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The VUDAS fight crosses borders: the IACHR analyzes the case for human rights violations in Córdoba

Fundeps, together with the United Neighbors in Defense of a Healthy Environment (VUDAS), submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The goal is for this international body to assess the responsibility of the Argentine State regarding the illegal operation of the company Porta Hnos. S.A. in the San Antonio neighborhood of the city of Córdoba. Recently, the IACHR notified that the petition is in the “admissibility” stage, and the Argentine State must submit relevant information before July 25.

In April 2024, the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps), together with the United Neighbors in Defense of a Healthy Environment (VUDAS), submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The purpose of the petition is for the IACHR to become aware of the violation of fundamental rights resulting from the illegal operation of the company Porta Hnos. S.A. in the San Antonio neighborhood of the City of Córdoba, and to assess the responsibility of the Argentine State in this regard.

Over the course of these 13 years of struggle, VUDAS has filed numerous administrative complaints and legal actions at various levels of government, supported by solid independent studies that prove the serious damage caused to the environment and the health of families in the neighborhood. However, to this day, they have not received any solutions from local authorities. That is why we decided to bring their case before this international body.

Recently, we were notified that the petition has moved to a new stage in the process: the admissibility stage. This means that the IACHR considers the petition to meet the formal requirements and is ready to be analyzed in depth. To that end, it has requested information from the Argentine State, which must respond within four months of the request being sent—by July 25. Reaching this stage is of great importance, as only a small number of the thousands of petitions the IACHR receives annually make it this far.

In the petition, we request that the competent authorities be required to:

  • Adopt the necessary measures to stop the pollution caused by Porta Hnos. S.A.

  • Order the immediate relocation of the plant located at Avda. Valparaiso 4850, City of Córdoba, outside the urban area of the city, in compliance with current environmental legislation.

  • Take all necessary measures to identify and remediate the environmental damage caused by the plant’s operations.

  • Provide free medical and psychological assistance to those affected by the environmental pollution.

  • Order the creation of a Community Development Fund to be financed by the company.

All of this is within the framework of the serious pollution caused by the company’s operations, which affects the community’s rights to health, a healthy environment, a dignified life, and citizen participation, among others, for those living near the bioethanol plant.

A company that breaks the law with state backing

Over all these years, the company has failed to comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment procedure, despite it being a mandatory legal requirement for this type of industry and having been ordered by at least four court rulings at different levels. Even more serious is the fact that this noncompliance is not only due to the company’s refusal, but also because the Ministry of Environment and Circular Economy itself has refused to require the company to carry out the assessment.

In this context of state absence and neglect, progress in this international instance represents an opportunity to seek justice for all the environmental and social harm caused by the company. It also represents a renewed push in the sustained struggle of VUDAS, supported by Fundeps, which motivates us to continue forward with the same commitment to access to justice and environmental democracy. As well as for a more just, equitable, and sustainable society, based on public policies that guarantee the human rights of all people.

Author:

Ananda Lavayen

Contact:

Laura Carrizo, lauracarrizo@fundeps.org

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Marketing of substitutes and rights at risk

This report seeks to reflect on the scope and limitations of breastfeeding protection policies in Argentina, with an emphasis on regulatory acceptance and the effectiveness of their implementation. It begins by analyzing the international human rights regulatory framework that promotes and guarantees the protection of breastfeeding and the importance of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (ICMSM) and subsequent World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions as a tool to guarantee adequate and effective protection of the rights to food, health, and information of children, women, and pregnant people. It then analyzes, from a human rights perspective, the findings of the monitoring carried out by the ObservaMaS platform, which reflects the worrying noncompliance with national and international regulations and the advancement of the marketing strategies of the breast-milk substitutes industry.

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More than a health problem: the multiple impacts of smoking. An intersectional approach

This report aims to contextualize the problem of smoking and analyze its multiple impacts on health, the environment, the economy and society, from a comprehensive, relational and intersectional perspective. Based on an exhaustive review of the literature and scientific evidence from sources without conflicts of interest, this work focuses on the specific effects of tobacco consumption and the activities of the tobacco industry in Argentina and the region.

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Questions and Answers on Access to Environmental Information

In the following guide you will find questions and answers about access to public environmental information and useful information to make requests to the State.

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Food emergency in the Argentine provinces

The multidimensional crisis and growing food insecurity that the country is experiencing has led several provinces to issue local Food Emergency regulations. In this report we explore the scope and limits of this regulatory strategy in the search to alleviate the difficulties faced by millions of Argentines, as well as its connection with the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating.

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The exploitation of lithium in the high Andean salt flats: a socio-environmental analysis based on the Argentine case

This report aims to address the different conceptual, legislative and discursive perspectives and components that intervene in this context of global energy transition and the consequent acceleration in the demand for lithium in our country and region. It seeks to take a comprehensive approach to lithium exploitation in Argentina and the region, providing elements for an informed discussion.

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Stories and experiences of socio-environmental struggles in Córdoba

By compiling some of the experiences of struggles of the Cordoba communities, we aim to provide a collective response to the challenges that arise around the processes of environmental conflict.

The truth is that there is no single way to organize, no single way to ask the authorities for answers, and much less a single way to confront a socio-environmental conflict. However, we observe that there are common practices that have been strengthened and that serve as a guide for other struggles.

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Social representations of youth, adolescents and children on the different types of tobacco and nicotine product consumption

From Fundeps we conducted a study interviewing youth, adolescents and children from different socioeconomic levels, to comprehensively understand the consumption of tobacco products and generate evidence regarding the profile of consumers and the context surrounding their consumption.

In this report you can find reasons, beliefs, experiences, expectations, emotions and motivations, related to tobacco consumption; and considerations about the people who consume it, taking into account factors such as gender, age, socioeconomic level and school and extracurricular activities.

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Good practices in the care of pregnancy termination

This report is the result of a survey carried out during the first months of 2024 among health personnel in the province of Córdoba who guarantee sexual and reproductive health practices in this territory. The objective is to circulate those strategies that have generated good results for access to services, such as the internal organization of the teams, the care and referral circuits, the use of guides and protocols, the interdisciplinary approach to cases, and other types of practices that are considered relevant for good care.

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MapaInversiones Argentina Platform: Strengths and Aspects to Improve

MapaInversiones is a regional initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), whose objective is to support the improvement of transparency and efficiency of public investment by strengthening the provision of information on infrastructure and development projects in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. Operating in optimal conditions, this tool allows citizens, authorities and other interested parties to access detailed and updated information on infrastructure and development projects through digital platforms that integrate and visualize public data.

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How to access information and make a complaint to the AIIB and the Belt and Road Initiative?

In recent years, Argentina joined two initiatives promoted by China of great potential and relevance: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road Initiative. In this document we explain how to request information from these institutions and how to make complaints when their projects affect the rights of communities.

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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road Initiative: what are they?

In recent years, Argentina joined two initiatives promoted by China of great potential and relevance: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road Initiative. In this document we explain what they are and why we are interested in knowing them.

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