Canadian mining and exploration in Canada and other lands.Prospector's & Developers Assoc. of Canada/PDAC
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
4 community consultations on mining in October - Pastoral Commission Peace and Ecology (COPAE)
4 community consultations on mining in October - Pastoral Commission Peace and Ecology (COPAE)
October 2010 is a month that will be long remembered in the highlands of Guatemala. In that month, 4 community consultations will take place on the issue of mining. That would be the 43rd, 44th, 45th and 46th community consultation at the municipal level in the highlands.
It is noteworthy that so far in all the consultations that have taken place, the population has unanimously spoken out against mining.
Metal mining is a major threat across the country, as the government has already issued 117 licenses without fulfilling the legal requirement of consulting the residents. Therefore, from 2005 on, the municipalities, with all its villages and hamlets have joined together to organize their own consultations. Up to this date, more than 600.000 people, mostly indigenous, have participated in these consultation. And it seems that the movement is still growing...
According to our latest information, the dates for upcoming community consultations to be held are
October 2010 is a month that will be long remembered in the highlands of Guatemala. In that month, 4 community consultations will take place on the issue of mining. That would be the 43rd, 44th, 45th and 46th community consultation at the municipal level in the highlands.
It is noteworthy that so far in all the consultations that have taken place, the population has unanimously spoken out against mining.
Metal mining is a major threat across the country, as the government has already issued 117 licenses without fulfilling the legal requirement of consulting the residents. Therefore, from 2005 on, the municipalities, with all its villages and hamlets have joined together to organize their own consultations. Up to this date, more than 600.000 people, mostly indigenous, have participated in these consultation. And it seems that the movement is still growing...
According to our latest information, the dates for upcoming community consultations to be held are
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Goldcorp In Guatemala: Despite The Despites, The Struggle For Human Rights And The Environment Continues
By Grahame Russell, Rights Action co-director
Tensions mount again, as Goldcorp tries again to expand its "Marlin Mine" into the Mayan-Mam community of Sacmuj (municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, department of San Marcos, near the Mexican-Chiapas border).
And this,
Despite years of investigations (by local groups, national and international NGOs, the International Labor Organization and Organization of American States) documenting environmental and health harms and other human rights violations caused by Goldcorp's "Marlin" mine in western Guatemala,
Despite calls from local, national and international organizations to suspend the "Marlin" mine and undertake a complete and impartial human rights and environmental assessment,
Despite Sacmuj community resistance to the expansion of Goldcorp's mine onto their lands in June 2009, that resulted in the burning of company equipment and the laying of trumped up criminal charges against impoverished villagers (this incident is documented in the film "The Business of Gold in Guatemala: Tale of a Conflict Foretold"),
Despite the attempted assassination of a Sacmuj villager in July 2010. Two local men - a former and an actual employee of Goldcorp's "Marlin" mine - shot Diodora Antonia Hernandez Cinto in front of her isolated rural home. The bullet entered her right eye, and exited by her right ear, leaving her blind in that eye; she remains in stable condition, recovering from the operation and has not yet returned home,
Despite the fact that no justice has been done for the attempted assassination of Diodora Antonia Hernandez Cinto,
Despite the fact that the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has ordered the government of Guatemala and Goldcorp to suspend the mining operation
.......
COMPLICITY OF CANADIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, SHAREHOLDERS & INVESTORS
The situation of on-going harms and violations, of social tensions and divisions, of company and government pressures and repression has gone far beyond that of "not knowing".
For years, many groups have denounced the harms and violations to the governments of Guatemala and Canada, to the World Bank (an early major investor in and beneficiary of Goldcorp's mine), to Goldcorp's shareholders in Canada and the USA, to investors in Goldcorp (such as the Canada Pension Plan, and many other funds), to the Toronto Stock Exchange, etc.
No public official, shareholder, company director or investor can say "they didn't know" about the on-going harms and violations.
ACTION IN CANADA & USA
Guatemala organizations, from the mine-affected communities to the national level, are doing their best - despite the deeply entrenched impunity and corruption of Guatemala's legal and political systems, despite on-going threats and repression - to denounce the harms and violations and to slow down the process of harms and destructions to people's lives and the environment.
At the same time, this is a "Canadian problem". All the vital corporate, investors and public policy decisions that affect and benefit Goldcorp (while harming the local communities and environment) are taken in Canada and the USA.
If North American voters, investors, shareholders, and consumers of gold do not demand accountability, justice and reparations for the harms and violations, Goldcorp (and similar global companies) will continue to operate in ways that contribute to harms and violations in Guatemala (and countries around the world) with impunity.
Tags: mining Guatemala human rights Maya San Miguel Ixtahuacan
Tensions mount again, as Goldcorp tries again to expand its "Marlin Mine" into the Mayan-Mam community of Sacmuj (municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, department of San Marcos, near the Mexican-Chiapas border).
And this,
Despite years of investigations (by local groups, national and international NGOs, the International Labor Organization and Organization of American States) documenting environmental and health harms and other human rights violations caused by Goldcorp's "Marlin" mine in western Guatemala,
Despite calls from local, national and international organizations to suspend the "Marlin" mine and undertake a complete and impartial human rights and environmental assessment,
Despite Sacmuj community resistance to the expansion of Goldcorp's mine onto their lands in June 2009, that resulted in the burning of company equipment and the laying of trumped up criminal charges against impoverished villagers (this incident is documented in the film "The Business of Gold in Guatemala: Tale of a Conflict Foretold"),
Despite the attempted assassination of a Sacmuj villager in July 2010. Two local men - a former and an actual employee of Goldcorp's "Marlin" mine - shot Diodora Antonia Hernandez Cinto in front of her isolated rural home. The bullet entered her right eye, and exited by her right ear, leaving her blind in that eye; she remains in stable condition, recovering from the operation and has not yet returned home,
Despite the fact that no justice has been done for the attempted assassination of Diodora Antonia Hernandez Cinto,
Despite the fact that the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has ordered the government of Guatemala and Goldcorp to suspend the mining operation
.......
COMPLICITY OF CANADIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, SHAREHOLDERS & INVESTORS
The situation of on-going harms and violations, of social tensions and divisions, of company and government pressures and repression has gone far beyond that of "not knowing".
For years, many groups have denounced the harms and violations to the governments of Guatemala and Canada, to the World Bank (an early major investor in and beneficiary of Goldcorp's mine), to Goldcorp's shareholders in Canada and the USA, to investors in Goldcorp (such as the Canada Pension Plan, and many other funds), to the Toronto Stock Exchange, etc.
No public official, shareholder, company director or investor can say "they didn't know" about the on-going harms and violations.
ACTION IN CANADA & USA
Guatemala organizations, from the mine-affected communities to the national level, are doing their best - despite the deeply entrenched impunity and corruption of Guatemala's legal and political systems, despite on-going threats and repression - to denounce the harms and violations and to slow down the process of harms and destructions to people's lives and the environment.
At the same time, this is a "Canadian problem". All the vital corporate, investors and public policy decisions that affect and benefit Goldcorp (while harming the local communities and environment) are taken in Canada and the USA.
If North American voters, investors, shareholders, and consumers of gold do not demand accountability, justice and reparations for the harms and violations, Goldcorp (and similar global companies) will continue to operate in ways that contribute to harms and violations in Guatemala (and countries around the world) with impunity.
Tags: mining Guatemala human rights Maya San Miguel Ixtahuacan
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