Tuesday, February 3, 2015 (Ottawa/Guatemala) North American shareholders in Tahoe Resources should follow the Norway's Council on Ethics’s lead and divest say Canadian and U.S. organizations. They urge Canadian and U.S. investors to make use of a report published last week that recommends the exclusion of Tahoe Resources from [...]
Today, alternative and grassroots media in Guatemala denounced attacks against Radio Snuq' Jolom Konob', a community radio station in the department of Huehuetenango that regularly transmits voices of the Q'anjob'al people living in and around the municipality of Santa Eulalia. The department of Huehuetenango, like many other areas in [...]
Those of you following NISGUA's work on defense of land and territory over the past seven years may remember the story of how Goldcorp's Marlin mine first gained access to indigenous lands in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, San Marcos. Company representatives told residents that they were interested in starting an [...]
Source: Center for Environmental, Social and Legal Action (CALAS) - MiningWatch Canada - Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) (Guatemala City/Ottawa) On Wednesday, a Guatemalan judge decided that Tahoe’s former security manager, Alberto Rotondo, should stand trial for his role in a shooting attack on peaceful [...]
An excerpt from a press release issued by the Guatemalan Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (UDEFEGUA): "On Thursday, November 13, the trial court judge in Villa Nueva sent Oscar Morales, a leader in the resistance movement in San Rafael las Flores, to trial for allegedly threatening the [...]
"Second Anniversary, Municipal Consultation as requested by Residents." Photo: CPR Urbana “Authorities will come and go, but it’s the responsibility of the people to uphold this decision,” says Moisés Divas to a large crowd gathered in the central park in the municipality of Mataquescuintla, Jalapa, located less than six [...]
Haga clic aquí para leer en españo. The maps below were created as part of a collective, community-based process to build awareness around the existence of mining exploration and exploitation licenses in the department of Santa Rosa, Jalapa and Jutiapa. The initiative was led by local Guatemalan communities and [...]
Tour speaker, Víctor Caal Tzuy, shows NISGUA's Rivers for Life solidarity banner to ACODET members from Las Margaritas Copón. The goals for the 2014 NISGUA speaking tour were much like those which have guided us during our 33 years as a human rights, solidarity organization: amplify Guatemalan voices and [...]
This article was originally published in Spanish, online at elsalmon.org By Alejandro Echeverría October 13, 2014 Indigenous leaders Víctor Caal Tzuy and Ken Workman Ken Workman is a Seattle native who despite his tall stature, has characteristics that evoke his famous 19th century ancestor - the indigenous Chief of [...]
For additional background on this case see the article: A cheat sheet for Kevin McArthur on Tahoe Resources' tactics to silence opposition in Guatemala PRESS RELEASE Friday, October 17, 2014 Source: Committee in Defense of Life and Peace of San Rafael Las Flores - Guatemalan Centre for Environmental, Social [...]
"Historically, we have never received the support of the state or the government for our development, which is why it seems fair that we be able to take advantage of our own natural resources in order to improve the living conditions of our people according to our own vision [...]
FULL ITINERARY: SEATTLE, WA.; OCTOBER 2-6 Area Contact Phil Neff: phil.neff@gmail.com OCTOBER 2 Seattle University, 1:30-2:30pm 901 12th Avenue Bannan Building, Room 102 Seattle, WA 98122 Traditions Fair Trade Café; 7-8:30pm $5-15 Sliding Donation 300 5th Avenue SW Olympia, WA 98501 OCTOBER 3 Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center, 5:00pm [...]
"Water and life are worth more than silver or gold. You are intelligent, don't let them fool you." Community organized billboard campaign in Santa Rosa and Jalapa. Photo NISGUA In February 2013, the community of San Juan Bosco, located just 8 miles from Tahoe Resources' massive Escobal silver mine, [...]
Below is NISGUA's translation of a press release by Guatemala's Center for Independent Media (CMI-G) regarding attacks suffered as a result of its coverage of the violent eviction of communities opposing the imposition of mega-projects in Alta Verapaz. For the original version in Spanish click here. CMI denounces attacks [...]
Only days after a Guatemalan appeals court emitted an historic ruling strengthening the domestic jurisdiction of Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO 169), a leaked draft of the World Bank’s new Safeguard Policies revealed proposed changes to the Bank’s lending policies that could undermine international laws in place [...]
In an historic resolution, a Guatemalan Appeals Court ruled last week that the government must take into account the right to free, prior and informed consent when granting mining licenses on the lands of indigenous communities. The ruling came in response to a legal action presented by the Sipakapense People's [...]
Take immediate action to express your support for international human rights accompaniment and human rights defenders in Guatemala! Please forward the below letter to Guatemalan and US authorities today! Download the letter here and forward it with a personal note to embassies, consulates and Guatemalan officials. The contact [...]
On July 1, 2014, Guatemalan officials revoked the temporary residence permits of two human rights accompaniers with Peace Brigades International. In response to their expulsion, the Convergence for Human Rights (Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos), a network of Guatemalan social, environmental, human rights, feminist, campesino and territorial defense organizations [...]
URGENT: Cancellation of temporary residence permits of two volunteers of PBI Guatemala Peace Brigades International (PBI) Guatemala would like to bring attention to and share its grave concern following the cancellation of the temporary residence permits of two volunteers of the PBI Guatemala project working in the country. This [...]
Source: MiningWatch Canada - Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) - Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network June 18, 2014 (Ottawa/Tatamagouche/Guatemala City) A civil lawsuit filed today in Vancouver against Tahoe Resources for negligence and battery in connection with a shooting at the company’s silver project in [...]
On June 4, NISGUA, along with 33 other organizations from around the world, submitted a letter to the Executive Directors of the World Bank calling on them to delay their vote on the approval of a $340 million loan for Guatemala. The signing organizations ask that the bank cease [...]
Take action: Stand in solidarity with La Puya On Friday, May 23, the communities in resistance of La Puya were violently evicted from their blockade at the entrance to El Tambor gold mine. This attack comes after more than two years of peaceful resistance to the project, and repeated [...]
(Ottawa/Toronto) A sixteen year old Guatemalan girl, Topacio Reynoso, was murdered on April 13, 2014 near her home town of Mataquescuintla, Guatemala where she was head of a youth movement against mining. Her father, a leader in organizing a municipal vote on the mine, was shot in the same [...]
Merilyn Topacio Reynoso Pacheco, 1997 - 2014. (Photo: Danilo Zuleta) Two weeks have passed since the deadly attack against Alex and Topacio Reynoso, community leaders from Mataquescuintla, Jalapa who were actively opposed to Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine in southeastern Guatemala. Topacio, just 16 years old, was killed, [...]
Late Sunday night, around 10:30PM, father and daughter activists involved in the resistance against Tahoe Resources' Escobal Mine, Edwin Alex Reynoso and Merilyn Topacio Reynoso, were attacked by unknown suspects. Alex and Topacio were on their way home from Matequescuintla after attending an activity there. Topacio was shot and [...]
The National Police, at the service of US mining company Kappes Cassiday and Associates (KCA), have been carrying out acts of intimidation and threatening eviction against communities in resistance at La Puya, just north of Guatemala City. Early April 9, a local company contracted by KCA, Transmac S.A., arrived [...]
Following the "emergency contract" for geological feasibility studies signed between Guatemala's National Electrification Institute (INDE) and Brazilian company Intertechne Consultores S.A. last November, communities organized against the Xalalá Dam publicized the controversial transaction and undertook strategic meetings in Guatemala City to draw attention to the contract. One Congressman and [...]
Join NISGUA and GHRC in calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to deny certification of DOS funds to Guatemala "We need more teachers and not military brigades." Photo: PrensaComunitariaGuatemala’s UN Truth Commission report not only attributes 93% of all human rights violations and acts of violence to the Guatemalan State, [...]
Tired of being ignored and disrespected by the Guatemalan government, and determined to halt a hydroelectric project approved without their free, prior and informed consent, the men and women of Santa Cruz Barillas founded the peaceful blockade, Nuevo Amanecer on April 6, 2013. Nuevo Amanecer, or New Dawn, is [...]
We demand liberty for our leaders; they have not committed crimes Photo: ADH Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango Communiqué in Solidarity with the Civil Society Movement of Santa Cruz Barillas Today, March 4, 2014, we attended two hearings in which the cases would be presented of six leaders from Santa [...]
According to a secret contract signed between Guatemala's National Electrification Institute (INDE) and Brazilian Intertechne Consultores S.A., geological studies necessary to begin construction on the Xalalá dam are to begin in March 2014. Communities organized in defense of territory, who have opposed the dam's construction for years, denounced the [...]
Neither are San Rafael Las Flores, Nueva Santa Rosa, Mataquescuintla, Jalapa nor Santa Rosa de Lima. In 2005, the communities of Sipakapa carried out one of the first community consultations on mining in Guatemala, taking a stand against Canadian giant, Goldcorp Inc., and sparking a movement that has resulted [...]
The following is a summary of an in-depth report published by ACOGUATE on January 22, 2014 and translated by NISGUA. Read the full report, Pressure to Construct Xalalá Hydroelectric Dam; Local Opposition Remains Strong. Nearly two years after the Guatemalan government announced its renewed interest in constructing the Xalalá Hydroelectric Dam, [...]
The Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango in Defense of Territory and for the Autonomy and Free Determination of the People – ADH – informs the national and international community: During 1981, 1982, 1983, the Guatemalan Army massacred the Achí communities that lived on the banks of the Chixoy River; 444 [...]
CALAS and Plurijul denounce mayor of San Miguel Ixtahuacán Photo: Breaking the Silence Press Conference Communiqué Article 4 of the political constitution of the Republic of Guatemala establishes that no person can be subjected to servitude or any other condition which undermines their dignity. On January 8, 2014, five [...]
UUCA delegates gather with NISGUA staff in Antigua. All photos: David McTaggart This past December, NISGUA organized and hosted a ten-day delegation with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA), home to NISGUA Sponsoring Community, Partners for Arlington and Guatemala (PAG). Twelve members of the UUCA congregation formed the [...]
On January 14, the people of Sipakapa joined together to take action in denouncing the granting of the Los Chocoyos mining exploration license to Goldcorp Inc. Earlier this month, the Sipakapa Maya Council, together with the Western People's Council (CPO), filed a legal complaint against the Ministry of Energy [...]
The monitoring committee of the community consultation in the Ixcán writes to the public opinion, social organizations, indigenous organizations and human rights protection organizations with the purpose of informing about the situation created by the plans for the construction of the Xalalá hydro-electric dam. Last November 7, the National [...]
Please show your support for mining-affected communities in the area of Tahoe's Escobal project! Take action with this online petition directed at President, CEO and Director of Tahoe Resources, Kevin McArthur. (Versión original en español abajo) (Guatemala City/Ottawa) Contrary to Tahoe Resources’ recent claims, tens of thousands of people oppose [...]
While community opposition to Tahoe Resources’ Escobal project grows and wins support from the Constitutional Court, the company remains on the defense trying to convince investors that it enjoys “strong local community support.” However, the record of local votes in neighboring communities and municipalities, betrays a different reality. More [...]