Abstract
Latin America figures historically as a continent plundered and exploited, with its people and natural resources, by countries of central capitalism. In the current context of imperialist domination, the extractive mining is recognized as an indispensable productive activity of the globalized capitalism and of the exporting business model that is in effect in the Latin American continent. In view of this context, this article aims to show and reflect upon the extractive mining of iron ore in Minas Gerais, more specifically in the region known as the “ferriferous quadrilateral”, putting emphasis on the recent criminal bursts of tailings dams, on the super-exploitation of the workforce, on the environmental destruction and on the resistance put up by the communities and populations directly and indirectly affected as well as by other collective subjects that adopted as their cause the fight against the current model of mining and against the violence and violations that it entails.
Keywords:
Latin America; Dependent capitalism; Extractive mining; Ferriferous quadrilateral; Minas Gerais; Social fights; Violence; Violations