Canadian Mining Companies Abroad Infinito Gold Threatens Costa Rica with $1-Billion Lawsuit Protests in Costa Rica against Canadian mining firm Infinito Gold. Banner at right reads: Infinito Gold: $800 million; Costa Rica: destruction and contamination forever. Calgary-based mining firm Infinito Gold is in a dispute with the government of Costa Rica regarding the companys plans to develop its Las Crucitas open-pit mine, located in the north of the country near the border with Nicaragua. It is threatening to sue Costa Rica for $1 billion in lost profits if it does not get its way. The case goes back to 2008. At that time, despite a moratorium on open-pit mining in Costa Rica, an exception was made for Infinito Gold by then President Oscar Arias, who justified the project and its accompanying pollution and environmental destruction by claiming it was in the national interest. Protest on Earth Day 2010: Magistrates of the Constitional Court: we can live without gold but not without water -- no to open pit mining. The presidents decree was in contradiction with the desire of the broad masses of the people to protect the environment from destruction and abuse. Many actions took place to denounce the decree including hunger strikes and mass protests. By the fall of 2008, Infinito Gold was served with a court order requiring it to immediately cease its activities on the site. News reports state that the peoples rejection of Arias decree was such that the president revoked it in April 2010, one month before leaving office. Meanwhile, the company lost successive court decisions in Costa Rica and has been threatening to bring a case to the World Banks investment arbitration tribunal, ICSID. A joint statement issued December 20 by Blue Planet Project, Common Frontiers, the Council of Canadians, MiningWatch Canada and the United Steelworkers demands the company cease its threats. The statement says in part: Your threatened suit against Costa Rica is quickly becoming a poster child for the problems with the international investment framework created by free trade agreements (FTAs) and foreign investor protection agreements (FIPAs) to prioritize corporate profits over the well-being of communities, workers, and the environment. We call on you to stop threatening to sue Costa Rica, and to drop your remaining defamation suits against an environmental activist and two legislators. Your recent financial statements paint the picture of a mining company that is effectively insolvent but that is being kept alive by successive loans from its major shareholder. These loans can be traced back to Calgary billionaire Ronald Mannix, who could have called in several of them that are long past due. Why hasnt he? The statement points out the intrigue and corruption surrounding the case and urges the Costa Rican government to continue legal prosecution against members of the former Arias administration, including ex-President Oscar Arias, who have been accused of inappropriately granting Infinito Gold a licence when there was a moratorium in effect on all large-scale mining in Costa Rica. We are concerned about the potential influence that an alleged donation from Ronald Mannix, Infinitos largest shareholder, to the Arias Foundation in 2008 could have had on this decision and will press for Canadian authorities to divulge all of the information available in this regard. Despite the pro-monopoly nature of FIPAs, Juan Jose Obando, an attorney and professor of private international law at the Universidad de Costa Rica, told Embassy Magazine that the particular FIPA between Costa Rica and Canada contains two provisions that would protect the Costa Rican government in this case. One is that the investor has to choose either the local judicial system to make its complaints or take its case to an international tribunal -- it cannot do both. Secondly, a Canadian investor may only take a complaint against the Costa Rican government to an international court if no judgment has been rendered by a Costa Rican court regarding the measure that is alleged to be in breach of this agreement. The fact that Infinito Gold has already been ruled against in Costa Rican courts means its complaint to the World Banks investment arbitration tribunal is dead in the water, according to Obando. A worldwide petition campaign began a few days before Infinito Golds November 21, 2013 annual general meeting. Rick Arnold, former co-ordinator for Common Frontiers told Embassy that We ended up getting some 10,000 [signatures] which were delivered to CEO John Morgan on Nov. 21. What we didnt realize at the time was that the campaign was actually just gathering steam and by later in December we had reached the amazing total of over 300,000 signatures from people all around the world demanding that Infinito cease and desist. Petition Infinito Gold, a Canadian mining company, just threatened to slap Costa Rica with a $1 billion lawsuit because the nation decided to protect its rainforests rather than host an open-pit gold mine. Costa Ricas rainforest is lauded as one of the most beautiful in the world, and is home to many endangered species, including the green macaw. Officials considered approving the gold mine, but the use of toxic chemicals such as cyanide -- which often leaks into and pollutes nearby lakes and rivers -- was far too great a risk to allow the project to move forward. A subsidiary of Infinito Gold has announced that a massive lawsuit against Costa Rica is imminent, so we need to act now. If thousands of us stand together against this toxic mine, we can show Infinito that Costa Rica and other countries that are defending their natural resources will not be silently bullied by corporate power. Tell Infinito Gold to drop its $1 billion lawsuit against Costa Rica. Open-pit gold mining in Costa Rica would destroy 190 hectares of pristine forest. The rainforest houses 5% of the worlds species and has seen tremendous growth in the ecotourism industry. Over 75% of Costa Ricans oppose mining and have decided that they cannot take the risk to move forward with gold-mining in the country. And Costa Rica is not the first to be sued by Infinito Gold. In 2001, Infinito Gold locked Venezuela into a ten-year legal battle over a rejected mine. Fortunately, Infinito lost. We can make sure Infinito Gold loses again by standing up to its greedy tactics and shameful behavior. Corporate profits cannot take precedence over the health of the people and the environment. Stand up for Costa Ricas rainforests -- tell Infinito Gold to drop the $1 billion lawsuit now. To add your name to the petition, click here. (Embassy Magazine, joint communique, sumofus.org, Corporate Knights) cpcml.ca/Tmld2014/D44006.htm#5
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:04:42 +0000
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