Photo: Pedro Sanchez from Ecuador, Padre Juan Carlos from Colombia, Constanza Carvajal from Putumayo; Mattes Tempelmann from MISEREOR, Mikaell Carvalho from Justiça nos Trilhos; Guilherme Cavali from Church and Mining; Javiera Martínez from LMN; Kelly Silva from Piquia de Baixo; Larissa from Justiça nos Trilhos; Marina Oliveira from Brumadinho;  Anna Chesnier from Cáritas Francia; Bishop Dom Vicente from Brumadinho; Pedro Landa from Honduras: Andrew Hickman from LMN.

Marina Oliveira, member of the Brumadinho community, victim of the Brumadinho disaster in 2019

“I still feel the pain of seeing how that disaster took not only my village, but also my friends, my relatives. And we are still living all the consequences of that spill, even after two years. We call for solidarity, to accompany the suffering of so many victims and families who have lost everything.”  Marina Oliveira

London Mining Network meets with a Latin American delegation fighting for integral ecology

The Latin American delegation (the ‘caravan’) arrived in Europe in order to strengthen relations of solidarity with communities affected by mining. The caravan is made up of members of the Brumadinho community in Brazil, affected by the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster, communities from other regions of Brazil, and communities from Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador.

The caravan is visiting Brussels and much of Europe to promote the divestment campaign from mining, a campaign promoted by the Churches and Mining Network. The members of the delegation have had meetings with different international organisations such as MISEREOR, CARITAS, ESCRNet, CIDSE, COMECE, and London Mining Network.

The members of the delegation have met with various European parliamentarians to denounce and raise awareness of the relationship between dispossession and extractive impacts in Latin America. Among the objectives are putting pressure on the European Union to promote a Due Diligence Law, pressuring companies to take responsibility for their actions and for the damage they have done to affected communities and the environment, and calling for a binding treaty on business and human rights. 

London Mining Network has wanted to be part of this visit and to be able to strengthen solidarity, coordinate strategies to defend territories, forests and water sources, recognizing the co-responsibility that exists, since everything is interconnected.

The last activity is a conversation with politicians, religious leaders and activists on the prevention and remedy of the negative impacts of business activities on people and the planet. The constant assistance of the Churches and Mining Network in supporting the visit of the delegation and in denouncing extractive impacts in Latin America are greatly appreciated. 

One of the important presences has been the Catholic Church and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, President of COMECE (the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union).