On Saturday, June 2, 2007, the Huasco Valley again said 

NO to PASCUA LAMA, YES TO LIFE, YES TO WATER
   
  The activities began at sunrise in the communities of Junta Valeriano and in El
Corral, located high in the Andes mountains near the  Pascua Lama project.  People
arrived to load onto buses and cars, and in a caravan traveled together to
participate in the march for the defense of water in the Huasco Valley.
   
  It was a pleasing sight, the long caravan of vehicles as they crossed the shining
backdrop of the Santa Juana reservoir, brighter than usual, perhaps to illuminate
the many people who are defending the water in Huasco Valley.
   
  There was a unsettling traffic accident, in which luckily no one was injured. 
Weaving through the innumerable curves in the road to the reservior, a bus
suddenly lost all of the bolts of one of the back wheels, and the wheel flew off
and rolled far from the bus.  The bus driver noticed, and pulled the bus over
immediately.  He checked out the "strange" accident, and the incident was
videotaped.  The passengers were transported in another vehicle in the caravan,
and all arrived in time to march in Vallenar.
   
  Once gathered at the pedestrian bridge over the Talca river, the march began, led
by a group of Andean dancers dressed in beautiful multicolor dress and followed by
a folklore music group, which accompanied the tireless dancers and friends with
beautiful Andean music.
   
  The main streets of Vallenar were covered by around 2000 marchers, who included
many social, environmental, campesino, religious and missionary groups who were
accompanied by innumerable posters and banners, showing their concern over the
serious risk presented by mining in the Huasco Valley.  The cries for the defense
of water rang out without end during the two hours of the march.
   
  Once the march arrived at the main plaza, several speeches were made, all of them
outstanding, but first came the words of the Vicar priest of the province of
Huasco, Father Juan Barraza, who forcefully defended the water and rejected
contaminative big mining in Huasco.
   
  Mario Mautz asked regional and national authorities:
   
  IN THE HUASCO VALLEY RIVER BASIN, it is unfeasible in terms of water supplies, 
to carry out ANY MINING PROCESS in a sustainable manner, because the use of 
water for industrial processes exceeds the amount of water available in the basin.
   
  WE ASK:
  1. Owing to the fact that the Huasco river basin and its affluents is a basin in
risk, the Huasco basin should be decreed as a basin of great vulnerability in the
use of superficial and subterranean water resources.
  2. That a decree of wide-ranging protection should be enforced for all of the
glaciers, ice reservoirs and similar resources in the province of Huasco in the
commune Alto del Carmen.
  3.  The province of Huasco should be decreed as a closed zone to requests of the
extraction of water for mega-industrial processes.
  4.  The commune of Alto del Carmen should be decreed as a commune closed to mining
megaproject exploration and operations.
  5. A decree should be issued to nationalize the gold, silver and other metals
which lie in the commune of Alto del Carmen.
   
  Despite the intense lobby campaign that Barrick has carried out upon authorities,
the Water Board of Huasco, universities, schools, neighborhood groups, etc., the
march turned out to be even more successful than imagined, surpassing all
expectations, which means that despite all of the forces of cooptation, the people
are ever more noticing the lies of Barrick Gold, and are deciding more and more to
march and oppose the contaminations, that they are becoming more sensitive to the
defense of water, more than ever, knowing how grave the mining impacts in the
Copiap� Valley where the river, reservoir and aquifers have been dried out.
   
  It is no less important and significant to point out the fact that the march was
peaceful, with the presence of entire families, children and even babies in their
carriages.  Many spoke of the tranquility of the march, without the feeling of
risk common in citizen marches in this day and age, the demonstration unfolded in
an environment of happiness, friendship and solidarity, defending the environment
free of mining contamination and decided in defense of water in the Huasco river
basin.

Barrick, the Water Board, and Xstrata, Worse than Rats!

The people of Vallenar are Intelligent, they Defend their Environment

Out of Chile, Out of Argentina, Barrick out of Latin America

With Strength, With Desire, OUT! Barrick Gold

The People Won't Take Any more, The People Are Sick and Tired, 
We Don't Want What Happened to Copiap�!
   
  These are some of the many phrases and chants which echoed endlessly throughout
the streets, sung by people who arrived at the city center happily hoarse from
such spirited demonstrating in the defense of the Huasco Valley.
   
  We should make special, grateful mention of the network Radial Profeta, of the
Catholic church, which transmitted the main act on the radio waves throughout the
province of Huasco, while their reporters interviewed all sorts of people who
wanted to give their testimony.
   
  After the speeches, everyone sat in the plaza and gardens and enjoyed a delicious
lunch, with filling plates of "porotos con rienda," (as we in Chile call beans
with pasta), accompanied by fresh salads and bread, and with dessert listened to
an excellent jazz group of Vallenar who delighted and captivated all with melodies
in saxophone as the people recuperated their strength after a mission completed.
   
  Later in the afternoon groups of artists led themselves in the painting of a
gorgeous mural along the shores of the Huasco River in Vallenar, to give permanent
testimony to the defense of water, painting a beautiful picture of the valley
irrigated by clean water, confronted with a sterile, brutal and destroyed
landscape lacking of the water vital for all forms of life.
   
  At sunset, activities continued in the plaza, playing recorded interviews, music
with anti Pascua Lama themes, several videos were presented, and finally two music
groups closed the successful day with the hope that the regional authorities take
into account that Huasco united will not be defeated.
   
  The March for the Defense of Water in Huasco was another pebble in the shoe for
complacent authorities without will to defend the people who keep trusting in
them, another citizen's cry in opposition to Barrick and Xstrata.
   
  With the help of all of us, Huasco united will not be defeated.