Canadian Organizations Condemn Gold Company’s Lawsuit Against Costa Rica

Source: Blue Planet Project – Common Frontiers – Council of Canadians – MiningWatch Canada

(Ottawa/Toronto) Canadian organizations are disappointed that Calgary-based Infinito Gold has lodged a long-threatened investor-state lawsuit against the Costa Rican government in the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The company is contesting Costa Rica’s legitimate rejection of the proposed Crucitas open-pit gold mine. The groups once again urge Infinito management to drop the unwarranted legal action, accept the will of the Costa Rican people who rejected the mine, recognize the country’s 2010 ban on open-pit mining, and leave the country.

“It’s outrageous that this firm can’t pay its legal fees owing to two critics that it tried to sue for defamation in Costa Rica, but has the funds to sue the country. Public opinion polls in Costa Rica have shown that a majority of the population opposes mining and the Costa Rican court has repeatedly found against Infinito’s project. The company should demonstrate some respect and walk away,” remarks Jen Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator with MiningWatch Canada.

Although Infinito has lowered its compensation demands from $1-billion to $94 million, the amount of their stated investments in the Crucitas project, even this is unreasonable: Infinito owes $200,000 in legal costs to the professors it tried to sue for defamation, the initial approval for the Crucitas project was declared illegal, and it should not be up to the public in any country to insure mining companies against losses.