Cc: Harper.S@parl.gc.ca
Dear Mr. Francisco Villagran de Leon,
I am emailing you tonight due to my concern with regards to the August 7th murder, in Colotenango, Guatemala, of Antonio Morales. Mr. Morales was active in the struggle for the rights of Mayan people, the defense of natural resources, respect for community referendums, and (an issue most dear to my heart) resistance to open-pit mining. I hope you will instigate immediately an investigation into the death of Mr. Morales. Furthermore, I must ask you to listen to the wishes of Mayan communities: for autonomy, self-determination, and an end to large-scale mining (such as the Canadian-owned Marlin mine in San Marcos) and hydro-electric dam projects.
In the meantime, please enact your powers to protect the life of human rights lawyer Amilcar Pop, and the lives of the members of the Asociación Chrisitiana de Jóvenes. They are in danger.
Furthermore, please take what action you can to pressure Canadian extractive industries to follow the recommendations of the report on the National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries.
In the memory of Antonio Morales,
Showing posts with label Guatemala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guatemala. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Violent evictions at El Estor, Izabal, Guatemala
On January 8th and 9th 2007, hundreds of police and soldiers in Guatemala forcibly evicted the inhabitants of several communities who were living on lands that a Guatemalan military government had granted to Canadian mining company INCO in 1965. Local indigenous populations claim the land to be theirs, and resent the exploitation of an outside corporation. Canada’s Skye Resources now lays claim to the land, and paid workers a nominal sum to destroy people’s homes. With the force of the army and police, company workers took chainsaws and torches to people’s homes, while women and children stood by. Skye Resources claims that they maintained "a peaceful atmosphere during this action."
Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q20YxkM-CGI
Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q20YxkM-CGI
Monday, January 22, 2007
Fiscal General de la Republica y Jefe del Ministerio Publico
Lic. Juan Luis Florido
15 avenida 15-16
Zona 1, Barrio Gerona, 8vo. nivel
Guatemala, Guatemala
Vicepresidente de la Republica
Sr. Eduardo Stein Barillas
Casa Presidencial, 6a. Avenida 4-18, Zona 1
Guatemala, Guatemala
The Diplomatic Representative of Guatemala
Embassy of the Republic of Guatemala
130 Albert Street Suite 1010
Ottawa ON K1P 5G4
Dear Attorney General,
My name is Timothy Schwinghamer. I am a graduate student at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada. I am concerned for the safety of Carlos Albacete, Piedad Albacete and other members of their environmental organization, Green Tropic (Trópico Verde).
I urge you to order a thorough and independent investigation into the attempt on the lives of Carlos Albacete and Piedad Albacete, and into the threats and acts of intimidation suffered by them and their organization previously, and to bring those responsible to justice. Please remember your obligations to recognize the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals, as set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties.
Sincerely and Respectfully,
[name, etc.]
Cc:
Unidad de Proteccion de Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos
Movimiento Nacional de Derechos Humanos
1 Avenida 0-11, Zona 2
Colonia Lo de Bran
Guatemala, Guatemala
15 avenida 15-16
Zona 1, Barrio Gerona, 8vo. nivel
Guatemala, Guatemala
Vicepresidente de la Republica
Sr. Eduardo Stein Barillas
Casa Presidencial, 6a. Avenida 4-18, Zona 1
Guatemala, Guatemala
The Diplomatic Representative of Guatemala
Embassy of the Republic of Guatemala
130 Albert Street Suite 1010
Ottawa ON K1P 5G4
Dear Attorney General,
My name is Timothy Schwinghamer. I am a graduate student at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada. I am concerned for the safety of Carlos Albacete, Piedad Albacete and other members of their environmental organization, Green Tropic (Trópico Verde).
I urge you to order a thorough and independent investigation into the attempt on the lives of Carlos Albacete and Piedad Albacete, and into the threats and acts of intimidation suffered by them and their organization previously, and to bring those responsible to justice. Please remember your obligations to recognize the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals, as set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties.
Sincerely and Respectfully,
[name, etc.]
Cc:
Unidad de Proteccion de Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos
Movimiento Nacional de Derechos Humanos
1 Avenida 0-11, Zona 2
Colonia Lo de Bran
Guatemala, Guatemala
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Mayans occupy Canadian-owned mine in campaign for farming land
By Andrew Buncombe
Hundreds of families of Mayan Indians have occupied part of a large nickel mine owned by a Canadian company in Guatemala and demanded they be given land for subsistence farms.
Concerned about the threat that the mine allegedly poses tothe environment and land rights, about 2,000 Q’eqchi Indians moved on to three separate areas of the mining complex and began setting up makeshift camps. Campaigners say the UN-sponsored Truth Commission – part of a 1996 peace agreement that ended Guatemala’s brutal civil war – demanded that indigenous communities with historical claims to land have theright to determine how it is used.
The Indians moved on to the currently inactive mine site near Lake Izabal in north-east Guatemala, owned by Vancouver-based Skye Resources, at the weekend. Father Dan Vogt, a Catholic priest and co-ordinator of a community development group, Adepi, said they had long been campaigning for the company to provide them with land to farm.
Speaking from El Estor, the nearest community, he told The Independent: “They got fed up and decided to take action. There were around 350 families – around 2,000 people. They are still there, building houses. The company has told me they are not willing to negotiate until they move.”
Skye bought the site from another Canadian mining company, Canadian International Nickel Co, which had operated the mine from the 1960s until 1981. Skye hopes to begin producing up to 11,000 tonnes of ferro-nickel by the end of 2008.
Campaigners say the plans fit a pattern across other countries in Latin America where foreign and multinational companies have secured rights to exploit mineral and other natural resources, with local communities receiving little in exchange. Elsewhere in Guatemala, and in neighbouring Honduras, protests have recently been made against the US-Canadian mining company Glamis, while in Chile protesters have sought to stop the building of a gold mine by another Canadian company, Barrick.
Grahame Russell, a spokesman for the Canadian-based group Rights Action, said: “Skye Resources is just one more example of what North American companies are doing through Latin America. The patterns are being repeated everywhere and the problems go from A-Z. It starts with a complete absence of consultation with local communities, which they have a legal right to. Before people know anything about it they are in the back door with a mining exploration licence.”
[Sound familiar? The same thing is done in rural Nova Scotia.]
A recent report by Oxfam about the El Estor Mayan community said: “Rigorous strip mining has already degraded the fragile ecosystem, eroding the thin topsoil in mountain passes inhabited by Mayan communities. The mountainsides have been deforested, causing landslides and a litany of environmental hazards. In addition to the environmental threat, there is along history of political violence between the mining companies and the indigenous communities who resist.”
Ian Austin, chief executive officer of Skye, said his company was keen to defuse the tension and avoid confrontation. “Our approach has been to try and talk with the community and the people in the area and to develop a win-win situation.” He added: “Groups are opposed to mining and that is a fact of life in our industry.”
This article originally appeared in the British newspaper, The Independent.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1696157.ece
Hundreds of families of Mayan Indians have occupied part of a large nickel mine owned by a Canadian company in Guatemala and demanded they be given land for subsistence farms.
Concerned about the threat that the mine allegedly poses tothe environment and land rights, about 2,000 Q’eqchi Indians moved on to three separate areas of the mining complex and began setting up makeshift camps. Campaigners say the UN-sponsored Truth Commission – part of a 1996 peace agreement that ended Guatemala’s brutal civil war – demanded that indigenous communities with historical claims to land have theright to determine how it is used.
The Indians moved on to the currently inactive mine site near Lake Izabal in north-east Guatemala, owned by Vancouver-based Skye Resources, at the weekend. Father Dan Vogt, a Catholic priest and co-ordinator of a community development group, Adepi, said they had long been campaigning for the company to provide them with land to farm.
Speaking from El Estor, the nearest community, he told The Independent: “They got fed up and decided to take action. There were around 350 families – around 2,000 people. They are still there, building houses. The company has told me they are not willing to negotiate until they move.”
Skye bought the site from another Canadian mining company, Canadian International Nickel Co, which had operated the mine from the 1960s until 1981. Skye hopes to begin producing up to 11,000 tonnes of ferro-nickel by the end of 2008.
Campaigners say the plans fit a pattern across other countries in Latin America where foreign and multinational companies have secured rights to exploit mineral and other natural resources, with local communities receiving little in exchange. Elsewhere in Guatemala, and in neighbouring Honduras, protests have recently been made against the US-Canadian mining company Glamis, while in Chile protesters have sought to stop the building of a gold mine by another Canadian company, Barrick.
Grahame Russell, a spokesman for the Canadian-based group Rights Action, said: “Skye Resources is just one more example of what North American companies are doing through Latin America. The patterns are being repeated everywhere and the problems go from A-Z. It starts with a complete absence of consultation with local communities, which they have a legal right to. Before people know anything about it they are in the back door with a mining exploration licence.”
[Sound familiar? The same thing is done in rural Nova Scotia.]
A recent report by Oxfam about the El Estor Mayan community said: “Rigorous strip mining has already degraded the fragile ecosystem, eroding the thin topsoil in mountain passes inhabited by Mayan communities. The mountainsides have been deforested, causing landslides and a litany of environmental hazards. In addition to the environmental threat, there is along history of political violence between the mining companies and the indigenous communities who resist.”
Ian Austin, chief executive officer of Skye, said his company was keen to defuse the tension and avoid confrontation. “Our approach has been to try and talk with the community and the people in the area and to develop a win-win situation.” He added: “Groups are opposed to mining and that is a fact of life in our industry.”
This article originally appeared in the British newspaper, The Independent.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1696157.ece
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