Solidarity with Brumadinho

Picture: Residents survey damage after a Vale SA dam burst in Brumadinho on Jan. 26. Photographer: Victor Moriyama/Bloomberg. Source

We cry with Mother Earth tears of mud and blood.

Last Friday January 25th, a tiling dam burst in the municipality of Brumadinho, in Brazil, releasing a mudflow of toxic waste. Three days after this tragedy at least 60 people have lost their lives, around 300 are disappeared and 24.000 people have been displaced by the potential risk of collapse of a second dam nearby. Along with the loss of human lives we must regret the tremendous environmental damage caused in the local ecosystems.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that something like that happens in the state of Minas Gerais. In November 2015, the collapse of San Marco dam killed 19 people and caused the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history. The same company, VALE S.A., has been involved in both cases showing a total lack of accountability.

These events are not natural catastrophes; these are socio-environmental crimes that should be brought to justice.

The member organizations of Justice in Mining Network would like to express our solidarity with the victims and local communities.

As Jesuit organizations committed to environmental justice today we join our voices to those of our colleagues from Churches and Mining Network to denounce the impunity of those who commit this socio-environmental crimes and demand justice, and we demand corporate accountability, full compensation for the victims and complete environmental remediation of Brumadinho.

Read Churches in Mining Network Press Release in this link

Spanish version available here

Portuguese version available here