The blockade outside La Platosa — a high-grade, Canadian-owned silver mine in the northeastern Mexican state of Durango — is by all accounts a peaceful protest.
Since early July, about 70 community members have camped out on the remote, sunscorched patch of land to demonstrate against what they see as repeated breaches of contract by Excellon Resources, a small scale mining firm headquartered in Toronto.
Against the backdrop of a bloody labour standoff in South Africa, where 34 armed miners were recently shot dead by police, the Excellon blockade would seem a relatively auxiliary dispute.
Although the blockade has halted production at the company’s only revenue-generating asset, the demonstrators — a group of communal land owners known as Ejido La Sierrita — cite only minor disturbances. For the most part, they spend their days gathering wood, preparing meals and keeping the encampment clean. When time allows, the adults can be found playing bingo or reading newspapers, while the kids kick around a soccer ball.
Huffington Post Canada
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