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Canadian Mining Companies Are Destroying Latin America

Eric L. Olson

Eric Olson, Associate Director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, is quoted on the effect of Canadian mining companies in Latin America.

[...] As a result of all of Canada's free-trade agreements with Latin American nations, Kopecky said companies are entering territories without firm regulatory checks. Social corporate responsibility amounts to little more than propaganda for many of these companies. "The mine will be building schools and hospitals for local communities only because it makes good business sense. As soon as it stops making good business sense they'll stop doing it," said Kopecky.Back in Cocula, the likelihood of the truth behind the kidnapping may never surface. As the late celebrated criminal journalist Charles Bowden once said, "Rumours fly across Mexico; facts crawl." Meanwhile, the idea that Canada treats the rest of the world with benevolent care have been slowly eroding, too. "I think that there is some conflict around those kinds of Canadian investments that people are not generally aware of," said Eric Olson, the associate director of the Latin American program at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, a Washington-based think tank. Kopecky argued that a much closer eye is kept on the industry than even just ten years ago, but in the end, agreed with Olson. [...] To read the full article, click here

About the Author

Eric L. Olson

Eric L. Olson

Global Fellow;
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more