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The problems around the Marlin mine (see the article: "Montana prevents Guatemalan authorities to enter the Marlin mine") coincide with the granting of new mining licenses in the San Marcos highlands. On the 25th of March the municipality of Sipacapa received a note through from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) the ordinary postal service about the extension of the Ana Azul exploration licence for Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, S.A. This extension covers an area of 25 km² within the territory of the municipalities of Sipacapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacán (in the San Marcos department), and Santa Barbara and Malacatancito (in the Huehuetenango department), and allows the mining company to localise, study, analyse and evaluate the deposits of gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, chrome, copper, lead, zinc and antimony.
After studying the content of the note with a professional lawyer, the Municipal Council, through Mayor Delfino Tema, decided to write a letter to the MEM’s resolution in which it argues that the resolution is illegal, since the MEM committed various irregularities while granting this extension of the licence. Among these irregularities we should mention the non-fulfilment of the obligatory consultation of the people of Sipacapa (in accordance with Convention 169 of the ILO) and expiration of the term during which Montana Exploradora should have requested the extension of the licence.
Simultaneously with this licence, Montana Exploradora was also granted a new exploration licence, called El Rosario. This licence covers an extension of 26 km² within the territories of Ixchiguán, Sibinal, Tacaná and Tajumulco (all in the San Marcos department), and gives permission to the mining company to explore the same polymetallic deposits as the Ana Azul license.
Two attempts by different national authorities to enter the Marlin mine have been obstructed during the last month by mining company Montana Exploradora de Guatemala S.A., subsidiary of transnational mining company Goldcorp. Given the growing worries about the management of the wastewater in the tailings impoundment of the Marlin mine, Montana Exploradora seems keen on keeping their doors shut at all costs.
Past February, Dr. Robert Moran, a renowned U.S. hydrologist and geochemist, visited Guatemala during a period of two weeks. Being aware of the experience of Dr. Moran in the field of chemical metal mining and water management, the Municipal Council of Sipacapa was eager to take advantage of his stay and invite him to accompany them on an examination of the area of the Marlin project that lies within the municipality of Sipacapa. Although the visit to the mine was requested various days in advance, the mining company did not grant permission for the visit until the day that Dr. Moran was to leave the country, on the 19th of February, and afterwards this authorisation was also revoked by the company, claiming that they did not receive an attendance list for the visit, although the Municipal Council never received a request for such a list.
The frequent conflicts produced by the mining metal sector in Guatemala, together with the rejection of mining activities by more than 350 thousand people in the western part of the country, show the need for a significant change in the legal framework under which mining companies can operate in Guatemala. Hence, we were pleased learn that the new Parliamentary Commission on Energy and Mines (PCEM) reactivated the debate to reform the current Mining Law last month, every time that these reforms imply a genuine reflection of the necessities of the Guatemalan society.
Throughout the last few years it has become more than clear that the current Mining Law, approved by the Congress in 1997, gives exclusive preference to companies that are interested in initiating mining activities in the country. Since the approval of this Law, mining companies in Guatemala only pay a royalty of 1%, they are exempted of paying taxes, they are entitled to use all the water they need without having to pay for it, and they profit from the easy approval mechanisms of the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) that are required to start the construction and exploitation of a mine.
Given the necessity to change the legal framework for mining exploitation in Guatemala, the PCEM decided to take the initiative presented by the High Level Commission on mining as a starting point for future reforms. This Commission operated throughout 2006 and brought together various civil society organisations and government officials in order to come up with a proposal to reform the current Law. Furthermore, the PCEM organised a meeting on the 13th of March at which they invited, among others, Monsignor Ramazzini of the San Marcos Diocese and a delegation of the COPAE to give a first hand account on the recommendations made by the High Level Commission.
The participants in the workshop "Economic Opportunities and Indigenous Development," to take place from the 11th to the 14th of the present month, manifest the following to the national and international community:
First: As representatives of communities affected by mining activities, we were invited to participate in the aforementioned workshop by the Indigenous Development Fund of Guatemala (FODIGUA), to discuss the theme of mining exploration and exploitation in Guatemala.
Second: At the outset of the workshop, we were introduced to facilitators from FOCAL (Canadian Foundation for the Americas), who approached the topic of Indigenous development from the perspective of mining exploration and exploitation, with the supposed intention of learning about our proposals and generating dialogue between the state, mining companies and Indigenous communities.
Third: As the activity began to develop, the facilitator from FOCAL informed us that the workshop was co-financed by Goldcorp (Montana Exploradora de Guatemala), Skye Resources (Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel), the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the Prospectors and Developers' Association of Canada (PDAC), by which the bias in the distinctive themes of the workshop and later in the proposed dialogue were made immediately clear.
Fourth: That public opinion be informed about the position of Indigenous communities with respect to mining in Guatemala, which has been manifested through more than 17 community referenda (consulta) which have rejected mining activity.
Therefore: As representatives of communities and indigenous organizations, and analyzing the content and the intentions of the workshop, we directly question the fact that the workshop was financed by the entities responsible of the damages to and exploitation of our natural resources.
We Resolve:
a) To withdraw our participation in the aforementioned workshop.
b) To reiterate our firm commitment to continue in the struggle in defense of Mother Earth and for the respect and dignity of our peoples.
c) To urge Indigenous communities and organizations in solidarity to be vigilant of the permanent attempts by the state and transnational companies to publicly manipulate our struggles.
Guatemala City, Guatemala, February 11th 2008.
By organizations and communities from: Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, Huehuetenango, Izabal, Retalhuleu and San Marcos.
Overcoming the difficulties of not having a significant budget to realise a powerful campaign, and even less to hand out gifts in exchange for votes, the Sipacapa Civic Committee managed to win past September’s municipal elections. From this point forward, Sipacapa’s new authorities have four years to show the people in Guatemala that strategic investments in agriculture, education and local organisation can provoke sustainable development to be shared by all people within the territory of Sipacapa.
The Sipacapa Civic Committee (SCC) was formed three years ago by people who have always taken part in the peaceful defence of their territory and environment against mining exploitation, with the principal objective of gaining control of the municipal government in order to promote policies supported by all Sipacapa residents. It was a conscious decision to establish a Civic Committee (a local electoral party), given that the traditional political parties were reluctant to accept the posture of resistance against the presence of Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, S.A., the local subsidiary of transnational mining company Goldcorp, in the territory of Sipacapa. In September of 2006 the people that collaborate in the SCC, which represents the large majority of villages within the municipality, elected teacher Delfino Tema from the Tres Cruces community as their mayoral candidate.
With the electoral victory of the SCC, the people of Sipacapa once again affirmed their determination to continue their resistance to the mining exploitation by democratic means, as well as investing Mr. Tema and his team with the responsibility of increasing the wellbeing demanded by the residents of Sipacapa. On the 19th of January 2008, three days after the change in government, Delfino Tema and the other elected municipal officials held their first press conference, in which they elaborated on the projects and goals they want to realise within their four-year term.
Delfino Tema, in the middle with the yellow shirt, and the other elected municipal officials of Sipacapa during a press conference on the 19th of January 2008.
After last year’s impressive rise in the price of gold (around US$ 200 per troy ounce over 2007), there has been no indication that this tendency will change throughout 2008, with the price of gold still breaking records almost daily. The price of gold is currently floating around US$900 per ounce, representing an increase of 40% compared to the price of gold in August 2007.
The graphic above shows the rise in the price of gold since the year 2000. Source: www.kitco.com
The Canadian mining company Skye Resources, owner of the Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel (CGN), released a statement on the 30th of January in which it announced the suspension of large scale construction work that was to be carried out during this year at its ferronickel project Fénix in Izabal, Guatemala. The main reason for this suspension, according to the company, is the turmoil in the international credit markets, which has impeded the company from gathering the almost US$ 1 billion dollars needed to build the processing, production and electricity plants. Skye Resources’ press release announcing the delay can be found on their website.
We here wish to point out a statement made by Congressman Byron Chacón (of the GANA Party) in the El Periódico newspaper on the 31st of January of 2008. The Congressman directly accuses 150 Mayan-Q’eqchi families for the suspension of CGN’s operations, as these people, on four occasions, occupied lands that CGN inherited from EXMIBAL and that it intended to include in the Fénix project. Apparently Congressman Chacón is not aware of the fact that these Q’eqchi communities have been participating in a “good faith” negotiation process with CGN since February 2007 in order to legalize their situation and determine the limits of the mining exploitation.
The crater created in the territory of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipacapa looks more and more impressive each day.
On the 11th of December, after a month-long trial, the Criminal Tribunal of San Marcos sentenced Fernando Basilio Pérez Bámaca and Francisco Salomón Bámaca Mejía, leaders of the Agel and Salitre communities in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, to two years in prison for assault. The other five accused men, also community leaders of the above-mentioned villages, were absolved of the charges because of lack of proof. In view of the of the immoral behaviour by the Guatemalan Office of the Public Prosecutor and the Jurisdictional Body, directly provoking the sentence of these two persons, the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology of the Diocese of San Marcos wants to call attention to the following:
In the city of San Marcos, capital of the department with the same name, the court case pressed by Montana Exploradora de Guatemala against seven indigenous farmers from villages close to the Marlin mine is currently taking place (See “The Robust Oak #12”). Awaiting the final verdict, due at the end of November, we now present the following article from Guatemalan journalist Irmalicia Velásquez Nimatuj, published in the daily newspaper “El Periódico” on the 12th of November:
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