|
Rights Action
May 1, 2017
*******
Goldcorp Inc. closing “Marlin” mine in Guatemala, leaving 13 years of harms and violations, corruption and impunity
It has been very good for company directors, Canadian and U.S. shareholders, investors and recipients of Goldcorp “philanthropy”, and very bad for the environment and local Mayan people of Guatemala
*******
Gregoria Crisanta: “I have nothing to thank Goldcorp-Montana for.”
Gregoria Crisanta Perez says ‘no’ to Goldcorp media manipulations
January 2017
In San Miguel Ixtahuacán, San Marcos, five communities (Siete Platos Hamlet, San José Ixaniche Village, San José Nueva Esperanza Hamlet, Agel Village and San Antonio Hamlet) are supposed to be receiving emergency wáter supplies, as ordered by the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, due to harms suffered over the years due to Goldcorp’s “Marlin” mine. A project to bring drinking water to the families living in Agel is underway. Goldcorp (and its subsidiary company Montana Exploradora) took it upon themselves to use community leader Gregoria Crisanta Perez’s image to their benefit, depicting her in their publications and website as a person expressing gratitude towards Goldcorp for carrying out the drinking water project.
Gregoria Crisanta responds:
“I have nothing to thank Goldcorp-Montana for. The water project was not given to us as a favor by Goldcorp, it is the obligation of the Guatemalan state. Goldcorp/Montana has caused great harm to me and my family and accused me unjustly in the past. I have nothing to thank them for or speak with them about and I have firmly decided to continue in my organization FREDEMI until the end of our struggle.”
FREDEMI will not allow for one of our compañeras, a legitimate defender of rights for many years, to be a target of Goldcorp’s manipulations. FREDEMI continues to denounce Goldcorp for the violation of human rights, the contamination of water and the environment, and for the destruction of the social fabric of the municipality.
*******
Goldcorp ‘doing business as usual’ in Guatemala
Left, Eduardo Villacorta, former Goldcorp Inc. Vice President of operations for Central America, now fugitive from justice facing charges of participating in the Guatemalan government’s “La Linea” corruption ring headed by Otto Perez Molina (right), a former general in Guatemala’s army, an alleged war criminal, and former president of Guatemala who was forced from office in 2015 and jailed on corruption charges.
*******
FREDEMI Statement
March 22, 2017
FREDEMI (Miguelense Defense Front) – the resistance movement to defend the territories and rights of the Maya Mam people in San Miguel Ixtahuacán – expresses:
In response to recent verified harms caused by the Marlin Mine belonging to Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, property of Goldcorp Inc., the municipal commission that monitors the Metal Extraction industry carried out an inspection of the area surrounding the Marlin Mine on February 13, 2017, with the participation of community mayors and COCODES from the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán. The findings verified include the following:
- More than 5 natural springs have dried up, that served the families of Paraje Caman of the Twicampana Hamlet and Paraje Kyaqjul of the Maquivil Village. Reports were also received from other communities that noted that the springs that supplied water to the families in their communities had dried up, and even one of the springs that brings water to the municipal capital in the Sachilón Hamlet is at risk.
- As a result of the Marlin Mine’s underground explosions, cracks have appeared in the homes of families that live close to the Mine and therefore can no longer be inhabited.
- We witnessed the skin ailments in the boys and girls living close to the Marlin Mine due to bathing in the streams close to the area of mining exploitation.
- According to the water studies carried out earlier, water samples from the tailing dams show high levels of metal elements. This water later contaminates the tributaries that enter the Cuilco River, rendering this river useless for agriculture and other human activities.
- There is social conflict and violence in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, due to the violation of the right to prior and informed free consent ever since the mine came into the area.
In response to these events, we affirm that before it leaves Goldcorp Inc. should pay for the social and environmental harms caused, since these effects of these harms have been verified, and affect the entire municipality.
For that reason, the corresponding government authorities on these issues, MARN, MEM, Departmental and Municipal level governance authorities from San Miguel Ixtahuacan, should be held accountable in their roles to defend the fundamental and principle rights of this people.
We also request that national and international human rights organizations accompany us with actions on a national and international level during the process of this struggle to defend the territory.
We ask that the people from San Miguel Ixtahuacán unite with this struggle, because we will all suffer the consequences of these harms. Otherwise, the effects will be regrettable and there will be no way to demand reparations.
San Miguel Ixtahuacán, San Marcos
Guatemala March 26, 2017
*******
Doc films:
Gold Fever (2013)
This film documents how Goldcorp Inc. continues to mine relentlessly in Guatemala, despite 12 years of repression, human rights violations, environmental destruction, and endemic corruption and impunity. Gold Fever takes the viewer into the homes and communities of courageous Mayan Mam people resisting harms and violations, struggling for justice and a different “development” model.
All That Glitters Isn't Gold: A Story Of Exploitation and Resistance (2008)
|
