Ramirez v. Copper Mesa

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Lawsuit against a Canadian mining company and the Toronto Stock Exchange

These are the cloud forests of Intag, Ecuador - an area of pristine natural beauty, dotted with small villages, family farms and small coffee-growing plots. A Canadian mining company, Copper Mesa, hopes to place a gigantic open pit copper mine in the middle of this beauty. 

Local community members and leaders have repeatedly protested and voted to block the proposed mine. They report that the company’s agents have resorted to physical assaults, death threats and various human rights violations.  Mineral exploration began in the early 1990s and the history of conflict is long – the lawsuit covers only a small number of the many incidents of violence and intimidation.

On December 2, 2006 this violence was caught on video: Paramilitary men approach local community members. The community members plead with them to leave and insist the police should be called. Suddenly and without provocation the leader of the paramilitaries levels a canister of antipersonnel spray and blasts the faces of the women and men a mere metre away.  He then draws his revolver and begins shooting. Others in the paramilitary brigade followed suit.

Local community members have launched a lawsuit, seeking compensation and an end to this kind of violence and intimidation.