Cargill's Salt mine development 
causes social exclusion and pollution 
at northwest coast of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela

Prof. Jorge Hinestroza / Faculty of Sciences / La Universidad del Zulia 16dec01
Prof. Jorge Hinestroza is a lecturer and researcher at 
the Unit of Anthropology
Faculty of Sciences
La Universidad del Zulia
Venezuela
<vitae2@telcel.net.ve>

The double social and environmental impact of the Produsal S.A. a salt project of Cargill Inc. currently underway in Venezuela, is threatening Zulia state's fishing communities, environment and way of life.

More than two thousand unemployed and environmental problems which are ruining the fishing industry in the northern zone of the Lake Maracaibo are some of the results highlighted in a study accomplished by the Social and Environmental Impacts of the salt industry project research, which examines the impacts and risks associated with the Produsal S.A. company and its operations in Zulia State at northwest of Venezuela.

Within this company, the transnational Cargill Inc and the state-run Petrochemical of Venezuela (PEQUIVEN) share stock, the former with 70% and the latter with 30%. Produsal S.A. obtained a concession from regional authorities to produce salt by the modern solar method for a period of 50 years subject to renewal, within Los Olivitos Swamp wildlife and fishing reserve, registered in the official Gazette of Zulia State for 19th of march 1993. To install a solar saltwork, means to create a group of interconnected artificial ponds in which the high evaporation of the seawater make possible to produce chloride of sodium or table salt. What differences this salt form the common salt is its high purity, as the modern solar method to make salt permits reach a 92% of purity, a salt required by some industrial processes, like that for producing some petrochemical products.

According to the plans of the company, the project shall go up 5.000 hectares within Los Olivitos Marsh and salt production shall go up to 8000 thousand tons per year. The occupied area for the development is around twenty per cent of the entire marsh. The installation of dikes covers a perimeter of more than 30 kilometers, whose position at the mouth of the rivers is enough harm to destroy the fragile ecosystems of this wildlife refuge.

This study reveals that Ancón de Iturre community, prior to the arrival of Produsal, was a productive village with minimal unemployment thanks to its way of life, characterized by traditional forms of labor such as fishing and artisanal production of salt.

The implantation and development of the modern labour-saving industry left the community without the employment which artisanal production of salt supplied to the locals. Approximately 300 people of the village were rendered redundant and were dismissed. Because of this sudden blow, Ancón de Iturre began a quick economic decline when it did not continue to perceive an annual gross income of about ten million and half bolivars produced by its traditional economy.
Almost the completely active population of Ancón de Iturre worked in these traditional saltwork, although the great majority of the laborers, between 1,500 and 1,700 labourers, came from others communities as Boca del Palmar and Quisiro. In total, two thousand persons approximately were unemployed with the process of space appropriation after the modernization plans driven by the state, since final of the eighties.

North coast of Miranda's fishing communities accompanied by many others of the jurisdiction, constituted an citizens association denominated Local Block of Miranda. to intensify the social resistance initially promoted by the community of Ancón of Iturre before Produsal S.A.. This situation constitutes a worsening of the tensions that the mentioned company has caused to have been installed in the marsh without the consent of the affected communities who from then on suffer the consequences of this exclusive "modernization process". Also, Produsal promoted expectations of massive employment for the villagers without the due capacity of satisfying them. Along with this, the decrease of the fishery is attributed to the enormous environmental modification carried out by the installation of the biggest industrial salt ponds of Venezuela, in Los Olivitos marsh.

The resistance of the communities to the salt industrial development is due to the decrease of the fishery which is associated to various factors: 1) the drastic modification of the lagoon-estuary of Los Olivitos' topography made by the installation of dike-ponds concentrators of salt, 2) the deviation and obstruction of the Cocuiza and Palmar rivers that ended in the lagoon and 3) the proposal of installation of a toxic waste discharge system toward the Bay of El Tablazo in the Lake of Maracaibo. In this bay the fishermen usually carry out their fishing tasks. The fishermen blame the company for discharging toxic brine residues (bitterns) secretly toward the neighboring lands to the company, and they denounce a growing decrease of the fishing capture in the area.
Audubon Society of Venezuela had predicted in 1987 various of these events: a decrease of the fishing production in proportional to the affected area, alterations of saline concentration of the estuary, with negative effects on the swamps and marine species and an increase of pollution of El Tablazo Bay.

Also, a social and environmental study carried out in 1988 by Coromoto Algarra, researcher of La Universidad del Zulia had advanced some of the negative consequences of this modernization project. It described the consequences that were going to occur with this project, and stated that a modern saltwork in Los Olivitos could cause irreversible negative effects in the natural ecosystems, such as making the marsh unable to be an area of wildlife refuge of species. Also, causing the reduction of fish capture and the disappearance of the artisanal saltwork.
In 1992, Luis Delgado, Hugo Marín and Alicia Apitz of Parra, researchers of the Center of Geographical Studies of The University of the Zulia, in their pioneer book of the Regional Geography entitled EL ZULIA, SU ESPACIO GEOGRAFICO (Caracas, ANH, 1992) stood out the opinions of Clark Casler, biologist researcher of the Center of Biological Researches of this same university, in agreement with the of the Environment Ministry, that: "the appropriate uses for Los Olivitos are researching, education, tourism, handcraft fishing and the exploitation of salt with artisanal method. None of these warnings were seriously considered by government. Although it was not known by then what salt company would take charge of a new saltwork in Los Olivitos, these predictions were completed. Others competitors, as the governmental ENSAL, had wanted to obtain concessions for salt exploiting in that place, but Produsal S.A. (Cargill Salt) , won the public bid. From then on, the fishermen begun a real via crucis whose stations were the government offices where to claim for the lost space in the Olivitos marsh and denounce the environmental destruction of the wildlife refuge by hands of Produsal, with no result so far. They called on different offices: National Guard's environmental Department, General Prosecutor's office, Ministry of Environment Zulia State Office, Ministry of Environment Central Office, Municipal Council, Environmental commission of the National Assembly, and others. On December 22,1999, the increase of this conflict caused serious buds of violence. Around one thousand fishermen coming from various fishing communities met in the vicinity of Produsal to protest the installation of a toxic brine discharge pipeline. The peaceful protest took violent form when after the multitude demanded to dismantle the pipeline, Produsal managers responded with jeers while a truck with armed personnel burst into the crowd. The armed guards begun to shoot and immediately the crowd reacted burning the pipe and the truck, with probable millionaire losses for the company and the opening of a judicial process begun by Produsal. The company accused some fishermen and local leaders of causing damages to its properties.

This controversial social process is linked to the expansion of transnational petrochemical industry in Venezuela. The petrochemical industry is the flag of development plan of President Chavez's administration, whose best example is El Tablazo petrochemical complex under the responsibility of Pequiven, S.A. (subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the public oil company of Venezuela). Specifically, the growing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) petrochemical plants increased the demand of salt, since PVC production is currently the main strategic target of the salt industry in the world.. The demand of PVC led to the decision of modernizing the salt factory of Venezuela, traditionally in hands of the artisanal producers.

In previous opportunities the installation and later petrochemical expansion has raised strong rejection in local communities, like that happened in the sounded case of El Hornito, a fishing village of Lake Maracaibo, subjected to a compulsory relocation and congenital diseases caused by toxic emissions of El Tablazo petrochemical complex.

A minuscule proportion of the current global production of salt ( 3 or 4 %) is dedicated to chlorine production for disinfection of human consumption water, while the demand of this matter to produce PVC plastics is about fourteen percent of the chlorine produced at the chlorine-soda plants. The strategic position of salt as raw material to produce PVC and also as additive in mud for oil drilling, drove the Venezuelan state in 1968 to reorganize the state monopoly of salt and transfer it to the Empresa Nacional de Salinas "ENSAL" (National Company of Salt) under control of the Venezuelan Institute of Petrochemistry, considering the industrial future of the natural gas. Afterwards, under the privatization and free market liberal policies, the saltwork passed to the transnational private corporation Cargill Inc. Cargill bought out Grupo Zuliano's participation in Produsal in 1995. Grupo Zuliaano (Zulian Group), a powerful Venezuelan investor group, declared to have bought its participation in Produsal for Bs 1.200 MM. Cargill declares to have invested in the saltwork development over US$ 30 MM., although, sometimes the company says to have spent as many as US$ 50 MM.

An analysis of the international consultant company Roskill Consulting Group in 2000, points out the threat that weighs on the salt industry in the international markets thank to the tendency banning the polluting PVC in the industrialized countries. It is considered that the recent installation or amplification of solar salt plants in Third World countries is due in good part to the growing pressures of environmental protection that gravitate on the investors in the own floor of the developed nations. This industrial relocation process of salt sector is accompanied of a displacement of the North American and European mature markets of sodium chloride industrial consumption toward the growing markets of the Pacific in Asia, and in second place, toward Latin America.

At the beginning of the 90's, the petrochemical expansion raised the installed capacity of vinyl plants of El Tablazo from 40.000 TMA, to 65.000 TMA of PVC; A second plant of PVC would push the production to a 120.000 TMA; At the same time, the chlorine-soda plants plant should elevate its productive capacity of chlorine production from 40.000 TMA to 120.000 TMA in order to satisfy the growing demand originated in the plants of MVC-PVC. Although, only some 4.500 TMA of this chlorine (3. 75% of the installed capacity) is dedicated to the water treatment systems of our country. Produsal project was argued before public opinion mainly with the reasoning of the pretended need of chlorine for water treatment in Venezuela.

The research also examines the infringement of regulations that force legally to authentic consultation and participation of communities affected by big investment projects. These aspects of the International Agreement of Ramsar (1971) were obviated and the protection of Wetlands of International Importance was, in fact, neglected.