NISGUA’s genocide trial coverage: the complete collection
While we await the next steps of the genocide trial, we are honored to provide an accessible archive of the daily coverage we provided from day 1 of the trial. Please read and share this historic collection. Genocide on Trial, Day 1: Ixil witnesses speak Genocide on Trial, Day 2: Ixil Voices in the Halls of Justice Genocide on [...]
Sipakapa celebrates 8th anniversary of community consultation
On June 18, the communities of Sipakapa, a municipality affected by GoldCorp's Marlin Mine in Western Guatemala, celebrated the eighth anniversary of one of the first community consultations in the country. Today, more than 70 community consultations on natural resource exploration and exploitation have been carried out throughout Guatemala. In every case, communities have resoundingly rejected mega-projects on their [...]
Members of La Puya resistance meet with President Otto Pérez Molina
Yolanda Oquelí (foreground) meets with Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina and Minister of The Interior Mauricio Lopez Bonilla. Photo: Giles Clarke In an uncharacteristic move, President Otto Pérez Molina and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) invited members of the peaceful resistance of La Puya to a high level meeting last week to explain their ongoing opposition to [...]
Criminal case against Alberto Rotondo, security manager for Tahoe Resources, moves forward in Guatemalan courts
On Friday June 7, Alberto Rotondo, former security manager for Tahoe Resources, was summoned to appear for the second time in a Guatemalan court. During the first hearing on May 7, Rotondo was charged with assault and obstruction of justice in connection to the April 27 attack outside Tahoe's Escobal project in which mine security opened fire on community [...]
Speculation around genocide trial restart; Ríos Montt back under house arrest
Guatemalan civil society reacted to the May 20 annulment of the genocide trial verdict through public actions, marches and vigils overwhelmingly rejecting the decision. On May 24, an impromptu march that some activists reported to be the largest in recent history organized in the name of memory in Guatemala. An estimated 5,000 people filled the streets of the capital [...]
Complaint asks for investigation into Tahoe Resources after wiretap evidence implicates employees in violence at Escobal mine
On Saturday April 27, mine security at Tahoe Resources' Escobal project opened fire on community members peacefully gathered outside the mine site. Six men were shot and seriously injured. This incident set of a chain of events, eventually resulting in the declaration of a state of siege in four municipalities surrounding the Escobal mine. On April 30, Alberto Rotondo, [...]