http://www.blackagendareport.com/node/14458
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Quote:by Thomas C. Mountain
“Any country starting a mining industry has to face up to whether mining is a blessing or a curse.â€
The small east African country of Eritrea has started a mining industry and is doing it right. To start with Eritrea is receiving 40% of the profits generated by its first gold/copper mine.
Compare this to Tanzania where Anglo-American mining company operates one of the worlds largest gold mines and pays a whopping 4% royalty to the government.
Thanks to Wikileaks we know that the USA forced sanctions against Eritrea through the UN Security Council in 2009, not to punish Eritrea for allegedly supporting “terrorism†(i.e. Al Shabab in Somalia) but in an attempt to sabotage the start of Eritrea’s mining industry.
40% vs. 4%? Small wonder that Eritrea’s deal threatens western interests, for if the rest of Africa takes note and begins to follow suit in the deals cut allowing exploitation of the continent’s resources Pax Americana and its vassals are facing a serious problem.
Mining is a dirty, dangerous industry which inevitably scars the land and leaves behind massive amounts of cyanide and acid polluted slurry. Any country starting a mining industry has to face up to whether mining is a blessing or a curse.
Unfortunately small, war and climate change ravaged countries like Eritrea badly need foreign currency to pay for medicines, fuel, machinery and to help pay for building the infrastructure colonialism failed to provide.
When Eritrea won its independence on the battle field in 1991 there was no national electric grid. Most of the people had no access to clean drinking water, medical care or education for their children. While major advances have been made in providing these basic human rights to Eritrea's people much, much more needs to be done and developing the mining industry is an immediate answer.