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Abstract
This article analyses mining policy as an indicator of a larger question: are some Third World governments starting to steer away from plunder ‘extractivism’ towards a paradigm that prioritises the environment? We begin with the cases of El Salvador and Costa Rica, which have major mining bans in place. We then present the results of our research in which we find five other countries with noteworthy mining-policy shifts: Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand. A sixth country, Honduras under President Zelaya, stands as a recent historical case of how sensitive such a policy change can be. A key take-away from our article is that critical development scholars and practitioners need to look more closely at the mining sector – not simply to analyse case studies of specific mining protests and resistances to extractivism, although these are of course important. Rather, there is a need to investigate policy changes that just might be indications that the era of unquestioning extractivism has ended and that at least some governments are initiating policies to incorporate environmental externalities, policies that suggest a changing development paradigm in the direction of environmental – and concomitant social and economic – ‘well-being’ as envisioned in buen vivir.
Acknowledgements
Deep thanks to Broad’s frequent co-author John Cavanagh, who should really be considered a co-author of the El Salvador and Costa Rica sections, and who also served as a sounding board for our analysis. Thanks also to Nasiruddin Mahmud Chowdhury for his assistance on this manuscript, to Rachel Nadelman and Adam Needelman for prior research assistance, and to AU research librarian extraordinaire Clement Ho for sharing his constantly updated tools of the trade. We are extremely grateful to Jamie Kneen, Payal Sampat, and (again) John Cavanagh who read through the entire manuscript and provided useful feedback. So too do we appreciate the expert input of those who commented on drafts of specific country case-studies: Javiera Barandiarán, Nicolas Boeglin, Agustina Giraudy, Sara Larraín, Pamela Martin, Shreema Mehta, Jennifer Moore, Christian Peña, Manuel Perez Rocha, and Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert. In addition, thanks are due to the anonymous reviewers and to the journal editors, especially Shahid Qadir and Sean Rothman. Beyond those who read all or parts of this manuscript, we are profoundly indebted to the many people who took the time and effort (and, in some cases, risks) to meet in the affected countries and communities, particularly in El Salvador. Co-author Fischer-Mackey thanks the PhD program of the School of International Service. The conclusions, of course, reflect the authors’ own views.
Notes
1. While extractivism goes back to the colonial period, ‘neo-extractivism’ is a term used by some to differentiate between extractivism as a neoliberal model and neo-extractivism as a ‘consolidated development project’ by a structuralist, socialist or capitalist government that is ‘using the revenue to improve living conditions’. Some Latin American countries follow such a model. Burchardt and Dietz, “(Neo-) Extractivism – A New Challenge,” 468. The current article uses extractivism as the broader umbrella term to capture all paradigms relying on mineral and fossil fuel – that is, extractive industries’ – exports, while differentiating as needed between neoliberal, structuralist and other paths. On these paradigmatic distinctions, see R. Broad, “Responsible Mining”; see also Goodland, “Responsible Mining,” 2099–126.
2. For more on the evolving debate over buen vivir, see E. Gudynas, “Buen Vivir: Today’s Tomorrow”; and C. Kauffman and P. Martin, “Scaling up Buen Vivir.”
3. S. Sanchez Ceren, El Pais Que Quiero.
4. Villalba, “Buen Vivir vs Development,” 1427 and 1439. The term has also been linked to the Papal ‘Laudato Si’ as in Freeman, “El Buen Vivir.”
5. Villalba, “Buen Vivir vs Development,” 1434–6; Acosta, El Buen Vivir; Princen et al., Ending the Fossil Fuel; and Pellegrini et al., “Demise of a New Conservation,” 284–91.
6. Burchardt and Dietz, “(Neo-)Extractivism – A New Challenge.”
7. Note: Final concession was mid-2006.
8. R. Broad and J. Cavanagh, "El Salvador Gold”; R. Broad, “Corporate Bias in the World Bank”; R. Broad and J. Cavanagh, “Poorer Countries and the Environment.”
9. Thanks to Broad’s colleague Carolyn Gallaher for pointing out the outlier/deviant literature to author Broad and to PhD student Rachel Nadelman. Nadelman has conducted further field work and writing supporting the outlier thesis. See Nadelman, “El Salvador’s Challenge”; and Nadelman, “Sitting on a Gold Mine.” Cf. Dawson’s suggestion of a ‘ban wagon’: Dawson, “Why Honduras Should not,” 67–108.
10. Broad and Cavanagh, “Poorer Countries and the Environment.”
11. This prior field research and writing was done with co-investigator John Cavanagh; see bibliography for Broad and Cavanagh 2014, 2015, 2015, and 2016. As the reader will note, some of the information in these two case studies comes from that field work and interviews. According to the agreements made with those interviewed, we cite by name only those who are public figures in the debate and/or have given explicit permission to do so. By agreement, the rest of the interviewees remain anonymous.
12. See note 14.
13. El Salvador falls into the World Bank’s ‘lower middle income’ country category, while Costa Rica is in its ‘upper middle income’ category. According to World Bank data (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KD), in 2015 Costa Rica’s GDP per capita was $14,472 while El Salvador’s was $8,096.
14. Notable among these is the World Bank Group’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Complementing the current article are ones analysing the global arena and global corporate actors in the Pac Rim Cayman LLC case: Broad, "Corporate Bias in the World Bank”; Anderson and Perez Rocha, Mining for Profits; and Tienhaara, “What You Don’t Know,” 73–100.
15. In addition to the writings of Robin Broad and co-investigator John Cavanagh and sources listed in other notes, the basic facts on the El Salvador case can also be found in Steiner, “El Salvador: Gold, Guns,”; Moran, Technical Review; Almeida, Waves of Protest; see also McKinley, Myths and Reality.
16. See www.stopesmining.
17. UCA, IUDOP, “Encuesta sobre conocimientos.”
18. From interviews and confirmed by documentation obtained by Nadelman, “El Salvador’s Challenge.”
19. Pulgar-Vidal, “Mining Activity.” The Strategic Environmental Review was not done until the next administration, that of Funes. See Broad and Cavanagh, “El Salvador Gold,” 177–8; Broad, “Corporate Bias in the World Bank”; and Broad and Cavanagh, “Poorer Countries and the Environment,” note 33.
20. According to interview; see also Freeman, “El Buen Vivir.”
21. ICSID, Pac Rim Cayman LLC v. Republic of El Salvador; and Broad, "Corporate Bias in the World Bank.” There were actually two cases, but the Commerce Group case concerned government cancellation of a mining concession due to significant environmental damage. Commerce Group lost this ICSID case based on the procedural point that it had an unfinished case before the Salvadoran court. ICSID, Commerce Group Corp. and San Sebastian Gold Mines, Inc. v. Republic of El Salvador. On the 2016 ruling, see Samson, “World Bank Hands El Salvador”; and Broad and Cavanagh, "El Salvador Ruling.”
22. Broad and Cavanagh, “Poorer Countries and the Environment”; see also “Lawmakers Ban Open-pit Mining”; and Leff, “Costa Rican Lawmakers Vote.”
23. When the rock is mined, arsenic is released along with the gold. In addition, the sulphide is exposed to air and water and is converted to sulfuric acid. With each rainfall, the acid unleashes toxic substances onto the land and into the waters – called acid mine drainage (AMD) or acid rock drainage. Remediation is technically and financially challenging. Goodland, “Responsible Mining”; see also Broad and Cavanagh, "El Salvador Gold,” notes 21 and 23.
24. The 79.5 percent response was for ‘Do you think that El Salvador is an appropriate country for metal mining?’ UCA, IUDOP, "Opinions and Perceptions.”
25. See “Biodiversity in Costa Rica”; and “Tourists Flocked.”
26. In addition to Broad and Cavanagh, “Poorer Countries and the Environment," and sources cited in other endnotes, sources for the basic facts of the Costa Rica mining include: Cartagena, Metabolismo socio-natural, 1992–2007; DaSilva, “Silence is Golden”; Isla, “Struggle for Clean”; and Spalding, Contesting Trade.
27. Earth Justice, “Costa Rica Bans”; and Engler and Martinez, “Harken Oil,” 11–2.
28. Dyer, “Costa Rica”; Schmidt, “Arias’ mine decree”; and DaSilva, Silence is Golden. The facts surrounding Arias allowing the company to proceed are not yet known publicly. There have been investigations and allegations in both Canada and Costa Rica, including allegations of a USD 200,000 donation to the Arias Foundation. See Arias, “Costa Rica’s Ex-Environment Minister.”
29. Interview with Congressman Edgardo Araya, formerly San Carlos-based lawyer, San José, 16 July 2014.
30. Broad and Cavanagh, "Poorer Countries and the Environment.”
31. Interview with Nicolas Boeglin, Professor of Law, University of Costa Rica, 14 July 2014; and “Lawmakers Ban Open-pit Mining”; see also Pablo Ortega’s 2001 documentary, El Oror de los Tontos (caso Infinito Gold y Crucitas) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKVS1wvvEU8. On Infinito’s subsequent suit at ICSID, see ICSID, Infinito Gold Ltd. v. Republic of Costa Rica.
32. Jamasmie, “Panama Holds $200bn.”
33. Email communication from McGill University professor Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert, to Robin Broad, 19 May 2016. For more on the protests’ history and the formalisation of the comarca title, see Whiteman and Mamen, "Examining Justice and Conflict.”
34. “Destacan lucha indígena”; and MiningWatch Canada, “Two Killed in Panama.”
35. MiningWatch Canada, “Two Killed in Panama.”
36. Associated Press, “New Panama Law Bans.”
37. According to McGill University professor Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert (communication to Robin Broad, 19 May 2016): ‘In Panama, Comarca is a territory of indigenous self-governance under specific law and statutes passed by [the] Panamanian state’.
38. “Destacan lucha indígena”; Durling, “Panama Mining 2016”; and MiningWatch Canada, “General Congress.”
39. Note: Law 13 included a requirement that mining could be undertaken only by Panamanian companies, but this has been ‘met’ by foreign firms creating local subsidiaries; some firms whose concessions were given under Law 9 from 1997 have been exempted from Laws 11 and 13; see “Royalties from Minera Panamá.”
40. Durling, “Panama Mining 2016.”
41. IHS Markit, “Panama’s Mining Reform.”
42. “Dominion Minerals Corp.”
43. Ocampo, “Performance and Challenges.”
44. “Mining in Colombia,” The Economist. Lockhart-Smith’s quote is also from The Economist.
45. The Court cited several definitions for páramos, including ones based on altitude, the permanent snow line, and/or the limit of forest vegetation. The Ministry of Environment retains the right to delimit the actual land that will be protected by the law, so the amount of land to be protected is not certain as of this writing; “Colombian Court Bans Oil”; and “Constitutional Court Prohibits Mining.”
46. “Colombian Court Bans Oil.”
47. English translation of Constitutional Court communiqué quoted in “Colombian Court Bans Oil.”
48. “Decisión de la corte.”
49. “Organisations Condemn Eco Oro”; and “Eco Oro Minerals Notifies.”
50. This is supported by article cited from The Economist, “Mining in Colombia.”
51. Dawson, “Why Honduras Should not,” 88.
52. Rodriguez and Macias, "To Cyanide or not," 237–50. Another two provinces, Rio Negro and La Rioja, repealed their bans. Source: Email communication from American University professor Agustina Giraudy to Robin Broad, 9 May 2015.
53. “Pan American Silver Expects.”
54. “Factbox: Argentine Legislation,” Reuters Buenos Aires.
55. “Prosecutor of the Court Upheld.”
56. “Ley XVII Nº 127”; Pan American Silver corporate website; and “Mining Fraud.”
57. “Córdoba: High Court Ratifies,”
58. “La Pampa Bans Cyanide.”
59. “Factbox: Argentine Legislation,” Reuters Buenos Aires. Note: “La Pampa Bans Cyanide” states that Tucuman has enacted restrictions on mining. According to “No ala Mina (‘No to Mining’),” the Bajo de la Alumbrera mine, the largest open-pit mine in Argentina, borders the Tucuman province.
60. Rey, “Argentine Court Rejects Barrick”; see also “Argentina National Glacier Act”; Taillant, Glaciers: The Politics; and Khadim, “Defending Glaciers in Argentina,” 73–4. On water sources, see also Acunya, “Corte Suprema Argentina.”
61. ‘Periglacial’ areas are those where the ice has recently retreated but water remains below the surface. Rey, “Argentine Court Rejects Barrick”; and Sugarman, “Argentina’s Law of the Glaciers.”
62. Khadim, “Defending Glaciers in Argentina,” 69–70.
63. “Argentina Eliminates Mining Export.”
64. Khadim, “Defending Glaciers in Argentina,” 73–4, see also 65–75.
65. Taillant and Collins, "Cryoactivism.”
66. Carruthers, “Environmental Politics in Chile,” 347. See this article for more on Chile’s extractivist path and the ‘environmental underside’; and, for a more historical view, see Collins and Lear, Chile’s Free Market Miracle.
67. “Minería en Cifras”; Copper statistics from “Mining in Chile.” For more on Chile’s ‘natural resource governance’, see Nem Singh, “Reconstituting the Neostructuralist State,” 1413–33.
68. Gonzalez, “Chile Has 24,133 glaciers”; Ortuzar, “Towards a Law”; and Bórquez et al., Glaciares Chilenos: reservas estratégicas.
69. Li, “Defeat of Pascua.” Note: Both Pascua Lama and Codelco’s Andina 244 expansion project (copper mining) raised concerns.
70. Ramirez, “Chile’s Glacier Reform.”
71. “Comisión de medio ambiente.”
72. Ramirez, “Chile’s Glacier Reform”; and “Chile debate el future.”
73. “Comisión de medio ambiente”; and Greenpeace Chile, “67% de glaciares desprotegidos.”
74. Correa, “Acusan que ley”; Gonzalez, “Chile Has 24,133 glaciers;” and Taillant and Collins, "Cryoactivism.”
75. Jamasmie, “Seabed Miner Nautilus handed”; and Ferris, “Scientists Show Rising Concern.”
76. Jamasmie, “Seabed Mining Dreams Shattered”; Wedding et al., "Managing Mining of the Deep Seabed”; and Deep Sea Mining Campaign of the Ocean Foundation, "Deep Sea Mining Campaign.”
77. Milman, “New Zealand’s New Ocean”; and Government of New Zealand, Department of Conservation, “New Zealand’s Marine Environment.”
78. Note that mining contribution to GDP is actually very small (roughly 1.7 percent), and fishing and tourism are much larger. On marine scientists and environmental activists, see Wedding et al. “Managing Mining of the Deep Seabed”; Deep Sea Mining Campaign of the Ocean Foundation, “Deep Sea Mining Campaign”; and Kiwis against Seabed Mining, “What Is KASM?” For more on New Zealand’s thriving tourist and fishing industries, see, respectively, Government of New Zealand, “Economic and Financial,” 22 and 18.
79. Milman, “New Zealand’s New Ocean.”
80. Jamasmie, “Seabed Mining Dreams Shattered.”
81. MiningWatch Canada, “Honduran Mining Law Passed.”
82. Finnegan, “An Old-fashioned Coup.”
83. ’Business as usual’ is quoted from mining companies interviewed for Canadian Council for International Co-Operation, Americas Policy Group, “Honduras: Democracy Denied”; see also Moore, “Canada’s Promotion of Mining.”
84. Grandin, “Happy Bloody Earth Day.”
85. MiningWatch Canada, “Honduran Mining Law Passed.” See Business News Americas, a business newspaper reporting on Latin America, for more on the mining rush into Honduras.
86. Blanco and Shenk, “Land Grabbing Is Killing.”
87. “Honduras: Mining Areas Reserved”; see also http://www.noalamina.org/latinoamerica/honduras.
88. The country moved up 12 spots; “Honduras’s Increasingly Competitive Business.”
89. In terms of per-capita killings, according to Global Witness, “How Many More?”; and Grandin, “Happy Bloody Earth Day.”
90. Broad, Cavanagh, and Eldridge, “Who Killed Berta Cáceres?” Within two weeks, one of Cáceres’s colleagues, Nelson Garcia, was also murdered.
91. Global Witness, “How Many More?,” 12–3 and 16–7.
92. Khadim, “Defending Glaciers in Argentina,” 71.
93. See Goodland, “Responsible Mining,” 2099–126.
94. See also Bebbington et al., “Political Economies of Extractive,” 1–16; and Broad, "Political Economy of Natural Resources.”
95. Broad, “Corporate Bias in the World Bank.” On the ICSID decision as of this writing, see Broad and Cavanagh, "El Salvador Ruling”; and Samson, “World Bank Hands El Salvador.” Update on Colombia and ICSID: According to Marketwired, Eco Oro Minerals Corp. "announces that it filed a Request for Arbitration with the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes against Colombia (the ‘"Request for Arbitration’") on December 8, 2016.” http://www.goldseiten.de/artikel/311675--Eco-Oro-files-Request-for-Arbitration-against-Colombia.html.
96. Taillant and Collins, "Cryoactivism."
97. On Philippine mining prior to Duterte, see Broad, “Responsible Mining”; and Broad and Cavanagh, “Strategic Fight against Corporate Rule.”.
98. Broad and Cavanagh. “Poorer Countries and the Environment.”