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Corporations Profiting from Death and Repression in Oaxaca

feurflammen | 22.11.2006 15:35 | Repression | Social Struggles | Zapatista | London | World

A List of US, Canadian and European Corporations Profiting from Death and Repression in Oaxaca



Take action locally, December 1, 2 and 3, 2006!

These companies do business in Oaxaca with the corrupt PRI government of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, and they need to be held accountable! They need to divest or face up to the crimes against humanity and against the people of Oaxaca that they play a major part in by propping up the corrupt regime of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz and the PRI.

Here's a particularly egregious example...Rio Tinto's subsidiary Kennecott has a history of illegal uranium extraction in Oaxaca, was fined and had its license canceled yet still operates in Oaxaca.

Rio Tinto PLC
6 St James's Square
London SW1Y 4LD
United Kingdom
Tel. +44-171-9302399, Fax:
+44-171-9303249

Rio Tinto Ltd.
33rd Floor
55 Collins Street
Melbourne, VIC, 3001
Australia
Tel. +61-3-92833333, Fax: +61-3-92833707

Subsidiaries:

Rio Tinto's subsidiary Kennecott was fined for illegally mining uranium in the Loxicha region in southern Mexico's Oaxaca state. Its license was canceled (in 2001). Under Mexican law, uranium extraction and processing is the sole prerogative of the state. Kennecott carried out surface exploration and drilling on three concessions in Oaxaca, named Elvira I, II and III until October 1999. (unomásuno, Dec 18, 2001) Source.

Kennecott Exploration was the subsidiary responsible and continues to have links with the state government of Oaxaca and Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.

For a brief detail, in Spanish, of Kennecott's past record in Oaxaca, Mexico: ¡Urgente! Confirman exploración de uranio en Loxicha.

Main corporate office:

Kennecott Exploration
224 N 2200 W
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Tel. (801) 238-2400
Fax (801) 238-2480

USA / Mexico office: (outside of Tucson, AZ)

Kennecott Exploration
10861 N Mavinee Dr # 141
Oro Valley, AZ 85737
Tel. (520) 544-8173

Continuum Resources Ltd., a Canadian mining corporation, which "holds in excess of 70,000 hectares of exploration ground in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Included in the property portfolio are two of the most significant past-producers of gold and silver in southern Mexico: the San Jose epithermal silver-gold deposit and the Natividad epithermal gold-silver deposit." Source: Continuum corporate site.

Management:
* Greig Hutton, P.Eng President, Director
* Lawrence A. Dick PH.D., P.GEO., Vice President Exploration, Director
* Raul Diaz Unzueta Director General, Mexico
* Robert G. McMorran Chief Financial Officer, Director
* Warren McIntyre Corporate Secretary, Director

Corporate address:
1200 - 1188 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6E 4A2
t. 604.629.0000
f. 604.669.2960
 info@continuumresources.com

Continuum is also linked through its San Jose-Taviche mine to Foruna Silver Mines Inc., another BC, Canada based company:

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Corporate Address:
355 Burrard Street, Suite 840
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada V6C 2G8
Telephone:
604 484-4085 ext. 232
Fax:
604 484-4029

Management:
Jorge A. Ganoza Durant, B.Sc. Eng.: President
Luis Ganoza Durant, B.Sc., MBA, M.Sc.: Chief Financial Officer
Jorge R. Ganoza Aicardi, B.Sc. Eng.: VP Operations
Thomas I. Vehrs, Ph.D.: VP Exploration
Simon Ridgway, Chairman: Director
Peter Thiersch, M.Sc., P.Geo.: Director
Mike Iverson: Director
Tomas Guerrero Méndez, Eng.: Director
Sally Whittall: Corporate Secretary

Other corporations involved in Oaxaca through Plan Puebla Panama (source):

International Paper
Global Headquarters
6400 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38197
901-419-9000

Boise Cascade
1111 West Jefferson Street
P.O. Box 50
Boise, ID 83728
phone: 208.384.6161

International Paper Company and Boise Cascade are currently purchasing land in Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico for plantation forestry.

ENDESA (a Spanish corporate utilities group) is the principal investor in the regional energy interconnection initiative to privatize energy and develop hydroelectric dams.

ENDESA, S.A. Headquarters:
C/ Ribera del Loira, 60
(Campo de las Naciones)
28042 Madrid
Spain
Tel: (+34) 91 213 10 00
Fax: (+34) 91 563 81 81

Harken Energy, Applied Energy Services Corporation(AESC), Duke Energy, and Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH) are all U.S. energy corporations that are investing from Mexico to Panama in the development of hydroelectric dams and the privatization of the energy grid.

The headwaters for 40% of Mexico's rivers are in Oaxaca. The companies listed plan to construct hydroelectric dams and wind energy facilities, with associated relay substations, etc, that would then be siphoned out of Oaxaca and sold for a profit in a deregulated energy market in urban Mexico, Central America and north of the Rio Grande.

This is Plan Puebla Panama and NAFTA's substitution of profit development for sustainable or responsible development: currently, 35% of homes in Oaxaca have no running water, 55% have no plumbing, and 13% have no electricity, while only 38% have all three. 40% of homes in Oaxaca have dirt floors. Source:  http://www.sipaz.org/.

Privatization is geared specifically to exclude the poor, which is an overwhelming percentage of Oaxaca's people: 72% of the employed population earns less than 70 pesos (aprox. $6-$7) a day.

These are some of the US energy companies responsible:

Harken Energy is also known due to a scandal involving then corporate officer George W. Bush in an incident of insider trading, just before the company stock lost a significant amount of value. Headquartered in Southlake, TX, Harken Energy continues to have close connections with George W. Bush's White House. Remind them that a diversified portfolio in Latin America means getting blood on your hands.

Harken Energy Corporate Office:
180 State Street, Ste. 200
Southlake, TX 76092
Phone: 817.424.2424

Applied Energy Services (AES) has a record of flagrantly violating air pollution standards and fixing energy markets by withholding supply and gouging prices. Class-action lawsuits have been filed regarding price gouging and withholding supply in California. It wants to expand this woeful record by spiking prices in Central America.

AESC Corporate Office:
250 Chaddick Drive
Wheeling, IL 60090
Phone: 847.537.1919
Fax: 847.537.1946

Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is fast becoming a mega-utility by acquiring smaller utilities and power facilities. It is closely linked to Plan Puebla Panama.

Duke Energy Corporate Office:
526 South Church St.
Charlotte, NC 28202-1904
(704) 594-6200

Other investors include Tribasa, Caros, GAN, ICA, Imbursa, Texas Connection, International Shipholding Corporation, Monsanto, Shell, Dow Chemical, Exxon, Shell, and Hutchinson Holdings.

For more information, go to these websites:

Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca

Friends of Brad Will

Indymedia

El Enemigo Comun

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