El caso de Bougainville

Data Estel·lar pringosa Dimarts 20200225

Bougainville es uno de esos lugares que no existen en los medios de comunicación. 

Lo único que conozco de él lo explicó el viajero Jorge Sánchez en un libro publicado en 1992:  Mi Viaje a los Archipiélagos del Pacífico

No tiene nada de relevante: una pequeña isla con la mina de cobre más grande del mundo y una contaminación insufrible por parte de Rio Tinto  PLC

Renta4Banco hace un resumen: 

La operación de cobre de Pangua en una región autónoma de Papúa Nueva Guinea permanece cerrada desde 1989, cuando los milicianos, frustrados porque la comunidad local no se estaba beneficiando de los ingresos y enfadados por el daño medioambiental, obligaron a cerrar la mina. La rebelión secesionista que provocó la muerte de miles de personas terminó con un alto el fuego en 1998, pero la mina siguió cerrada. 

 Río Tinto, con el nombre de la cuenca minera de Huelva, es un claro ejemplo de imperialismo británico convertido en imperialismo australiana, inmoralidad, ineficacia y robo organizado desde hace más de un siglo, con la complicidad siempre necesaria de los gobernantes españoles de la España española y eterna y cuidado del que se mueva que ellos son supremos y los demás, antiespañoles.

La minería existe en Río Tinto durante 5000 años. Hoy es un centro de turismo industrial. Lo típico.

La corrupción española y la ineficacia financiera, pese o debido también a esa chulería nacionalista, del siglo XIX cede la minería de muchos lugares y todo lo que pueda ser susceptible de industria siderometalúrgica y derivados (empresas de ferrocarriles privadas) a En 1873 el Estado Español vendió a Inglaterra los terrenos mineros de Riotinto y estuvo en su poder hasta 1954, durante este tiempo la “Río Tinto Company Limited” llevó a cabo una minería de extracción masiva y todo cambió para siempre.

Esa empresa es la que, tras ocasionar un robo organizado en España y a saber dónde más, creará más problemas en Bougainville, cuyo nombre no es el original, claro, sino el de otro europeo listo y rico.

Todo es que parecen insultos las Ciencias Económicas lo tienen resumido en el vocablo: EXTERNALIDADES. Toda la mugre, suciedad, problemas sociales, económicos, culturales, destructivos del entorno natural y social  e individual, de sanidad, salud y paisajístico son COSTES de producción que generalmente no están pagados por la empresa, sino que los paga la Sociedad. Son las leyes las que obligan a pagarlo. 

Cuando se intenta, británicos, estadounidenses, alemanes o franceses suelen dar golpes de Estado entre los siglos XIX, XX y XXI. El último caso es el de Bolivia, el de Venezuela... o las amenazas de Estados Unidos de América contra la España del PSOE+Podemos del 2020 por si se les ocurre poner un justo impuesto a las transacciones especulativas (tasa Tobin) y la llamada Tasa Google sobre las empresas que pasan de pagar impuestos.

Esta información no sale en la prensa española ni mundial. Ni en los breves (pequeñas noticias que ya ni existen).

 Navegante francés a las órdenes de Luis XV nombre "conde del imperio" (de ahí lo de conde de Bouganvillie, supongo) por Napoléon Buonaparte alias Bonaparte (cargándose a saco lo de la igualdad ciudadana), osea que tuvo una larga existencia siempre arriba. Un tipo ególatra que ponía su nombre a todo lo que se le antojaba, como la planta buganvilia, le pone su nombre a una isla donde ya vivía gente y ya tenía nombre. La isla del archipiélago Salomon, desde 1975 intenta ser la República de Salomón del Norte (nombre sencillo), tras haber sido colonia alemana como Nueva Guinea Alemana. Luego pasa a Papúa Nueva Guinea, de la que oficialmente es Región Autónoma de Bougainville... Se meten los empresarios rapiñeros británicos y luego australianos. Hay la típica guerra larvada durante décadas que explota entre 1988 y 1998.

Shanne Bouma (más artículos suyos aquí), tantos años después de que supiéramos de qué iba el tema que JAMÁS se trató en la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas ni en ninguno de sus chiringuitos asociados, por fin nos ilustra un poco y nos pone al día en este artículo que copipegamos desde International Democracy Community: 

Papua New Guinea

06.02.2020

Inching towards Independence: a bumpy road ahead for Bougainville

By Shanne Bouma

In last November’s referendum, with a turnout of 87,4 per cent, a staggering 97,7 per cent of Bougainvillean voters opted for independence. The small island in the Pacific Sea is part of the state of Papua New Guinea (PNG), but already enjoys a special autonomous status. However, the result of the referendum is crystal-clear: Bougainville wants more. To achieve this independence is not easy. The crux of the problem? The Panguna mine, home to one of the largest copper reserves in the world. Besides this important matter PNG also does not seem to be eager to grant Bougainville statehood.

A referendum coming from a civil war

Past November’s referendum is not coming out of nowhere, as it was incapsulated in a peace accord signed by both parties on August 30, 2001. Facilitated and monitored by the United Nations, the agreement rested on three pillars: more autonomy for Bougainville, disarmament of the island and the convocation of an independence referendum. This referendum had to be triggered in the 10 to 15 years following the establishment of the Autonomous Bougainville Government. According to the agreement, the referendum would be non-binding and after negotiations between both governments, the outcome would have to be ratified by the PNG parliament.

The document was signed after a brutal civil war raged on the island for more than a decade (1988-1998). Between 15.000 and 20.000 Bougainvilleans lost their lives in the conflict, amounting to almost 10% of the entire population. This history also paints a clearer picture as to why Bougainvilleans voted for independence from Papua New Guinea in such overwhelming numbers.

The main catalyst for the civil war? The Panguna mine located at the heart of the island. The mineral-rich Bougainville generated around 17 per cent of PNG´s national revenue and as such, was the most important region in the country. On the other hand, Bougainville only saw 1 percent of the profits return as investments in the region. Feelings of economic exploitation were accompanied by heavy pollution by the mining industry and citizens had to deal with environmental degradation of indigenous lands.

On November 25, 1989 militant landowners lead by Francis Ona started sabotaging the installations of the Panguna copper mine, operated by the company Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL). The main BCL stakeholder, global mining giant Rio Negro allegedly pressured the PNG government to take action to counter the rebellion. Whether this is true or not – investigation is still underway - the PNG administration deployed the military.

In March 1990, the Papua New Guinea government sent troops to the province to quash the guerrilla-like rebellion. According to Colin Filer, an anthropologist studying the conflict, “The frequency of the clashes between militants and security forces intensified to a point at which protest against mining operations had become an act of rebellion against the authority of the state.’’  As the PNG military was unable to defeat the rebellion, the conflict took an even more dramatic turn when PNG imposed a naval blockade on the island, thereby preventing the entry of food and medicine. It forced the Bougainvilleans to resort to a self-sustaining lifestyle.  The attempt to break the spirit of the islanders failed miserably and proved immensely counterproductive as the blockade was a catalyst for increasing national consciousness among Bougainvilleans.

In the end, the rebels didn’t back down and the Panguna mine had to be shut down as operating the mine had become impossible. To date, it remains out of order. It is estimated that supplies of copper and gold worth 60 billion U.S. Dollar are still left underground.

Slow negotiations and economic independence

After the non-binding referendum in November, negotiations started between PNG and Bougainville. PNG Prime Minister James Marape travelled to the island to emphasize PNG’s good faith in positive outcomes. Until now, it is unclear how long the entire process will take. Even though the outcome of the referendum is hard to interpret otherwise than a unmistakable wish for independence, Marape made clear that Bougainville is not ready for it and should focus on economic independency as a priority instead. The island is currently dependent on foreign aid and state revenues coming from the PNG government.

Local leaders have different opinions on the matter. John Momis, the current president of Autonomous Region of Bougainville is in favour of reopening the mine to generate revenues. Landowners have also admitted they want the mine to reopen.

The same sentiment is shared by other Bougainvillean politicians. According to a Japan Times’ interview, Vice President Raymond Masono aims at revising Bougainville’s mining laws after the referendum. Masono wants to amend current laws, so that in the case of new mining activity, Bougainville would take a majority 60 percent share in all projects and retain all mining licenses. The rest would be for other investors to bid on.

In the interview he also states that Panguna can be the project that can enable the Bougainville independence from PNG: “They don’t own the license and the mine. We own it — they come on our terms. The revolution is ongoing.”

Panguna as blessing and a curse

Renewing mining operations can foster development for Bougainville, just as it boosted PNG finances in the 70s and 80s. At the same time, the mine will most likely remain Bougainville’s Achilles’ heel, as renewed mining will undoubtedly have consequences for the environment and the social structure of the island.

The consequences of mining operations have already led to a bloody conflict once. Until now that history has not been fully processed by the inhabitants of Bougainville. There have not been any significant efforts to provide transitional justice addressing the atrocities the Bougainvilleans had to live through. This makes the potential reopening of the mine an even more sensitive endeavour.

Bougainville is currently extremely impoverished and has become one of the poorest regions of Papua New Guinea. Foreign investors and multinational mining companies are already gearing up to jump on the billions of reserves in copper and gold that Panguna still possesses. Further complicating the matter are new players on the block such as China, a country that previously did not act as a significant stakeholder in the conflict.  It is not unthinkable that things will get out of hand as forces bigger and richer than Bougainville will try to get hold of its resources. Various reports seem to indicate that big mining companies are already trying to lobby key politicians on Bougainville to assert political influence.

The people of Bougainville went through a lot and should be able to have a say in their own future. The clear outcome of the referendum leaves no room for interpretation, Bougainville wants to be the newest state in the South Pacific. What the island now needs is a solid legal framework guaranteeing Bougainvillean ownership of Panguna and ambitious and responsible negotiations with Papua New Guinea adhering to the United Nations agreements both parties made.  It seems that  only this combination can lead to a stable model for development in the coming decades.

Article Photo: The ruins of the Panguna mine - courtesy of Madlemurs (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)

This article is available in multiple languages on the Democracy International website:
Diesen Artikel auf Deutsch lesen / [significa: alemán, francés e inglés]

Un sitio pequeño con los problemas que afectan a todo el planeta: malpensemos del silencio. ¿Habrá algún otra familia hispana en las altura de la empresa para que no sepamos nada de Bouvainville, o tendrán un poder oculto en España los antiguos accionistas británico-australianos, al fin y al cabo, vinculados al poder de este país desde el siglo XIX? Malpensemos. Es lo que nos queda.