In the face of the ongoing threat by mega-development projects and extractive industries to indigenous and campesino peoples' natural resources, and in particular to their water sources, the Departmental Assembly of the Peoples of Huehuetenango (ADH) held a day-long meeting to discuss strategies for their protection. The ADH, a [...]
Featured photo credit: Jorge Tobías Pineda Herrera Since June 7, 2017, communities surrounding Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine in southeastern Guatemala have maintained a 24-hour peaceful protest of mine-related traffic. They are denouncing the constant tremors they believe are the result of mining activities, the constant heavy truck traffic, and the [...]
Ten years ago, community members from the Ixcán exercised their ancestral traditions and rights as indigenous peoples, holding a municipality-wide community referendum in which 89.7% of the 21,555 participants in the referendum voted against allowing resource extraction companies into their territories. On April 20, 2017, Ixcán communities celebrated 10 [...]
Photo: CPR Urbana News recap: Lucas García to be tried for the disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen; Staff member from the environmental justice law firm CALAS is murdered; The municipality of Mataquescuintla re-affirms 2012 referendum results that voted ‘NO’ to mining; “Guatemalan women healing towards justice” tour build U.S.-Guatemala connections in [...]
News recap: Final arguments heard to determine whether CREOMPAZ case will be sent to trial; More than 99% of participants vote ‘NO’ to resource extraction in Quesada municipal consultation; Guatemala’s highest court upholds suspension order for El Tambor Mine; Announcing our 2016 Fall tour: “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice.” This [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
--> Comunicado de Prensa: Comunidades Organizadas en Defensa del Territorio y la Naturaleza de Santa Rosa y Jalapa Valla anti-minera ubicada en Mataquescuintla, Jalapa. Photo NISGUA Desde el año 2012 a la fecha, en nuestros municipios se han realizado Consultas Municipales a Solicitud de Vecinos, en las cuales más [...]
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 [...]
"The Council of Ancestral Authorities of the 31 communities of Momostenango welcomes you to the good faith community consultation" (All Photos: NISGUA) On Sunday September 1, the municipality of Momostenango held the third community consultation in the department of Totonicapán. In all three referenda in Totonicapán, as well as [...]
Police in San Rafael las Flores, April 11 Source: resistencapacificaelescobal.blogspot.com While representatives from mining affected communities from throughout Mesoamerica gathered in Huehuetenango to discuss strategies to confront the expansion of mining in their territories, the peaceful encampment in San Rafael Las Flores was violently evicted by members of the [...]
Last weekend, 93% of the population of Los Planes rejected Tahoe Resources' proposed Escobal project, voting NO to chemical mineral mining on their territory. This good-faith referendum, organized by local authorities, is the second of 26 community referenda plannedin the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores. The first referendum, [...]
In September of this year NISGUA reported on the series of violent attacks against community members in San Rafael Las Flores, Santa Rosa and Mataquescuintla, Jalapa who were peacefully resisting the advancement of the Escobal silver mine project. The Escobal mine is operated by Minería San Rafael S.A. a [...]
In recent weeks the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores has seen growing conflict around the installation of the Escobal silver mine, owned by the Canadian corporation Tahoe Resources. Local community organizers and allies from the Center for Legal, Environmental and Social Action (CALAS) denounced in August a wave [...]
On June 12, José Tavico Tzunun was murdered in his home. José was a member of the K'iche' People's Council, an organizer for the 2010 community referendum in Santa Cruz del Quiché, and an active community leader. K'iche' People's Council members announce the 2010 referendum results. We express our [...]
A resident of Nueva Santa Rosa holds up her index finger after exercising her right to vote. Delmi Arriaza In July, almost 13,000 residents from two municipalities in the department of Santa Rosa voted against all mining projects on their land. The municipalities are two of five in the [...]
Miembros de la Coordinadora de Comunidades de Sacapulas en Resistencia y en Defensa de los Recursos Naturales y el Medio Ambiente, ente organizador de la consulta, desdoblan mantas bajo las ceibas de la plaza central de Sacapulas. Graham HuntEl 20 de mayo, 2011, en la quinta consulta comunitaria llevada a [...]
Members of the Coordinadora de Comunidades de Sacapulas en Resistencia y en Defensa de los Recursos Naturales y el Medio Ambiente (Coordinating Committee of the Communities of Sacpulas in Resistance and in Defense of Natural Resources and the Environment), the body which organized the referendum, unfold banners in the central [...]
El 23 de marzo del 2011, representantes de varios municipios que han celebrado consultas comunitarias, articulados en el Consejo de Pueblos de Occidente (CPO), interpusieron un amparo exijiendo que el gobierno desistiera en su intento por reglamentar las consultas. Graham HuntEl 25 de abril del 2011, la Corte de Constitucionalidad [...]
On March 23, 2011, representatives of municipalities that have carried out referenda, articulated in the Consejo de Pueblos de Occidente (CPO), filed an injunction demanding that the government desist in its efforts to regulate community referenda. Graham HuntOn April 25, 2011, Guatemala's Constitutional Court resolved to grant a provisional injunction [...]
Graham HuntOn May 18, 2011, in a massively attended ceremony carried out among the temples of Zaculeu, the Maya Mam People of Huehuetenango declared their territory mining-free. In the presence of community, municipal and ancestral authorities from Mam territory, as well as delegations from other departments, community leaders presented the [...]
Graham HuntEl 18 de mayo del 2011, en un acto multitudinario celebrado entre los templos de Zaculeu, el pueblo Maya Mam de Huehuetenango se declaró libre de minería. En presencia de autoridades comunitarias, municipales y ancestrales del mismo área Mam, así como delegaciones provenientes de otros departamentos, se dio lectura [...]
Two men (background, right) fish at the confluence of the Copón (foreground) and Chixoy (back) rivers, in the municipality of Ixcán, El Quiché. Community members denounce that the Copón river has become contaminated as a result of the Palo Viejo I hydroelectric dam, upriver on the Finca San Francisco plantation [...]
Dos hombres (trasfondo, mano derecha) pescan en la confluencia de los ríos Copón (primer plano, color café) y Chixoy (fondo, color azul), en el municipio de Ixcán, Quiché. Vecinos denuncian que desde hace un año las aguas del río Copón les llegan contaminadas y alegan que el deterioro del río [...]
Graham Hunt El 29 de abril de 2011, más de 3,000 personas, en su mayoría representantes de organizaciones indígenas y campesinas del interior del país, desfilaron por las calles capitalinas para manifestar de nuevo su desapruebo al reglamento de las consultas comunitarias promovido por el gobierno de turno por medio [...]
Graham HuntOn April 29, 2011, more than 3,000 people, primarily representatives of indigenous organizations from rural areas of Guatemala, marched through the streets of the capital city to manifest once more their disapproval of current government's attempt to regulate community referenda via a proposed law presented earlier the same year. [...]
Graham HuntOn March 23, hundreds of representatives from more than 50 municipalities that have carried out community referenda in Guatemala, articulated in the Consejo de Pueblos de Occidente (CPO) and other regional groups, took to the streets in Guatemala City to repudiate the central government's initiative to regulate community consultations, [...]
A man prepares to vote in Caserío Tui Bul. Graham HuntUn hombre se prepara para emitir su voto en el Caserío Tui Bul.On March 16, 2011, 17,849 residents of the predominantly Maya Mam municipality of San Martín "Chile Verde" Sacatepéquez, Quetzaltenango, added their voices to those of the roughly 600,000 [...]
A man waves a banner with the logo of the Comité de Unidad Campesina. Graham HuntIn an interview with the Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Carlos Daniel de León of the Commerce and Investment Agency of Guatemala made known on February 19 that representatives of Guatemala's [...]
Un hombre agita una bandera que lleva el logotipo del Comité de Unidad Campesina. Graham HuntEn una entrevista con el diario guatemalteco la Prensa Libre en San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Carlos Daniel de León, de la Agencia de Comercio e Inversión de Guatemala, dio a conocer el 19 de febrero [...]
A view of the Xequijel river, in Olintepeque, Quetzaltenango. Graham HuntUna Vista del Río Xequijel, en Olintepeque, Quetzaltenango.On February 20, 1524, Tecún Umán, last king of the K'iché nation, was killed in battle against the Spanish conquerors. 487 years later to the day, citizens of the municipality of Olintepeque, the [...]
San Juan Ostuncalco's central plaza on the morning of the referendum. Graham HuntLa plaza central de San Juan Ostuncalco en la mañana de la consulta.On February 18, 2011, in the 49th good faith community referendum celebrated in Guatemala, 33,428 men, women, and children rejected all mining exploration and exploitation in [...]
Representatives of the municipality of Cabricán prepare banners for the march to the Congress. Graham HuntRepresentantes del municipio de Cabricán arman pancartas para la marcha al Congreso. On Monday, November 29, representatives of the municipalities of Cabricán, Santa Cruz del Quiché, and Uspantán submitted to the Congress, the Ministry of [...]
The urban center of Huitán. In the background, to the left of the church, stands Calel mountain, one of the municipality's primary water sources. Calel is likewise home to a mining license of the same name. Graham HuntEl casco urbano de Huitán. En el trasfondo, a mano izquierda de la [...]
"The K'iche People's Council...Our land is our home.Good Faith Community Referendum in Santa Cruz del Quiche.""Consejo de Pueblos K'iche's... nuestra tierra es nuestra casa!Consulta Comunitaria de Buena Fe para Santa Cruz del Quiché"Delmi ArriazaThree consultas (community referendums) were organized in the Western Highlands of Guatemala in October 2010. Since 2005, approximately 650,000 [...]
On October 22, 2010, more than eighty communities held simultaneous referendums on mining and hydroelectric dams planned for the municipality of Santa Cruz del Quiche. Years of organizing and popular education preceded the day-long event.El 22 de octubre de 2010, más que 80 comunidades llevaron a cabo simultáneamente consultas sobre [...]
Mayan ceremony held the night before the referendum.Se lleva a cabo una ceremonia la noche antes de la consulta. Graham HuntOn October 28, one day before the referendum, helicopters and planes flew over one of the regional centers where organizers were planning to compile results. The mayor also published a [...]
“Las comunidades queremos un desarrollo digno y justo,con armonía y respeto con la Madre Tierra.”[i] Representantes de comunidades afectadas por represas viajaron a la capital de Guatemala el 30 de septiembre de 2010 para presentar sus preocupaciones y demandas sobre la planificación y la inauguración de varios proyectos hidroeléctricos en [...]
"We, the communities, want a development with dignity and justice, with harmony and respect for Mother Earth.”[i] Representatives from affected communities traveled to Guatemala City on September 30, 2010 to present their concerns and demands regarding the planned construction or inauguration of a number of large-scale hydroelectric projects throughout Guatemala.In [...]