The breakage of an old dam, in an open-pit iron mine located in the southern state of Minais Gerais, in Brasil, has resulted in the death of at least 85 people so far, while the number of missing persons is approximately 292.

According to official information most of the victims and missing people would be workers of the mining exploitation.

The mine, near the town of Brumadinho, belongs to the multinational VALE, the world's largest iron mineral ore, whose executives stated that they had done everything possible to recondition the annexed dam, which accumulates the waste from the ore's washing.

The human tragedy, and its ecological consequences, repeated the pattern of a similar event that occurred three years ago at the Mariana mine, located in the same region and owned by the same company, with a result of 19 deaths.

Given the magnitude of the tragedy the President himself, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, made an appearance at the scene where he declared that his Government will carry out an exhaustive investigation and if there are responsible they will be severely punished. A statement of doubtful application when noting that it is precisely this lobby, the open pit mining lobby, one that openly supported Bolsonaro election to the presidency.

For his part, the relative of one of the victims pointed to the background of the matter: “This is not an accident, it is negligence and a crime". The declaration has to do with the constant denunciations of the communities close to the mines of that type, and of the environmental groups, that have alerted of the serious ecological consequences of these exploitations, added to the low investment in security and infrastructure to increase their short-term benefits.

The authorities, in an attempt to minimize political damages, proceeded immediately to block and freeze, judicially, the bank accounts of VALE (1,621 million dollars), while the Brazilian Institute of the Environment imposed a high fine on the company for the value of several millions of dollars.

The importance of open pit mining only in the case of the State of Minais Gerais includes 450 pits, but this problem affects the entire Latin American region through large international companies from the US, Canada and the EU, which usually seek alliance with local political and business groups, which guarantee quite relaxed administrative, technical and legal controls.