The Canadian Press reports that, “(2,500) people toting signs that read ‘No to Mining’ and ‘Respect Mother Earth’ took to the streets Tuesday in just the latest – and largest – of a series of protests aimed at an embattled Canadian mining company.”
“The march was held in Chicomuselo, a small community near the Guatemalan border where anti-mining activist Mariano Abarca Roblero was shot and killed last month outside his home.”
“Abarca Roblero was a vocal opponent of a barite mine operated near his home by Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration Ltd., and had repeatedly accused the company of damaging the water supply and acting without consulting the local population.”
“The march wound its way from the town’s entrance, past the office of local mayor Julio Cesar Velazquez Calderon and to the local church, where a mass was held. Afterward, protesters gathered in the town square.”
“The slain activist’s son, Jose Luis Abarca, met the protesters and said he was pleased with the show of solidarity. ‘The Church was always on my father’s side,’ Luis said. ‘During mass they would refer to what my father was doing and that we needed to support him, that he couldn’t do it alone. They knew we had to unite together.'”
“The mine has been closed since Dec. 7, when the government of Chiapas decided to shut it down temporarily due to environmental concerns.”
The full article is at http://mobile.canadaeast.com/article.php?articleID=898280&more.