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Digging Deeper in El Dorado

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Digging Deeper in El Dorado Digging Deeper in El Dorado Neutralizing the gap between CSR and practice: gold mining TNCs in Colombia Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance of Utrecht University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Global Criminology. Bram Ebus, 3245063 Under supervision of Dr. Damián Zaitch. July, 2014 1 Acknowledgements After 9 impressive months in Colombia, I can only be grateful for the time that I have spent in a country which is now so special to me. If there is somebody who needs to be thanked for all their help, support, guidance, hospitality and kindness; it is the person who is anonymized in my whole thesis, my respondents, contacts and friends. My thesis would not have been possible without all my contacts and respondents, whether they appear or not in my thesis, I am extremely grateful for the time, risks and efforts people have put into me by providing information (which was often with considerable risks), giving me accommodation by inviting me to their homes and introducing me to their families. People often offered me a lot of help and information, without wanting anything in return. The mainly very poor population of Colombia has been most welcoming and open to me, and shared some of their most intense stories. This was an enormous help in order to realize my research and it was a great motivation to see how people more than often showed an enormous dedication in order to help me dealing with whatsoever. Thank you! 2 Abstract Business and social issues cross each other while the concept of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) becomes increasingly accepted. Exactly at this intersection, corporations implement CSR policies. In the meanwhile, there is an increase in the attention given to the crimes of the powerful in criminology. The main focus lies on crimes by states and corporations. This thesis focusses on the large-scale gold mining industry in Colombia and the CSR that is promoted by the three studied companies, with a special focus on the role the Colombian state has in the emergence of this sector in the country. The research aims to answer the following question: To what extent does the CSR discourse of gold mining TNCs in Colombia and the state-corporate intentions behind gold mining match the social practices of these corporations. In the case of a mismatch, what is the rationality behind this? The thesis suggests that CSR can be used, and in the encountered data concerning three companies is used, to neutralize an existing gap between CSR and practice. Exactly in this gap exists space to manoeuvre relatively unnoticed for the state-corporate actors, while inflicting harm and conducting illegal behaviour. Keywords: ‘CSR’ ‘gold mining’ ‘Colombia’ ‘AngloGold Ashanti’ ‘Eco Oro’ ‘Gran Colombia Gold’ ‘state corporate crime’ ‘neutralization techniques’ 3 Table of contents Acknowledgement 2 Abstract 3 List of figures and boxes 5 Introduction 8 2. Theoretical framework 11 2.1 Corporate Social Responsibility 11 2.2 Neutralization techniques and denial 14 2.3 State-corporate crimes 15 2.4 Green criminology 16 2.5 Neutralizing state-corporate crimes through social practices 17 3. Methodology 18 3.1 Research design and motivation 18 3.1.1 Qualitative fieldwork 20 3.1.2 Use of secondary data 24 3.1.3 Validity and reliability 24 3.2 Ethical issues & security dilemma’s 25 4. Business as usual, a history of gold and conflict in Colombia 28 4.1 (Gold) mining in Colombia; a present-day historical perspective 29 4.2 Big capitals’ mercenaries, the Colombian paramilitary 33 4.2.1 The initial paramilitary 33 4.2.2 A slight switch in paramilitary motivation 34 4.2.3 How the paramilitary continued to benefit business after their ‘demobilization’ 34 4.3 Colombia’s internal conflict; a comfortable situation for business? 35 4.3.1 Resources and conflict 35 4 4.3.2 How the armed conflict serves the ‘macro-criminal 37 4.3.3 Modus operandi 38 5. Gold mining and foreign capital, a paradise of development promises 40 5.1 Colombia’s mining locomotive 42 5.2 The gold bonanza? Colombia’s progress after the new Mining Code 40 5.3 An uncontrollable public utility 45 5.4 Moving for minerals 46 5.5 Final remarks 51 6. FRIENDS AND FACILITATORS 52 6.1 The Canadian ‘engine-man’ starting up the motor 53 6.2 The IFC’s appetite for gold 55 6.3 ‘Multi-stakeholderism’ 56 6.3.1 The Comité Minero-Energético 56 6.3.2 The involvement of civil society 58 6.3.3 The Dutch Embassy 60 6.4 Human rights and the national army 60 6.4.1 AGA’s questionable reputation 60 6.4.2 AGA in Sur de Bolívar 62 6.5 Defensoría 66 6.6 Conclusion 69 7. Trapped in development promises 70 7.1 AngloGold Ashanti 71 7.1.1 Disseminating Information 71 7.1.2 The entrance of AGA 73 7.1.3 Public image 75 7.1.4 The social license 77 7.1.5 Development through labour opportunities 79 5 7.1.6 Work Experiences with AGA 80 7.1.6 What else went wrong? 83 7.1.7 Final remarks on AGA 84 7.2 Gran Colombia Gold 86 7.2.1 Segovia’s history of violence 67 7.2.2 Labour opportunities? 89 7.2.3 How GCG conquered Segovia 91 7.2.4 Manifestations in Marmato 93 7.2.5 The ‘Golden Opportunity’ of GCG 93 7.2.6 The social plan to displace Marmato 95 7.2.7 Final remarks on GCG 97 7.3 Eco Oro 99 7.3.1 Ecological Gold or just a Colombian Company? 99 7.3.2 Greystar’s part in the conflict 100 7.3.3 The environmental discussion 101 7.3.4 Development by Eco Oro 104 7.3.5 The future of Angostura 106 7.4 Conclusion on the development promises 108 8. Conclusion 109 Literature 112 Annex I 124 Annex II 125 Annex III 127 Annex IV 130 6 List of figures and boxes List of figures Figure 1 Map of Colombia 10 Figure 2 Annual Colombian Gold Production 30 Figure 3 Mining titles granted 42 Figure 4 Projects AGA 71 Figure 5 Outreach of AGA in Tolima 75 Figure 6 Projects GCG 86 Figure 7 Mining Titles and Solicitations in Colombia 92 Figure 8 GCG’s Oversight of Marmato 94 Figure 9 Project Angostura of Eco Oro List of boxes Box 1 Bogota 21 Box 2 Marmato – Caldas 27 Box 3 Coca Cola & Drummond 36 Box 4 Macizo Colombiano 49 Box 5 AGA in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 61 Box 6 Working the gold veins of Sur de Bolívar 65 Box 7 La Toma - Cauca 67 Box 8 The Frontino representative 88 7 1. Introduction “The communities and societies in which we operate will be better off for AngloGold Ashanti having been there” (AngloGold Ashanti, 2012). “Before we heard of multinational companies everything was peaceful, people were working quietly there was no problem. As soon as we heard from these corporations, the army appeared. With the corporations a new situation began” (Interview Community Representative Sur de Bolívar, 18-9-2013). Colombia, born and grown in conflict, recently opened its doors for a new gold rush. The large-scale gold mining industry has an international track record of environmental abuses and human rights violations, but the Colombian government has made up its mind. The mining and energy sector was promoted to one of the five ‘locomotives’ of national development and both politics and the corporate sector promote good future practices of the industry. Development and trade are becoming more connected in government discourses on a global level. An international trend which is not uncommon to Colombia. In spite of the 50-year internal conflict, the abundance of natural resources motivates foreign capital to invest in the country. The opportunities for gold mining seem not to be without risks in the country of the legend of El Dorado1. Colombia contains various fragile and highly important ecosystems, for example where the Andes mountain range and the Amazon rainforest embrace each other. The vast rural areas of Colombia still have a high presence of illegal armed groups. In present-day criminology there is an increase of attention given to ‘crimes of the powerful’. Within the more critical ways of thinking in criminology, the focus has been narrowed down to companies and politics. Corporate crimes and state crimes overlap in the concept of state-corporate crimes. Kramer and Michalowski (2000) elaborated on the terminology and argue that: “great powers and great crimes are inseparable. When economic and political powers pursue common interests, the potential for harm is magnified further” (Kramer & Michalowski, 2000: 1). 1 The legend about ‘a mythical place full of gold’ has lured adventurers already for centuries to Latin America in their quest for gold. El Dorado-‘the golden one’, is now mostly accepted as the legend of tribal chiefs of the Muisca native people. Who as a ritual covered themselves in gold dust and let a raft full with gold and gemstones sink in the lake of Guatavita-which is located close to Bogota. El Dorado often stands synonym for ‘conquest-like’ desires to find gold. 8 The state-corporate tandem behind gold mining in Colombia developed a social image for the sector, underlining the concept of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) to counter possible (current and future) harms. The argument is that the large-scale industry will mine in a responsible manner. It seems that the industry wants to make a new start in Colombia, but the CSR concept received criticism.
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