China and Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC): Environmental and Social Impacts of Chinese Resource Extraction Activities

Abstract

Sino-Latin American relation experienced an extraordinary intensification since the beginning of the 21st Century. China’s growing demand for raw materials to feed its developing industry, found in Latin America a uniquely suited partner, due to its vast deposit of energy, raw material and food. From the early 2000 until 2013, Latin America & the Caribbean experienced a “China Boom”, a period characterized by the intensification of trade, and an increasing amount of investment and lending from the Chinese side in the mining, energy and the food sectors. The relationship between China and Latin America has had a commodity-based nature, meaning that Latin America exported primary products and resource-based manufactures in exchange for Chinese manufactured goods. Historically, Latin America has been one of the most important suppliers of raw materials in the world, and most of its countries is involved in natural resource extraction activities: copper, gas, oil and iron ore, to name a few, are the most exploited resources in LAC. Since the beginning of these activities, conflicts between local and indigenous communities, mining companies and governments have risen, causing many problems, such as the deaths of activists and loss of lands from indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest. The main issues are the exploitation of land, the imposition of exclusive use rights and the violation of environmental, economic and social rights. Chinese state-owned companies being present and active in those territories, are no exception, and have faced conflicts with local communities as well. In this text, two projects operated by Chinese enterprises in Ecuador will be presented, being the most significant ones in terms of impacts on the environment and the society. The first case reported, will concern oil drilling activities in the Yasuní National Park, a UNESCO Man and Biosphere reserve widely considered to hold the most biodiversity per acre on Earth. The second case will be the Chinese-owned Mirador copper mine, the region's first open pit mine. The aim of this research is to give an evaluation on the environmental, social and cultural impact of Chinese resource extraction and mining activities in Latin America.