COAHUILA MEXICO -- Dominican Bishop Raul Vera, OP, Bishop of Saltillo (Coahuila) is urging Dominicans in the US to contact the Mexican Government and the leaders of a mining company who are preventing the recovery of 63 miners killed in a 2006 accident. Bishop Vera says that the company is deliberately preventing examination of its safety practices.

The cause of the mine explosion is still unknown. Of the 73 workers in the mine at the time, eight were rescued with serious burns and injuries while 65 remained trapped underground. Two bodies were recovered and 63 bodies remain in the mine.

On a recent visit to Chicago, Bishop Vera expressed his grave concern regarding the Pasta de Conchos Mine in Coahuila, Mexico. Following an accident, the Company that owns the mine, Industrial Minera Mexico, S.A. (known as IMMSA, owned by GRUPO MEXICO) wants to have the mine permanently sealed, thus making impossible the recovery of the remains. Bishop Vera believes that recovering the bodies will reveal the "almost total lack of safety structures within the mine at the time of the explosion on Feb 19, 2006."

An Urgent Action is needed so that the Mine will NOT be sealed, so that the remains of the 63 miners can be recovered and given a decent burial by the family members, and so that the Truth may be known.

For any information, contact the communication officer of the Human rights Office, Diocesis of Saltillo.

Here are the Address to Send your letter:

Xavier  García de Quevedo
xavier.gdequevedo@mm.gmexico.com; Presidente IMMSA

Lic. Juan Rebolledo Gout.
Vice-presidente de Relaciones Internacionales, Grupo México 
Fax (55) 5564. 7677 e-mail: juan.rebolledo@mm.gmexico.com

ESTADO:

Presidencia de la República, Felipe Calderon Hinojosa
Correo electrónico: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx    y jmarroquin@presidencia.gob.mx

Secretario de gobernación, Juan Camilo Mouriño
Correo electrónico: jcmourino@segob.gob.mx

Secretario del Trabajo y Previsión Social, Javier Lozano Alarcón
Correo electrónico: javierlozano@stps.gob.mx

Sria particular del Srio Javier Lozano: Martha Ninfa Zamora:
Correo electrónico:infa.zamora@stps.gob.mx

Director de la inspección del trabajo Alejandro Romero Gudiño
Correo electrónico:alejandro.romerog@stps.gob.mx

Subsecretario STPS Álvaro Castro Estrada: acastroe@stps.gob.mx
Subdirector de Normas Jesús Zepeda Vera: jzepeda@stps.gob.mx   
quejas@sfp.gob.mx

CAMARA MINERA DE MEXICO:            1camimex@prodigy.net.mx

Gobernador del Estado de Coahuila:           
Prof. Humberto Moreira, Fax: 01 (844) 4118500 e-mail: hmoreira@coahuila.gob.mx