In the early morning of Thursday, December 6, the Guatemalan riot police repressed, beat up and kidnapped members of the community of San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc near Guatemala City, who have been on a vigil for ten months to block the mining equipment of the company Exmingua.
Join Friends of the Earth International in calling for the release of eight political prisoners in Barillas, Guatemala, who are due before a hearing on November 26.
Just 28 kilometres from Guatemala City, between the towns of San José del Golfo and San Pedro de Ayanpuc the peasant communities are resisting the actions of Canadian company Radius Gold Inc., which has operated a silver and gold mine in the area since 2000. Until now, the company has developed the exploration process. It decided to start the drilling this year, after the government approved the exploitation license, which allows activities in an area of 20 km2 for 25 years.
San José del Golfo and San Pedro de Ayampuc are two towns near Guatemala City that have been affected by gold and silver mining. Mining activities began in the area in 2000 but the community only found out in 2010. Radius Gold Corporation is operating in the area as a counterpart for Explotaciones Mineras de Guatemala (Exmingua). Servicios Mineros de Centroamérica is a subsidiary that exerts pressure among the population and does the so called social corporate responsibility work.
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR, November 19, 2012 — An international mission organized by the environmental federation Friends of the Earth International in Guatemala and El Salvador has verified systematic human rights violations and criminalization of environmental activists and communities resisting mining and hydroelectric projects.
The International Solidarity Mission organized by Friends of the Earth and the Transnational Institute presents an analysis of Canadian mining corporation Goldcorp’s record of exploitation in Guatemala.
At the beginning of the Friends of the Earth International tour of solidarity with the communities affected by mining, dams and megaprojects in El Salvador and Guatemala, the delegation visited the Marlin mine, operated by Canadian corporation Goldcorp.
On the first day of the Solidarity Mission organized by Friends of the Earth International and the Transnational Institute (TNI) of the Netherlands, which aims to reclaim the rights of communities affected and resisting open pit metal mining in Guatemala and El Salvador, the delegation visited Marlin gold mine, owned by Canadian corporation Goldcorp.
