Reuters.- Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) said on Wednesday that is willing to take legal action, including the revocation of a concession, against two Canadian mining companies operating in the country, which he accuses of having broken the law in a tax dispute and in a trade union dispute.
The president urged in February the Canadian authorities to intervene so that one of these companies, First Majestic Silver Corp, comply with the tax obligations of millionaires which, according to him, he seeks to avoid through international litigation.
Although he did not name it, the president mentioned a company that operates a deposit in Tayoltita, Durango, and has taken it to an international court. This is the case with First Majestic.
The president said which hopes to reach an agreement with the support of Canada, but does not rule out taking legal action.
“I hope the Government of Canada will help us resolve this matter (…) Otherwise, we will act legally,” López Obrador said at the morning conference.
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The second company that AMLO referred to, although it did not give its name, would be Gold and silver of the Americas, which operates mines in Cosalá, in the northwest of the state of Sinaloa, and It has been over a year of union disputes over the ownership of the collective labor agreement.
“The company does not accept the union (…) They do not want to start activities, they want to have their union and they are not with the mandate of the law of the Ministry of Labor”, declared López Obrador .
The president asked publicly to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Marcelo Ebrard, to discuss the case of this firm with the Government of Canada, which even had to suspend its operations. Americas Gold and Silver did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
“If the law is not respected, The government can revoke the concession to the company and there will be another company that wants, according to the law, to carry out the mining works.», Declared the president, who assures that his administration will not hand over new mining concessions.
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