Rafael Ribeiro de Ávila (Duda) e Alípio Santos, operários da Mineração e pré-candidatos à Prefeitura de Congonhas pelo PSTU
Greed and authoritarianism summarize the action taken by the Government of Romeu Zema, of the Partido Novo, by publishing on July 13, 2024, Decree No. 496 of 2024, declaring an area of 261 hectares for public utility and expropriation for the expansion of the CSN mining complex in the city of Congonhas, central region of Minas Gerais. According to the Decree, “the declaration of public utility (…) extends to any improvements that may exist on the land”. Without any dialogue with the affected communities, Zema uses his position to serve the interests of billionaire capitalists in the mining industry, making the state institutions a true marketplace for the owners of power.
According to the Decree, “the land (…) is necessary for the expansion of the Casa de Pedra Mine, with the implementation of the South Maranhão 1 Filtered Sludge Pile”. To get an idea of what this means, currently half of the 304 km2 of the city’s territory are in the hands of mining companies (Vale, CSN, Gerdau and Ferro +) in a predatory relationship that brings diseases, destruction of the ecosystem and communities in exchange for low wages and precarious work. Like true parasites, they take the city’s mineral wealth, exploit its workers and leave a trail of destruction.
This offensive by the company occurred after the Chamber of Mining Activities (CMI) of the State Environmental Policy Council (Copam) approved the expansion of the “Fraile” piles, also of CSN Mining, enabling the storage of material in two piles, which will exceed 200 meters in height, accumulating 77 million cubic meters of dry mining waste.
It is necessary to unify the struggle and mobilize the people against the expansion of this mining model that exploits and destroys
The company and its allies will try to convince that their measures are beneficial for the region, generating jobs and bringing prosperity to the cities, and selling illusions as they always do to deceive the people and put local governments on their knees. These lies will fall flat, like all the others that have been told by them to our working people.
In response, besides denouncing this new project that aims to expand the profits of the bankers who own the large companies in the sector, at the expense of the living conditions of the affected communities, it is necessary to unify the communities and all the working people who suffer from the company’s misdeeds, with the governments as accomplices, to block this new offensive and defend a new mining model, under worker and popular control, and that is a basis for a just, equal and environmentally respectful city and country. A socialist country. The PSTU is serving this struggle!
