The Environmental Committee of Valle de Siria had reported this situation four years ago, without response from the authorities.

Medical studies conducted in 2007 to 62 people in 3 municipalities show that they all had heavy metals in their blood as a result of the high concentration of cyanide, lead, mercury and arsenic in the area. The blood lead level found in the people analyzed was above the level permitted by the World Health Organization.

Now the environmentalists of the region together with Almendares will again report this nationally and internationally. A press release issued today by La Via Campesina Honduras says that Entre Mares and Porfirio Lobo’s administration “are concealing information about the people affected by mining”.

La Via Campesina Honduras claims that Entre Mares began operating in 2000 and ended its operations in 2008, but it caused health problems in the population of Cedros, San Ignacio and El Porvenir municipalities, in Valle de Siria. The families affected continue to suffer the consequences of the mine’s contamination and were never compensated. The studies carried out by experts say the pollution in the area where Goldcorp’s subsidiary operated and nearby areas will last over a hundred years.

Doctor Almendares, physiologist, researcher and former president of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Honduras, one of the main leaders of Madre Tierra – Friends of the Earth Honduras, feels “the human and ethic commitment to tell the truth” about what is happening in Valle de Siria. Quoted by La Via Campesina’s report, the expert said the people affected have not received medical attention and they “have been excluded by a corporation (Entre Mares), which has dug into the brains, souls and spirit of the people condemned in this valley at the expense of tears and pain. We want justice, that our fellow countrymen are compensated by the corporation, the damages to the communities of Valle de Siria are worth billions”, he said.

Almendares also called on the Honduran authorities to investigate the early death of a 9 year-old girl in one of the communities. The girl had lead in her blood. The doctor also demanded the study of cases of illnesses, abortion and births with malformations in the region, and that a health care plan is established according to the symptoms of the people affected.

Meanwhile, the mayor of El Porvenir, Luis Rubi, said “there are many people in our communities with skin, skull and breathing diseases. As mayor of this municipality we are really concerned about the deterioration of our people’s health in Valle de Siria as a result of mining exploitation in the area”. Rubi said the people need to have health guarantees and demanded “justice for all the people affected of Valle de Siria”.

Photo: Sent by Movimiento Madre Tierra – Friends of the Earth Honduras.