Recover Them!
by kb
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 3:48 PM
About thirty people gathered at Southern Copper Corporation (a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico) in PhoenixThursday 2/14 to support the families of Mexican Mine workers buried inside the mine two years ago.
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For almost two years, the families of 63 coal miners have been awaiting the recovery of the bodies of their loved one who were killed in the Pasta de Conchos Mine #8 located in San Juan de Sabinas in the state of Coahuila, Mexico.
On February 19, 2006 a terrible explosion occured in this mine, which is owned by German Larrea Mota de Velasco of Grupo Mexico. Six days later Grupo Mexico announced that the explosion had been caused by a large concentration of methane gas in the mine that the miners could not have survived. The rescue operation was officially terminated and the company announced that it would begin working to recover the bodies. Those recovery efforts were formally suspended by the company on April 4, 2007 without consulting the Mexican government and the bodies still remain burried in the mine. It has since been proven that Grupo Mexico did not do everything in its power to rescue the miners while they were still alive, for example, it did not use seismic equipment to identify the precise location of the miners
The families of the miners believe Grupo Mexico is directly responsible for the tragedy because of insecure working conditions in which it forced its miners to work. The Mexican National Human Rights Commission has formally found Grupo Mexico negligent in this case, as well as the Mexican Government because it failed to ensure that Grupo Mexico had taken steps to improve working conditions in the mine. Grupo Mexico and the Mexican government now claim that the mine is too dangerous to rescue workers. The families know this is not the case. They have evidence that the mine has been rehabilitated. They believe Grupo Mexico is refusing to complete the recovery of the bodies because it is afraid that forensic studies will reveal the truth about the causes of the explosion.
As people concerned about human rights and the right of working people everywhere, you can help them by asking Grupo Mexico to do right by the workers who helped it become such a profitable company. You can ask Grupo Mexico to do what it takes to return the bodies of their loved ones.
Please contact the company at: xavier.gdequevedo@mm.gmexico.com and the mexican government at: felipe.calderon.hinojosa@presidencia.gob.ma or javier.lozano@stps.gob.mx or quejas@sfp.gob.mx and ask them to resume the recovery of the Pasta de Conchos bodies now.
100 years
by kb
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 3:48 PM
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Miners and their supporters bore a banner detailing 100 years in the mines.
detail
by kb
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 3:48 PM
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Detail of the banner.
Right to bury
by kb
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 3:48 PM
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Asking for the right to bury the entombed miners.
Recover them
by kb
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 3:48 PM
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Recover them from the Pasta de Conchos coal mine.
Miner Carlos
by kb
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 3:48 PM
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Carlos, a miner at the mine, addressed the crowd.
Ignacio
by kb
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at 3:48 PM
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Ignacio from the (Catholic) Hispanic Ministry addressed the crowd.
