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BajaNews
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Farmers, Ranchers, and the Zapatista Other Campaign Shut Down the Largest Salt Mine on Earth (?)
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/10/16/51519/765
By Al Giordano,
Oct 16th, 2006
GUERRERO NEGRO, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR; OCTOBER 16, 2006: On Sunday evening, as the Zapatista Other Campaign winded its way sixteen hours up Mexico’s
Baja California Peninsula toward the US border, communal farmers of the Ejido Benito Juárez and the Ejido Diaz Ordaz, along that route, timed their
occupation and shutdown of the largest salt mine in the world with the arrival of Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
(EZLN, in its Spanish initials).
The farmers and ranchers awaited the Other Campaign caravan on Highway 1 in nearby Vizcaino, and invited Marcos and the organizations and media
accompanying him to join the occupation.
As this story goes to press, Delegate Zero and the Other Campaign are camped out with the local citizenry, surrounding the pumping station – now
turned off, courtesy of the direct action of the people – that made, prior to this night, the mining of seven million tons of salt per year
possible...
The Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation and the Mexican government operate the mining company but paid the farmers just 148 pesos (about 14 dollars) per
year for each hectare (that is, about $1.20 per month, or four cents a day, to extract the resources of each 2.4 acres) until last April, when the
farmers occupied the site and forced the bosses to up that sum a bit: to 1,000 pesos (about $90 dollars, less than thirty cents per day per hectare).
At first the multinational giant and the Mexican State have pled poverty and refused to budge. But in the end, the owners had to back down. The
arrival of Delegate Zero and the Other Campaign provided the opportunity to up the ante.
In addition to the pumps vital to the mining operation, the farmers and ranchers invaded 39,000 hectares (150 square miles) and have declared that
either the Exportadora del Sal corporation (51-percent owned by the government of Mexico, 49-percent owned by Mitsubishi) will meet their demands “or
they must leave.”
It is a David vs. Goliath battle: the 376 inhabitants of the Benito Juárez Ejido and the 2,339 of the Diaz Ordaz Ejido are up against Mexico (the 11th
largest economic entity on earth) and Mitsubishi (the 38th, wealthier than most countries).
Still, the Davids shut down the Goliaths in the early morning hours of today, as they did last April. And this time, by adhering to the Other
Campaign, they ensured that they do not fight alone.
“What happens now is we are going to Baja California Norte, Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas and the rest of the country,” Marcos told the farmers and
ranchers, according to a videotape just received in the mobile Narco Newsroom that records his arrival and first meeting with the farmers and ranchers
in Vizcaino. “And we are going to tell what is happening to you just as we have told what has happened to Chiapas.”
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Cypress
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WOW! A little confused tho? $1.20/month to $90.00/month? That's a neat increase in rent. Salt will probably cost more. Glad I don't use any more salt than what's already added to the "store bought" stuff.
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JESSE
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Marcos should pack and go back to Mexico city, and anything coming from the narconews website is completely biased
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rts551
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not $90 per month. $90 per year.
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Cypress
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rts551. OH! Thanks.  Bet all those salt-workers are real happy about
being out of work. Guess Marcos will pay 'em for being unemployed.
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David K
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Let's see, when the salt mine began in 1957 and there was no town of Guerrero Negro yet... it was called Salina Vizcaino originally.
The only population between there and San Ignacio 49 years ago was the few ranchos in the vast desert.
Where do these 'new' ejidos come from that say the salt flats that are part of Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Scammon's Lagoon)... federal land, in any way
belong to them, now?
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roundtuit
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These Ejidos live in caves and eat mushrooms till the world around them starts to show some monies then they pounce. Kinda like a good lawyer.
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shari
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The sad thing is about my pals from Benito Juarez is that now that their primary income is from the salt works rent, most have stopped planting crops
and have become kind of lazy and just live on the salt works $$. ESSA is on their designated land and has historically been very bad at paying out
what they owe the ejiditarios which is why they had to take drastic action years ago when they were owed years of back rent. It will be interesting as
price of salt drops to see if this company can survive at a competitive rate. 90% of the population of Guerrero Negro depends on this...and these salt
ponds don't last forever...after 40 years they are useless and too toxic to produce table quality salt....hmmmm
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bajalou
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| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
r...after 40 years they are useless and too toxic to produce table quality salt....hmmmm |
Thats strange- the salt ponds on the southern San Francisco bay (Old Leslie Salt) have been operating continously since 1870 which is well over 100
years.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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David K
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Salt pond on Isla Carmen (and others around Baja) have been mined since mission times... Shari, I think somebody gave you bad info.
The sea water is pumped into the huge 'pans' (salt flats) next to Scammon's Lagoon... H2O evaporates (from solar energy), and the salts are left
behind to be scraped into trucks to the warf, barged to Cedros Island and then transported onto cargo ships. Unless the sea water being pumped into
the evaporative pans has changed, the salt wouldn't change.
Without the salt, Guerrero Negro and Isla Cedros jobs would nearly disappear.
[Edited on 10-19-2006 by David K]
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rts551
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As I understand it, the brine that is left behind must be discharged to keep the salt flats viable (I remember this because of the San Ignacio
discussions). Don't know if this is the problem in Guerro Negro.
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Hook
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WOW, is Mexico gonna just let this guy run around the country, shutting down businesses as he sees fit?
Where's the cojones in this country?
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Martyman
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The workers joined Marcos. They appreciate what he is doing. They are hoping for a better life. Is there something wrong with that?
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Cypress
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Martyman. Nothing wrong with a better life. There're a lot of Cubans in
Miami that will agree with you.
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shari
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A student of mine was the chemist who tested the salt for toxic levels as their grades of salt depend on the toxic levels....grade A is table salt
which they scrape off the top, the next layer is more toxic and the more you scrape up the deeper stuff the more toxic it is....the bottom stuff is
sent to Canada to put on the roads, which then leaches into the soil which now has been linked to cancer...nasty stuff. There are lots of salt ponds
which are now out of commission...like the one on the way out to the lighthouse that is soooo stinky. The original few ponds are now unuseable and
CIBNOR is trying to figure out what they can plant there to help the recovery of these lands. Each salt works has a different system but I got this
info from a very reliable source and have heard it from other chemists that used to work at the salt works as well....why do you think they want to
expand into San Ignacio folks....they are going to need new ponds to produce nice table salt. I realize this isn't published info...it isn't something
they want the general public to know I'm sure. It makes sense.
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Martyman
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What is the constituent that is making tham toxic?
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wilderone
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The remaining brine ? a dark red liquid packed with other minerals, such as magnesium, and referred to as "bittern" ? is drained off to leave a bed of
pure sodium chloride 5 to 8 inches deep. (Bittern is toxic to marine life and cannot be discharged into the bay; some has been used to produce highway
de-icer but the rest is simply stored in ponds and poses a major cleanup chore and liability issue during anticipated ecological restoration.
. . . Once the dust and other impurities have been removed, it is dried and readied for sale. Industrial salt is shipped in bulk, salt for food and
pharmaceutical uses undergoes further refining before being packaged.
Sources: "Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky (2002: Walker Publishing Co.).
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tripledigitken
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Wilderone
Thanks for the information. It seems making the money is the easy part, cleaning up the residual mess is another matter. I hope the ecological
restoration does indeed occur, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Look at the various Super Fund sites in the US.
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David K
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Okay folks, you hate corporations that have the nerve to make money (but you still buy what they make or work for them or own stock in them).... WHERE
do you want to get salt from, it doesn't grow on trees?
The salt flats were there before the 'bad' salt company came around... nothing was or will grow on them... That is what God made for us to use, salt
flats. The inginuity of man was to pump sea water onto the flats and let the sun evaporarte the water away so more salt could be scraped off the flats
that we ALL need.
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kellychapman
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I don't hate corporation that make money....that makes no sense to me as to why work your ass off for anything that doesn't make money...what would be
the point??
anyway, this is very informative information and very much appreciated for the valueble lesson on salt minning and the terrible hazards that go with
it.....what a bummer...
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