Yesterday’s protest in front of the Canadian embassy in Mexico City.
Reforma.com reports (in Spanish), “Mexican organizations protested outside the Canadian Embassy on Wednesday against the killing of indigenous leader committed on March 15 in San Jose del Progreso, Oaxaca. Bernardo Vasquez Sanchez, an indigenous Zapotec community leader and member of the Coordination of United Peoples Ocotlán Valley (CPUVO) in the state was killed in an ambush by a group of three gunmen. His brother Alvaro Sanchez and Andres Vasquez local activist Rosalinda Vasquez were injured and remain hospitalized.”
“Claudia Campero, leader of the Blue Planet, said that Bernardo was a local leader who had spoken out against the mining operations of the Vancouver-based company Fortuna Silver Mines in San José del Progreso, Oaxaca, known locally by the name of the subsidiary Minera Cuzcatlán. ‘A man deeply involved in the protest against Fortuna Silver Canadian mining and its impacts on local water sources was killed,’ Campero said in a telephone interview. She said that Canadian organizations are also asking for clarification of the murder. ‘They’re looking to change the law in Canada that when human rights are violated environmental and labor out of our country the people directly affected have recourse through the Canadian legal system,’ she said.”
To see campaign blogs about the killing of Bernardo Vasquez Sanchez, please go to http://canadians.org/blog/?s=bernardo. A media release jointly issued by the Council of Canadians, Common Frontiers, MiningWatch Canada, Peace Brigades International-Canada and Rights Action yesterday can be read at http://canadians.org/media/water/2012/21-Mar-12.html.
The Council of Canadians/ Blue Planet Project is organizing a “Shout Out Against Mining Injustice” conference for this June 1-3 in Vancouver. Initial information about this “Shout Out” can be found on our website at http://canadians.org/shoutout. More soon.
