The Hazardous Machinations of Canada’s Mining Elite
With all eyes on the shock-and-awe tariffs, slashing and burning of federal services, mass deportations, hate mongering and expansionist threats of the far-right billionaires running the White House, little attention is being paid to how elements of Canada’s corporate elite are throwing their own weight around.
As gold prices reach record highs, Vancouver-based Equinox Gold is trying to pressure the community of Carrizalillo in Guerrero, Mexico into accepting austere cuts to their land use and social cooperation agreements as a condition for continued investment in the Los Filos mine. Their ultimatum is creating a dangerous situation for the community that may deteriorate further with the very recent expiry of these agreements on Monday, March 31.
The company’s behavior is enabled by the ongoing state of impunity enjoyed by Canadian mining operations abroad. It reinforces the “Canada Brand” that mining-affected communities in Latin America are all too familiar with: a state of affairs in which standing up for community rights is often a deadly venture.
