To the National and International communities

The Wirikuta Defense Front - Tamatsima Wahaa appreciates the collaboration of all the people and organizations in Mexico and throughout the world for the letter that was kindly sent to the members of the Mexican Senate so that in the Commerce and Industrial Development Commission, as well as the full Senate, the Point of Agreemant was approved. More than 2,000 letters were sent to each Senator in just one week, representing an impressive international effort that could not be ignored.

On Wedensday, March 30, of the current year, the Point of Agreement was approved to read in the full Senate for the study and approval of all senators. On Thursday March 31, the Point of Agreement was read and approved by the senators in the session.

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Point of Agreement

FIRST. - The Senate of the Republic respectfully urges the Secretary of the Economy to exhaustively review the 22 concessions granted to the mining company, First Majestic Silver Corp., for the mining exploitation in the region that comprises the sacred Huichol territory of Wirikuta and to make public the results of this review.

SECOND. - The Senate of the Republic requests from the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) the environmental impact study carried out in the desert of Real de Catorce, in the state of San Luis Potosi, in order to authorize mineral exploitation in said location.

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Now we await the replies of the Secretary of the Economy (SE) and the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).

We recall that First Majestic Silver Corp. with its affiliates Minera Real Bonanza S.A. de C.V. and Minera Real de Catorce S.A. de C.V. are responsible for the mining project. This is according to the Mexican Geological System (SGM) in http://www.sgm.gob.mx and the General Direction of Mines (DGM) http://www.economia-dgm.gob.mx/, branches of the SE, on their websites, and therefore public information. On the website http://portaljsp.sgm.gob.mx/extranjeras/Consulta_Minera.jsp of SGM is shown:

The Wirikuta Defense Front - Tamatsima Wahaa appreciates the work of Sen. Francisco Castellon Fonseca for the initiative to present the project of the Point of Agreement to the Commission of Commerce and Industrial Development for approval, and to all the senators for approving it.

We will continue keeping you informed at http://frenteendefensadewirikuta.org. We thank you for your attention!

You may read the release concerning the Point of Agreement on the Senate website: http://bit.ly/hK3hGM or you can download the PDF file http://comunicacion.senado.gob.mx/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=18284

The campaign was launched on 22 March 2748 letters were sent. Thanks.

March, 22, 2011

Distinguished Senator,

I write to you with concern in relation to the 22 mining concessions that have been authorized by the Director of Mines of the Secretary of the Economy, which are materially under the control of the transnational Canadian corporation First Majestic Silver Corp., by way of its subsidiaries Minera Real Bonanza, S.A. de C.V. and Minera Real de Catorce, S.A. de C.V.; with the goal of carrying out the REAL DE CATORCE mining project; these concessions are found in the Sacred Territory of Wirikuta, a territory that is protected by Article 2 and 27, Section IIV, Second Paragraph of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico, Article 21 of the American Convention of Human Rights, and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (Convention 169) of the International Labor Organization, treaties ratified by Mexico.

These instruments recognize the right that indigenous people have, in diverse ways, to the collective rights over their territories, and the duties of the Mexican State to consult them before authorizing any activity involving those territories. In the case of the 22 concessions granted by the Secretary of the Economy, this never occurred, causing a grave violation of the human rights of the indigenous Wixarika people, which will be aggravated by the future authorizations that the environmental authorities will be able to grant in relation to the mineral exploration and exploitation in the area.

Likewise, the 22 concessions have been granted to different Mexican corporations, which in clear violation of Constitutional Article 27, Section I, have been transferred to the Canadian corporation Normabec, which was acquired in 2009 by First Majestic Silver Corp., which has now acquired all of the concessions. It's worthwhile to emphasize that more than 70% of the projects involving exploration, development and production of precious metals like gold and silver are properties of Canadian mining companies, according to official reports.

It is also worth emphasizing that Wirikuta, the region in which the concessions were illegally granted, is one of the five cardinal points from which the gods emanate, according to the Wixarika cosmovision, and to which these groups direct themselves periodically to retrace the route that their ancestors took at the beginning of the world. According to international standards concerning the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples, this territory forms part of the Wixarika territorial patrimony, which likewise obligates the free and informed prior consent regarding development projects that affect the natural resources of indigenous peoples; likewise the area has been recognized by UNESCO in 1998 as part of the Culture Based  Environmental Conservation for Sustainable Development Program. Only 14 sites worldwide were selected as part of this program.

In this regard, Mexico recognized Wirikuta as a state Natural Protected Area, a federal Area of Importance for the Conservation of Birds (AICA), subject to ecological conservation, where new metallurgic mining activities cannot be started. Nonetheless, First Majestic Silver Corp. is announcing the impending opening of the mine in Wirikuta and has purchased administrative offices in Real de Catorce, one of the municipalities which pertain to the Wirikuta reserve.

Any mining activity has a disproportionate effect on the environment and by definition is not sustainable given that it exploits a non-renewable resource and exists in minimal quantities. Furthermore, the actions of exploration and exploitation that First Majestic Silver Corp. through its Mexican partner will carry out in the region of Real de Catorce, which for various centuries has been a zone of mining activity, will put in risk the health of all of its inhabitants, without protection for the environment, water quality or human health, in what is already a highly contaminated area, which upon continued mining exploitation, will further risk the health of all its inhabitants, as well as the flora and fauna of the region, one of the most biologically diverse desert areas on the planet. Likewise it is shameful that despite the above conditions, due to abandonment and the great poverty of the local population, many local people feel obliged to accept the mining activities as the only alternative.

For the above stated reasons we ask to come forward the Secretaries of the Economy; Environment and Natural Resources; Health, and of Foreign Relations; the Director of the National Water Commission; the Federal Attorney of Environmental Protection and the Director of the Council for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, with the goal that they demand:

1. To withdraw the irregular concessions to the corporations that materially control First Majestic Silver Corp. through Minera Real Bonanza, S.A. de C.V. and Minera Real de Catorce, S.A. de C.V., as well as other mineral concessions granted in the protected zone of Wirikuta.
2. Carry out the necessary actions to elevate the Natural Reserve and Sacred Site to a Federal Order.
3. Carry out all the necessary actions so that Wirikuta obtains full recognition under UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site.
4. Solicit an epidemiological study and a survey of the air and water quality in the region that comprises Wirikuta, and carry out the necessary decontamination to prevent illness among the human inhabitants and the flora and fauna.
5. Encourage development projects supporting the local populations with the goal of addressing the conditions of extreme poverty and so that they are not obligated to accept this type of project that menaces their environment, their health and their lives.
6. Require that all governmental actions that are realized in the territory of the Wixarika People be presented to them for consultation, with the goal of obtaining their previous, free and informed consent, in particular with regard to mining activities.
7. Approve an agreement presented on Feb. 15, 2011, by Sen. Francisco Javier Castellón Fonseca, for the Director of Mines of the Secretary of Economy and the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources to inform them of the 22 concessions grated to the Canadian mining company First Mqjestic Silver Corp. and the legal situation of their Mexican affiliates.