Mining license approved in wake of violence, investigation into murder pending
Today, NISGUA and the International Coalition against Unjust Mining in Guatemala (CAMIGUA), presented a petition with over 4,000 signatures to Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz asking her to launch an investigation into the murder of Xinca leader Exaltación Marcos Ucelo. Ucelo was abducted, together with three other Xinca leaders, while returning from a community consultation on mining [...]
Licencia minera aprobada en contexto de violencia, pendiente investigación sobre asesinato
Hoy NISGUA y La Coalición internacional contra la minería injusta en Guatemala (CAMIGUA) presentaron una petición con más de 4000 firmas a la Fiscal General Claudia Paz y Paz pidiendo que ella se realice una investigación sobre la muerte del líder Xinca, Exaltación Marcos Ucelo. Ucelo regresaba de una consulta comunitaria sobre la minería en San Rafael Las Flores cuando [...]
Exclusive Interview with the AJR: “It is our right to demand justice and reveal the truth”
Before the start of the genocide trial in Guatemala, the international human rights accompaniment project ACOGUATE met with Benjamin Jerónimo, president and legal representative of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) to hear his opinion on the advancement of the case. The AJR is a plaintiff in the trial that opened on March 19 against Efraín Ríos Montt and [...]
Genocide on Trial, Day 10: Expert witnesses testify, “Racism facilitated the extermination of the Ixil…”
NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity. Read our previous summaries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4/5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9 and full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.Former Guatemalan soldier Ramiro Leonard Reyes gives testimony via video-conference100 eyewitnesses from the Maya Ixil region have [...]
Exploitation License Granted for Tahoe Resources Escobal Project in Context of Escalating Violence
Communities in the departments of Santa Rosa and Jalapa have been peacefully resisting the proposed Escobal silver mine, operated by Minera San Rafael, Guatemalan Subsidiary of Canada's Tahoe Resources for more than three years. Since 2011, residents have carried out eight community consultations in which more than 35,000 people have rejected chemical mineral mining on their territory. "The Minera [...]
Genocide on Trial, Day 9: “We were the first ones to fall…”
NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity. See our archive of live Twitter updates at @NISGUA_Guate.Read our previous summaries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4/5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8 and full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.Testimony by Ixil survivors continued today, with ten witnesses describing massacres and the persecution [...]