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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Mon Sep 15, 2014, 12:03 PM Sep 2014

Protestor Burned Alive For Speaking Against Company

Protestor Burned Alive For Speaking Against Company
By Timon Singh
September 9th, 2014

A Guatemalan protestor was beaten and burnt to death after he dared to speak against the Marlin gold mine, which is owned by Canadian company GoldCorp. The man, who was a member of an indigenous tribe, was reportedly killed by workers from the company who doused him with petrol before throwing a lit match onto his body.

This is not the first controversy that has hit the Marlin mine. When it was first constructed, there were multiple protests from local farmers.

In December 2004, an indigenous group from Sipakapa began a 42-day blockade of Glamis trucks passing through their community on the way to the mine, but the blockade was ended when more than 1,200 soldiers and 400 police agents began firing at unarmed protesters, resulting in the death of an indigenous farmer, Raul Casto Bocel.

This latest death is part of a decade-long struggle for local communities to protect themselves from the mine and its impact on the region. The stories are shocking with tales of intimidation, threats, social division, violence, bribery and corruption of local authorities, destruction and contamination of water sources, not to mention forest clearing and appalling health impacts such as malnutrition and skin diseases.

More:
http://www.popularresistance.org/protestor-burned-alive-for-speaking-against-company/

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Memory refresher for anyone who may have forgotten the reputation Gold Corp. established long ago in the Americas:



Last week, four men were abducted by armed men on the way home from a public referendum on the proposed Escobal mine operating in Guatemala. One of the men, Exactación Marcos, was later found dead.

The men were leaders of the Xinca indigenous community which has been vocally objecting to the development of the new Escobal mine owned by Tahoe Resources, which in turn is partially owned by Canadian mining giant, Goldcorp. This mine would decimate the land and poison and deplete the waters that the local community depend on for their livelihood.

For the past 14 months, the Guatemalan government has been deliberating over whether or not to approve this mine. Sunday’s tragedy highlights what’s at stake here -- human lives versus massive corporate profits. Our allies think a global outcry now, in the wake of the tragedy, could be enough to finally pressure the Guatemalan government to stop this mine once and for all.

Tell the Guatemalan government to keep Goldcorp and Tahoe out of the country.

Goldcorp is the second largest gold mining company in the world, and has one of the worst reputations for human rights abuse in a very dirty industry. Guatemalans are familiar with environmental and human rights violations at Goldcorp’s Marlin mine. By rejecting the exploration license for the Escobal mine, the Guatemalan government can tell the world that it will not make the same mistake twice.


More:
http://action.sumofus.org/a/goldcorp-tahoe/

ETC., ETC., ETC.


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