is an official communication from the Intag Solidarity Network for members of the North American community in solidarity with the region of Intag. All content is produced by members of this community.

Copyright, 2006. Please credit Intag Solidarity Network and when possible specific authors if using information from this newsletter.