Two groups from northern Chile asked a local court to suspend the indigenous consultation process required for a lithium association between the Co -Elco Co -giant and the SQM Lithium Minera, According to documents reviewed by Reuters.
The indigenous community of Coyo and the Atacameña Association of irrigators and farmers of San Pedro de Atacama They presented independently last week before a Chilean Court of Appeals in the Antofagasta region, accusing the Chilean Agency for Economic Development Corfo not to properly carry out the consultation to collect their opinion.
The process is one of the final conditions for the agreement by which the state Codelco enters into force It will be done with a majority participation in SQM lithium mining operations in the Salar de Atacama.
The community of Coyo and the Atacameña de Agores association and farmers said they needed more information and time to be able to give their informed consent about the plan.
The Antofagasta Court accepted the case on Friday, according to a court document. He ordered Corfo to respond within 15 days, and asked Codelco and SQM to also present comments.
Corfo told Reuters that the consultation process was still ongoing. “The indigenous consultation process with the indigenous organizations Atacameñas continues and has been carried out according to the regulations,” The entity highlighted in a statement.
The indigenous consultation, led by Corfo and in which dozens of community groups located around the Salar de Atacama participated, It had to conclude around the end of July.
Both the community of Coyo and the Atacameña Association of Irrigators and Farmers They asked the court to suspend the process until a new methodology for community review is implemented and more information is delivered.
“The specific methodology must be agreed from which the consultation is going to be carried out with my represented and the other indigenous organizations convened, suspending in the intertant the consultation process until such methodology is defined in such terms “, The Atacameña Association of Irrigators and Farmers said in a judicial presentation.
Both groups said Corfo had not delivered enough details about the proposed contract between Codelco and SQM and argued that the term of the consultation, Between November 2024 and July 2025, it was too fast to allow detailed analysis.
They also said that Corfo did not act in good faith at various points, He did not comply with the norms established by the International Labor Organization, an UN agency.
“This situation directly affects the fundamental rights of the community, by limiting their incidence in decisions that compromise their territory, their environmental environment and their collective rights, violating constitutional guarantees such as equality before the law, The right to live in an environment free of contamination and property right, “the Coyo community said in its presentation.
