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Photo: COPAE
At its General Assembly of Delegates on May 14 in the K'iche ', the Council of the Peoples of the West (Consejo de los Pueblos de Occidente, CPO) expressed its concern about the new strategies of the company Goldcorp is employing, which are handling the division of communities in the municipality of Sipacapa for the extension of its mining projects in the this municipality.
Sipacapa said “no”
The company Goldcorp, which operates through its subsidiary Montana in the municipalities of San Miguel community and Sipacapa is developing a new strategy to extend its activities in the municipality of Sipacapa. Important to know is that the town has spoken out strongly against the mining project at its community consultation in 2005. In the past, the company Goldcorp has already been breaking down communities, offering employment to community leaders, who then act at the company’s favor.
Photo: COPAE
SAN MARCOS - On May 6th, at a press conference 30 communities of the San Carlos area of the municipality of San Pablo presented their reluctances towards the hydroelectric project in your municipality towards the project of a hydroelectric power plant in their municipality. In their statement against the hydroelectric plant, operated by a private company in their rivers, they made reference to the importance of water in the region for the exceptional agriculture and biodiversity. Since their constitutional right of consultation is being violated, they will take the initiative themselves to organize a community consultation. In addition, they stress that their resistance is of a peaceful nature, in spite of the criminalizations they are subject to due to external forces.
The communities of San Carlos expressed their views on a hydroelectric plant that will be installed in their rivers. They stressed that they are not against hydropower as a renewable energy resource, but they do oppose to the private exploitation of such a plant, because this would imply that communities aren’t among the beneficiaries. However, if the hydro were exploited by the municipality, such as the municipalities of Chapultepec, Quchan, or if the company were to cede a part of its production at an affordable price to the people, the communities would be willing to discuss the matter.
The San Sebastián River (Photo: COPAE)
Before the conference in San Salvador , we visited the river San Sebastián in Santa Rosa de Lima, El Salvador. This river is an example of the phenomenon of ‘acid drainage’. The problems related to acid drainage are multiple and depend on the conditions of every case, but in general they last on long term. The process begins with the exposing of large quantities of rocks to the air – which is inevitable in the case fo metalic mining – and it continues with the following contact of components of rock (sulphereted minerals) with water. Afterward, a chemical reaction takes place that results in a high acidity of the water, as well as the presence of sulphates, iron and other metals that can dissolve in the water, resulting in a toxic mixture of liquids. Once it has occured, it doesn´t stop occurring and it lasts for years and centuries...
Foto: CTV
Last month, CTV, a Canadian television station, presented the result of their journalistic investigation on Canadian mining companies in Guatemala. Specifically, they focused on the case of the Marlin Mine in San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipacapa, San Marcos and on mining in El Estor, Izabal. In this report of approximately 40 minutes, subdivided in 4 parts, they sought to share an impartial representation. Therefore, they interviewed people in favor and against mining as well as the bishop of San Marcos, representatives of the mining companies, responsible politicians, impartial experts and many more.
To view the documentary, click here.
Forum on the Defense of Natural Resources and the Life of Peoples at the Salvadoran Lutheran University (Foto: COPAE)
From April 20 to 22, a delegation of COPAE along with a delegation of the Council of the Peoples of San Marcos attended a Latin American Forum in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador. The central theme of the forum, organized by CEICOM, was ‘The Defense of Natural Resources and the Life of the Peoples’. Throughout the multiple speeches from very different points of view, we learned that the resistance against mining in San Marcos has many allies in all of Latin America. We have in common: A pacific fight against –mostly- foreign companies that are looting our environment of which we all depend. This process is facilitated by Mining Laws that invite these companies to continue their looting without any proportional pay to the damage they are causing. Moreover, these practices are being institutionalized by the firming of Free Trade Treaties (FTT) in Latin America.
According to the discourse of president Colóm, his government would be against mining without community consultation. The government affirmed on various occasions that they don´t grant and will not grant any new mining licenses without having consulted the affected communities. (Source) If this discourse were truthful, it would mean a right step in favor of the people, nevertheless, this discourse may hide the real interest of the Guatemalan government behind the word “new”. What is the president referring to when he talks about “new licenses”? Could it be that the people of Guatemala are being fooled once again?
In order to understand the rest of this article, it will be useful to explain the difference between the types of licenses, in the time of their validity and the possible extensions. Before you can start exploiting minerals, you have to have obtained, firstly, a license of acknowledgement, granted for a period of 6 months, extendable for an other 6 months, and secondly a license of exploration, granted for a period of 3 years and extendable up till two periods of two years each. Ultimately, the license of exploitation is granted for a period up till 25 years, that can be equally extended for another 25 years (According to the Law on Mining). In 1996 the Law on Mining was changed in several of its chapters in order to make the processes of acquisition of licenses less rigorous. In other words, there is little control over these processes and the difficulty to obtain a license is low.
Saturday, April 17, we are commemorating in a silent march the late Bishop Mgr. Gerardi. Our commemoration coincides with the release of a movie on the life of the Bishop. Gerardi was assassinated in the year 1998, only two days after having presented the report of the Recovery of Historical Memory (REMHI) Project that covered the period of Civil War, entitled “Guatemala, Never Again”.
Below, you can watch the trailer of this new movie.
On March 25th and 26th, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the world’s largest labor union, organized a conference on “the Situation of Indigenous People in Latin America” in the city of Antigua Guatemala. This was the first conference, organized by ITUC, at which representatives of the indigenous organization “Council of the People of the East” were invited. Present were representatives of labor unions and indigenous organizations from all of Latin America and experts from the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The goal of the conference was to push international conscience in the different labor organizations on the subject of the rights of Indigenous People. Before the conference, the Guatemalan representation published its report on “The Right to Consultation of the Peoples of Guatemala: The Breakdown between Words and Practice”. The report sets out the results of research carried out between 1996 and March 2010.
Click Here to view the Second Annual Water Report
Last year ended with the sad news of the death of Victor Gálvez. This news filled with mourning what should have been a celebration with capital letters, because that’s what the people deserve when they speak up. The communitarian consultation in Malacatán in which the people, more than 20.000, approved of the creation of a municipal electricity company was held without Victor. We had a pretty hectic month of December at the coast. The cuts of electric energy didn’t cease and the excuses like “there’s an overload on the lines because of illegal connections”. We were preparing the tamales when, like a Christmas present, our government gave us a State of Emergency. The funniest part, not to use another kind of vocabulary, is the reason used for this State of Emergency.
It turns out, according to what the newspapers told us , that a group of wilds and brainless couldn’t think of anything better than to assault the electrical installations in the coastal zone and so it was necessary to take this decision in order to pacify the zone.
This video from the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Ottawa describes very well the problems with the Marlin Mine in San Miguel Ixtahuacàn and the San Andrés Mine in Honduras.
Click here to watch
“The violation of the right of consultation, by the Guatemalan government, before the authorization of mining licenses, constitutes a dispossession of property and ownership of land.”
The Positive Guatemalan Right, perceives in article 46 of the Political Constitution, the constitutional hierarchy of international treaties on Human Rights, previously ratified by Guatemala. (Article 46. Preeminence of International Law. The general principle is that concerning human rights, treaties and conventions accepted and ratified by Guatemala have preeminence over internal law)
Guatemala has ratified several international treaties on collective rights of the Indigenous People. An international treaty is legally binding. Once it has been ratified, Guatemala is held internationally responsible for its violation. Moreover, the courts of justice can act in order to prevent the collective rights from being infringed or in order to restore the rule of these rights when they have been infringed by the public authorities.
Below you will find a summary of the relevant considerations the Court took regarding the obligation of the State to consult the indigenous people, prior to concessions of licenses of mining and hydroelectric constructions, laws, regulations and public policy in the territory of the Maya, Garifuna and Xinca people.
Tribunal: Constitutional Court: Guatemala, December 21, 2009
Document: 3878-207
Case: The communitarian consultation in the Municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez, Department Guatemala
The Constitutional Court strongly reaffirms that the consultation and all of the other rights regulated by Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), have equal constitutional hierarchy, in other words, they are considered as part of the list of human rights, regulated by articles 1 to 149 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala, also known as the Dogmatic part. As such, all of the mining licenses of acknowledgement, exploration and exploitation and the licenses for hydroelectric installations granted by the Ministry of Energy and Mining, without consultation, are illegal and are violating the constitutional right of consultation. As a result, they also violate all of the other collective and individual rights, acknowledged in the Constitution of the Republic and the international conventions ratified by Guatemala in the area of Human Rights.
COPAE was called by the communities of San Pablo to support the holding of a communitarian consultation in this municipality.
The 635 families of Los Caseríos San Francisco, Milagro, Piedra Parada, Los Andes, Vista Hermosa, San Carlos, Las Brisas, Nueva Argentina and Loma Bonita, that according to the Environmental Impact Assessment of a company will be covered by its project, will soon have the opportunity to show their opinion.
On the 4th of March, together with the legal advisors of COPAE, the communities requested the mayor of the municipality to hold the communitarian consultation.
Since last year, FREDEMI takes on a united struggle in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, defending and supporting the communities that choose for development models that really are holistic and that don’t entail the destruction of mother earth.
Maudilla López, the current president of FREDEMI, commented recently in an interview in the program “La Otra Mirada”, the important work the Diocese of San Marcos is doing in support of the resisting communities, and the damage the extractive companies of metals are doing to the indigenous people.
We would like to wish them good luck and give all of our support to the people and communities that constitute the Frente de Resistencia Miguelense (FREDEMI).
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