Tell Canadian Company Not to Sue Costa Rica for Protecting Its Rainforest
- al: Susan V
- destinatario: Infinito Gold
Costa Rica believes its rainforest is more valuable than gold. But for trying to protect it, the country could face a billion-dollar suit from Canada’s Infinito Gold.
Infinito wants to build an open-pit gold mine that would destroy nearly 200 hectares of pristine forest, which is home to 5% of the world’s species. For it’s resistance to Infinito’s plans, Costa Rica could end up in the kind of lengthy legal battle Venezuela had to endure for nearly a decade before it finally got free of Infinito’s grip.
Even though Costa Rica considered giving in to Infinito, the threat of cyanide pollution of the area’s nearby lakes and rivers convinced the majority of citizens to oppose the mine.
Considered one of the most beautiful in the world, Costa Rica’s rainforest is much too valuable to sacrifice.
Don’t let this Canadian Company sue Costa Rica for protecting its rainforest.
We, the undersigned, oppose Infinito’s bullying of South and Central American countries trying to protect their natural resources.
Fortunately, Infinito did not win its earlier battle to force its mine on Venezuela, however these kinds of legal battles are far too costly in too many ways for small and poorer countries to have to wage just to protect their rainforests.
Costa Rica’s indigeous human population was decimated by outsider exploitation that began with Columbus’s arrival in 1502, and it’s past time for this kind of exploitation to end. In addition to the threats from gold mining, the country faces growing pressure to clear its forests to make way for agribusiness and to open its coastlines to oil and gas drilling.
With a biodiversity Natural Resources Defense Council says is “virtually unparalleled,“ Costa Rica’s rainforest is far more valuable than gold.
We demand Infinito Gold leave Costa Rica and its natural resources alone!
