Reinforcing Mary Anastasia O’Grady’s “Why Central America Stays Poor” (Americas, Oct. 8): Our consultancy provides services to mining and mineral-exploration companies world-wide. Until recently, we generated over three-quarters of our revenue from projects outside the U.S. and Canada, mainly Mexico, Central America and South America. In the last three years, three-quarters of our revenue is now generated from projects inside the U.S. and Canada. I suggest that the dominant motivation of that shift in revenues is the preference for safety of jurisdiction.
The opposition to mining masquerades as being based on indigenous, political, legal or environmental grounds, but the real reason is to “stay poor.” No matter how profitable a mine is, and no matter how law-abiding a company is, and no matter how much money is invested, a company cannot overcome political opposition without the rule of law. One could posit that the more profitable a mine is, the more likely the owner is to lose ownership, title or mining rights.
Steve Ristorcelli
Gardnerville, Nev.
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