When you communicate with your cell phone, that little device that makes it easier to link between people, you may not know that manufacturing is turning a mineral called coltan. Maybe hear names, but you may not know exactly what those less concerned and where it comes from or how it is obtained. And if you got lucky enough to travel in one of these modern trains that travel over 300 km time, it is good to know that this wonder of technology has its presence coltan.
is called the mineral coltan columbite-tantalite which two metals are extracted vital for society: the tantalum and niobium (formerly called columbium). His name is a contraction of columbite-tantalite. Gradually, he began to be marketed as an excellent raw material for the development of new technologies.
This mineral is essential for the electronics industry, nuclear plants, space objects, ballistic missiles, video games, medical diagnostic equipment noninvasive train without wheels (magnetic), fiber optic cables, a long list of other things. However, 60 percent of its production goes to the production of capacitors and other parts of the cell phones. With it, the batteries of handheld minicelulares longer hold its charge, since the next-generation microchips that he made optimize power consumption.
The large increase in demand caused the emergence of a parallel black market in central Africa. In the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire), considered by UNESCO major ecological reserves, is 80 percent of world reserves of coltan. There have been interest, especially in the last ten years, the majors Nokia, Ericsonn, Siemens, Sony, Bayer, Intel, Hitachi, IBM and many others. They were trained in the area a number of companies, most of them ghosts, associated between large transnational capital, local governments and state military forces or guerrilla, for the extraction of coltan and other minerals like copper, gold and industrial diamonds.
All licenses for purchase and sale were abolished in late 2000, but continued trading illegally.
While the governments of African countries are vying for territory and further impoverished more, if possible, to their villages, joint ventures share the economic control of the region. Including transportation control. Military areas of international airports in Kigali, capital of Rwanda and Entebbe, Uganda's capital, are a clear example of "no taxes or tariffs." The trip to the Congo flights carrying weapons traveling back and minerals.
For many African countries in the late twentieth century, the devaluation of agricultural products, and desertification, caused a marked appreciation of its mineral resources, new phase of wandering way to relate to the international market. Most of the coltan extracted, then to be accumulated to raise prices, it is destined for the United States, Germany, Belgium and Kazakhstan. The Bayer subsidiary is the producer of 50 percent of tantalum powder worldwide. With traffic and development are linked dozens of companies, involved in monopolistic corporations from different countries. Big companies fund the various military forces, which mounted on the existing ethnic conflicts, support a war for control of mines, which in the past four years have killed about three million people. Rwanda and Uganda have spread to some 40 000 soldiers, who have the best teams in National Parks the DRC, where are the reserves. According to the same Kofi Annan, seventh Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize, said: "Congo's war is being waged for control of its natural wealth." In a report IPIS, research information service for the independent International Peace, we show that European and American companies who sell coltan to help finance the war. They have a great interest in the continued insecurity in the Congo to stay through guerrilla troops.
coltan mines in the daily work more than 20 thousand men, under a repressive system organized by the forces military and local authorities, the two sides in the debate that until now still at war, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, Congolese Rally for Democracy, on the one hand, and the DRC on the other. Workers are paid about ten dollars a kilo of coltan, while in London every kilo of mineral listed between 250 and 300 dollars. The labor force is, in general, ex-farmers and ranchers who do not have to feed their families, plus thousands of children in the region, whose bodies can easily get into the seams flush with the ground.
This way of working has caused, is causing and will continue to cause deaths of millions of Africans.
Capital, therefore not responsible for the entire reproduction of this labor force, which also provide the added value of mineral production, provides a kind of labor rent metamorphosed.
miners suffering from overexploitation. Dan coltan value to their work, pay a tribute to the local state and also work to ensure the livelihood, food and shelter.
-military, local militias and rebels are involved in smuggling, while illegal profits the fund. Intermediaries will
-smugglers buy and sell their products to corporations and little profit left for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Superprofits
invested capital gain you get exorbitant fees, made with the indispensable support of repression and forced labor. As is traditional in Africa, racism, xenophobia and discriminatory ideology in general, are essential for the operation of the dual labor market, wage and forced labor. NO FREE .
Coltan is a source of wealth should be harnessed for the benefit of the Congo and not a tie that oppress their people.
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