CANADIAN MINING IN LATIN AMERICA: EXPLOITATION, INCONSISTENCY, AND NEGLECT

Each year, a number of protestors who raise concerns against mining activities are seriously injured, persecuted, or even killed. On May 26, 2009, Panamanian police forces in the region of Penonomé fired tear gas at people who resisted the establishment of the Petaquilla mine and arrested 19 farmers who were subsequently beaten and later jailed [15]. Similarly, in the town of Chicomuselo in Chiapas, Mexico, a group led by Mariano Abarca Roblero strongly expressed its opposition when Blackfire Exploration began its Payback mine project in 2008. Roblero was arrested in 2009 for peaceful protests against the venture, and subsequently shot and murdered on November 27, 2009 [16]. Natives accused many Blackfire employees and contractors of corruption. An investigation confirmed the assertions, discovering that Blackfire had made payments totaling at least $20,000 CAD to former mayor Julio César Velásquez Calderón, who was allegedly in charge of protecting the company from anti-mining protests by local people
http://www.coha.org/canadian-mining-in-latin-america-exploitation-inconsistency-and-neglect/