International Network of those Affected by Vale

 The project seeks to strengthen and broaden the networking efforts of communities and organizations, both national and international, in facing human rights violations by Vale S.A. and other mining industry corporations. The idea is to promote debate and exchanging of experiences among those affected as a tool for broadly analyzing the socio-environmental impacts that mining entails.

• Annual General Meeting of Those Affected by Vale, which ought to bring together members of networks, social movements and trade unions to build collective actions and strategies in relation to the impacts and human rights violations caused by mining;

• Holding of the International Caravan in Brazil, which aims to identify, through depositions by those affected, the environmental injustices and disrespect for human rights suffered by communities, regions and countries where these corporations are present.

The mining industry is currently one of the principal engines of the global economic system. Following the 2008 crisis, and due to the economic growth of so-called “emerging” countries, the international trade in mineral resources grew significantly, simultaneously increasing its negative impacts. In several countries, there have been recurring cases of dispossession of native populations’ territory; breakdowns in the connections and solidarity networks of communities; pollution and contamination of land and water; exploitation of workers; along with the criminalization of groups who dare to take on these large corporations.

The International Network of those Affected by Vale has, since 2009, been comprised of a wide group of organizations, social movements and trade unions from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Canada and Mozambique whose objective is to contribute to the strengthening of networked communities, promoting strategies to confront the socio-environmental impacts related to the extraction mining industry, especially that connected to the corporation Vale S.A.

The network conducts dialog in political spaces such as the Brazilian Environmental Justice Network; the Committee in Defense of Territories against Mining; DhESCA Brasil; the Brazil Network on Multilateral Financial Institutions.

The Fifth International Meeting of Those Afflicted by the Vale S. A. was held on the 13th, 14th and 15th of August, 2015, in Mariana, Minas Gerais. Caravans were also arranged prior to the meeting in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais (Caravan South) and the South of Pará (Caravan North). The meeting relied on participants from different national and international organizations, which allowed for diversity and the exchange of experiences.