Resistance to Canadian mining projects in Mexico: lessons from the lifecycle of the San Xavier Mine in San Luis Potosí

Darcy Tetreault

doi:10.2458/v26i1.22947

Abstract

This article analyses resistance movements to large-scale mining projects in Mexico, particularly the case of sustained organized resistance to the San Xavier Mine, in the central north state of San Luis Potosí. As one of the first struggles in Mexico against Canadian mining projects after the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the leaders of this movement pioneered strategies of resistance on the legal front and were instrumental in building anti-mining alliances and networks on the national and international levels. Now that the excavation process has finished and the mine is closing down, this article seeks to draw on the case to illustrate the complementarity of three approaches for interpreting resistance to mining: class struggle, ecological distribution conflicts, and the clash of cultural valuations over territorial vocation. The argument is that these approaches are not mutually exclusive; they can be combined to explain the multiple dimensions of specific struggles, whose shifts in emphasis at different moments of the struggle are conditioned by – and condition – the phase of a mine's development. By contextualizing the case study in a broader analysis of social environmental conflicts around mining in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, the analysis seeks to illustrate the ways in which the struggle against the San Xavier Mine is representative of broader trends, as well as its peculiarities. On the local level, we find the struggle has more to do with defending conditions of social and cultural reproduction than protecting the means of production that sustain traditional livelihoods. This pertains, not just to a non-contaminated living environment and the availability of clean water for human consumption, but also to the conservation of natural and architectural patrimony with historic and cultural significance.Key words: Mining conflicts, Canadian imperialism, political class formation, ecological distribution, cultural valuations

Highlights

The San Xavier Mine (MSX in its Spanish acronym), in the north central state of San Luis Potosí (SLP), Mexico, was the first of several large Canadian-owned open-pit gold mines to be announced in the country after the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994
This is illustrated by the case study, which starts with a brief historical review of mining and class struggle in Cerro de San Pedro (CSP), the municipality where MSX is located, and goes on to examine organized resistance to MSX through the lenses of the Journal of Political Ecology
2 The analysis presented and the draws from an extensive review of academic literature and journalism dealing with the conflict around the San Xavier Mine, as well as field research carried out in 2017, entailing visits to multiple sites in the municipality of Cerro de San and interviews with opposition leaders, researchers and New Gold representatives

Summary

Introduction

The San Xavier Mine (MSX in its Spanish acronym), in the north central state of San Luis Potosí (SLP), Mexico, was the first of several large Canadian-owned open-pit gold mines to be announced in the country after the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The argument put forth is that these approaches are not mutually exclusive; they can be combined in a complementary fashion to explain the multiple dimensions of specific struggles, with shifts in emphasis at different moments of the struggle, which are conditioned by – and condition – the phase of a mine's development. This is illustrated by the case study, which starts with a brief historical review of mining and class struggle in Cerro de San Pedro (CSP), the municipality where MSX is located, and goes on to examine organized resistance to MSX through the lenses of the Journal of Political Ecology. The concluding section presents the theoretical and political lessons derived from analyzing the case of MSX through these lenses

Mining conflicts in Mexico and Latin America

Three lenses for interpreting resistance to mining

A history of struggle in Cerro de San Pedro2

The struggle against the San Xavier Mine

Findings

Conclusions