Santiago, July 18, 2007

PUBLIC DECLARATION
Prime Minister of Canada supports Barrick Gold and refuses audience with
Communities affected by Pascua Lama

We declare:

1. It is abhorrent that Stephen Harper, under the pretext of a state visit,
intervenes openly and shamelessly on behalf of a mining company whose
operations are questionable environmentally, legally, ethically and
socially.

2. It is inconceivable that the maximum authority in a country like Canada,
that promotes and supports foreign mining investments at a state level (with
the money of all Canadians), shows a total lack of consideration for the
effects that these investments generate in communities where mining projects
are developed.

3. We find it worrying that Steven Harper's agenda includes meetings with
the president and with Barrick Gold, the mining company in question, while
failing to listen to the voices of citizens accusing murder and destruction
ten years after the FTA between the two countries. It demonstrates the
double standards of the Prime Minister, who opened public Roundtables on
corporate social responsibility in his own country, while here in Chile he
refuses to meet with civil society.

4. We reject the political pressure suggested by this visit, which comes at
the same moment at which Barrick is encountering serious difficulties: on
June 21, the opening of mine areas was delayed for the fourth time, in mid
July the Inter American Commission for Human Rights will determine whether
or not they receive for processing the territorial usurpation dispute put
forward by the Diaguita community of Huascoaltinos. Three weeks ago the
congress showed their concern with irregularities brought forward by the
community of Valle del Huasco and promised to strike up an investigatory
commission on Pascua Lama. In the coming weeks, the State Defense Council
will determine what role they will play in a dispute being carried out by
the community for irreparable environmental damage with regards to the
destruction of glaciers. At the moment there is no taxation agreement
between Chile and Argentina for the Pascua Lama project, along with a series
of other irregularities.

5. For all of these reasons, we declare Mr. Harper a persona non grata and
we demand that the Chilean government defend our sovereignty and ask the
Canadian diplomats for answers regarding Harper's statements, and Harper's
agenda, which does very little to maintain the health of the bilateral
relations in our countries.

Signed:

Latin American Observatory on Environmental Conflicts (OLCA)
Colectivo Rexistencia
Movimiento Ciudadano Anti Pascualama
Programa Radial "Semillas de Agua"
Coordinadora de Defensa de los Valles del Tr�nsito y El carmen (Regi�n de Atacama)
Casa Taller La Lucha
Environmental and Social Justice Action Network (RAJAS, Santiago)


--
EL AGUA!
NO SE VENDE!
EL ORO!
NO SE COME!
LA TIERRA ESTA CON LA GENTE!
QUE LUCHA Y LA DEFIENDE!