Latin America
Related: About this forumCan Canada’s new PM stop mining abuses in Latin America?
Can Canadas new PM stop mining abuses in Latin America?
Report on Guatemalan mine accuses the government and company running it, Tahoe Resources, of a military response to opposition
David Hill
Monday 14 December 2015 15.38 EST
A Guatemalan investigative journalist named Luis Solano was in Canada last month to launch a report about a Canadian-owned silver mine in south-east Guatemala. The mine, Escobal, began operating last year and is run by Minera San Rafael (MSR), a subsidiary of the British Columbia-incorporated Tahoe Resources.
The 27-page report, titled Under Siege: Peaceful Resistance to Tahoe Resources and Militarization in Guatemala, was commissioned by the International Platform Against Impunity in Central America and MiningWatch Canada, which published it in November. Based on the experience of several years research and interviews with local inhabitants conducted in mid-2015, one of the key allegations is that 1000s of people living in the region have voted against the mine and further expansion plans, with numerous plebiscites and peaceful marches held.
According to Solano, the percentages of those voting No to Escobal in municipal plebiscites were 98.86, 98.34, 98.61, 98.68, 98.3 and 98, while the percentages of people who voted No in good faith plebiscites in eight villages in one municipality where authorities prevented an official plebiscite being held were 99.27, 93.44, 99.20, 96.65, 97.33, 98.84, 98.26 and 100. In only one plebiscite did the majority - 53% - vote in the mines favour.
Another key allegation made in the report is that opposition to the mine is being criminalized. Solano states that more than 100 cases of legal charges have been brought against opponents - all dismissed for lack of evidence or for including false evidence and/or statements - while some people have been unlawfully detained, leaders homes have been raided, and MSR and Guatemalas Chamber of Commerce have brought legal challenges to stop plebiscites. According to the report, people are being stigmatised, defamed and, in some cases, called terrorists.
One further key allegation is that opposition to the mine is being met with a military response. Solano alleges that an Inter-Institutional Committee Office installed by the government is considered by local people to be mainly intended to gather military intelligence, and, in 2013, it declared a military state of siege when three military outposts manned by the Guatemalan army were established - two of which remain to this day.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/dec/14/canada-justin-trudeau-mining-abuses-latin-america
Good Reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016139669
Jarqui
(10,130 posts)Frank Giustra was involved per below. Ian Telfer runs GoldCorp. They're both big donors to the ... Clinton Foundation!!!
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Gold+mining+titan+retains+underdog+sensibilities/10229323/story.html#ixzz3uOBYxjCa
Include spinoffs and other deals put together by Telfer and Giustra Silver Wheaton, New Gold, Tahoe Resources, Primero Mining, Terrane Metals and Uranium One (where Telfer is chairman) among them and the total rises above $40 billion.
https://www.biv.com/article/2015/4/local-mining-magnates-drawn-american-political-are/
The Crimes Of Goldcorp: Assaults On Indigenous In Honduras And Guatemala
http://www.activistpost.com/2014/02/the-crimes-of-goldcorp-assaults-on.html
In that article above, I don't know how solid it is. But working as some sort of middleman to allow these corporate mining sharks to take advantage of smaller countries like Honduras And Guatemala (or Columbia, etc), there are going to be some bad feelings. It all may be originally undertaken under the auspices of "we're helping these poor countries develop their natural resources" but if it amounts to financial rape and pillage then folks are going to get upset.
Bottom line is, maybe Justin Trudeau should give Bill Clinton a call.
Again, having Hillary mixed up with this stuff doesn't do her candidacy any good or make it any easier for Democrats to defend her next fall.