Mexico City, July 27th 2016.– Miner's Day was celebrated in Mexico on July 11th. While this national day may go unnoticed in many parts of the country, it is a key event in others, such as the coal-mining area of Coahuila, which was changed forever by the discovery of mineral.

Peace Brigades International (PBI) accompanies the Pasta de Conchos Family Organisation in the area. It was formed after the Pasta de Conchos mining tragedy and now works to document the challenging working conditions that miners operate under in this zone. This legitimate work is essential, given that the National Commission on Human Rights has reported that mining in Coahuila "is carried out (...) without the necessary permits (…) and without the safety conditions required to ensure the personal integrity and safety of the miners". Furthermore, the International Labour Organisation has stated in a recent report of June 2016 that health and safety at work policies and effective preventive measures must be adopted to prevent a repetition of accidents such as the Pasta de Conchos tragedy and many others that have cost the lives of over 100 miners in the last decade.

The Organisation and its director Cristina Auerbach marked the occasion by staging a peaceful protest and demanding that the authorities close the pits which are situated too close to dwellings, and that extraction be carried out at a sufficiently safe distance from the municipalities. In recent weeks, families in the area have yielded several victories; the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) has closed the Cloete North mining pit for violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment, and the Ministry of Economy cancelled the entire North Cloete mining concession a few days later.