The Canadian Embassy in Mexico has quietly dispatched a diplomat to Chiapas to speak to anti-mining activists, weeks after a community organizer who led protests against a Canadian company was murdered and three men connected to the company arrested.
The meetings this week between an embassy political officer and REMA, the Spanish acronym for the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining, will be held in San Cristobal de las Casas, a Chiapas city. They could indicate the government is starting to respond to criticism over the case, centred around Calgary's Blackfire Exploration.
The government has few tools with which to compel Canadian companies to be good corporate citizens and has so far rebuffed calls to oblige responsibility from the extractive industry.
Initially, when protesters gathered at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City last month to protest the murder of REMA activist Mariano Abarca Robledo, diplomatic staff told them the situation had nothing to do with Canada or with the embassy, according to Canadians who work with the activists.
The Blackfire Exploration case started as a typical dispute between the company and local activists over where the mine was located and the environmental effects of the operation. Protesters blockaded the open-pit barite mine for months, with Mr. Abarca acting as one of the leaders. In November, Mr. Abarca filed charges against two Blackfire employees for threatening to shoot him. He was killed Nov. 27, just days later.
Police detained three men who work or used to work for Blackfire in connection with the murder, but haven't yet charged them.
Blackfire denies any connection to the crime and told Embassy in a statement that the company "issues its contempt and rejection towards any form of violent conduct which jeopardizes the wellbeing of organizations and individuals."
The Mexican government has shut down the mine, citing environmental concerns, after Mr. Abarca's death.
Stockwell Day, who until yesterday was international trade minister, is leaving any investigation and prosecution to Mexican authorities. Mr. Day says Mexico's justice system has come a long way.
"Whenever a crime is committed anywhere we hope to see due process of law move quickly to determine who the perpetrators are and that they should come under the full force of the law," Mr. Day said at a press conference last week.
"[The Blackfire case] is an ongoing investigation and that's what we hope happens and that's why we have people doing everything we can in assisting and that's why we've made sure the company is doing everything they can to assist in the investigation also," he added.
Mr. Day wouldn't specify what exactly his department is doing to assist with the investigation, saying that they encourage companies to be forthcoming.
"If a crime takes place in Canada, we are always open to suggestions from other countries. We don't let another country come swooping in on us and tell us what to do, but we're certainly open to suggestions and that's why we use our diplomatic capabilities to assist in any way we can," he said.
In a follow-up email, Mr. Day's spokeswoman said Canadian officials facilitate an "open and informed dialogue" between affected communities, governments, indigenous peoples and civil society.
"We have no authority to conduct investigations in foreign countries, but we continue to monitor the situation closely. In this instance, the Embassy of Canada in Mexico is offering its full support and cooperation to Mexican authorities and is prepared to assist as required," Mélisa Leclerc wrote.
In a related case, Blackfire has accused a local mayor of trying to extort them in order to provide protection from activists, making a formal complaint after paying out more than 200,000 pesos over more than a year. In a document presented to the president of the Chiapas state congress, the company's director general asks for the mayor of Chicomuselo to be removed from office for asking for money, airline tickets and even a night of sex with a celebrity.
The document included a spreadsheet recording Blackfire's payments to the mayor, along with the cheque numbers, and several deposit slips.
"Faced with such demands, we decided to grant no more of his requests," reads a translation of the document, signed by Artemio Avila Cervera. "As a result, the mayor has begun a smear campaign, allying himself with the local priest against the company and we know that he is encouraging the people who, through violent means, have taken over our company's facilities since June 10th [2009]."
Mr. Avila threatened to pull out of Chiapas over the dealings with the mayor.
Rick Arnold, co-ordinator of Common Frontiers, which opposes economic integration in the Americas, hopes the RCMP will investigate the case under a federal corruption of foreign public officials law. He says it would be splitting hairs to debate whether Blackfire was paying extortion money or a bribe.
"The actual regulations here point to the payment of money. If you pay, it doesn't matter if your intent is to bribe or [whether] somehow this very powerful mayor manages to extort you. It doesn't matter. You're guilty if it can be proven that you make these payments to seek favour," Mr. Arnold said.
Jamie Kneen, spokesman for Mining Action Canada, says the company made the payments for more than a year "before deciding to complain about it," and that the situation shows why Canada needs legislation to govern what Canadian companies do in foreign countries.
"If that's the way the law is enforced in Chiapas, then that's clearly not adequate to protect the citizens," he said.
But Alberto Lozano, a spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Ottawa, refused to comment on the Blackfire issue, saying the case was at the state level. However, he said mining companies bring measurable and tangible benefits to his country.
"Barring a couple of cases, we are not having problems with mines in Mexico," Mr. Lozano said. "Most of them are providing benefits not only to their workers but to the people. That's why we're still promoting investments in this area from Canada to Mexico."
lpayton@embassymag.ca