Governor of Mendoza Province, Argentina, suspends mining deregulation law
The governor of the western Argentine province of Mendoza, Rodolfo Suárez, announced today that he would suspend a controversial new mining law signed on Monday, which would reverse a 12 year-old ban on strip mining in the province.
Law 9209 overrides bans on strip mining and on the use toxins such as cyanide, mercury, and sulphuric acid enacted in 2007 by Law 7722.
Opposition Justicialist Party legislators have called on Suárez, 56, to rescind the law and "start from square one."
Argentina's Delegate to UNESCO, film maker and environmental activist Pino Solanas, called it an "environmental retreat that endangers the future of the region."
"Mendoza," Solanas noted, "is in a water emergency since 2010. We must call an emergency session so that the Provincial Legislature may quickly repeal Law 9209."
The law would have gone in effect in only three counties: Las Heras, Malargüe, and San Rafael. These counties, however, occupy more than half the province's land area and are home to many of the glaciers and river sources that provide water for the largely arid province of 2 million.
Since Law 9209's passage on December 20, towns and cities in Mendoza have been rocked by protests, caravans and roadblocks demanding the reinstatement of Law 7722.
"The suspension of the mining law," Solanas tweeted, "is the result of the struggle and the demonstrations."
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Mendoza Governor Rodolfo Suárez checks the time during today's press conference in which he announced the suspension of the contentious mining deregulation law.
The law, opponents noted, also benefits Suárez's political godfather, Ernesto Sanz - who sits on the board of a mining firm that stands to benefit from the new law.
Suárez is one of three remaining right-wing governors in Argentina.
