Guatemalans Resist Invasion of North
American Mines
by Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon
by Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon
In November we traveled to Guatemala to study
Spanish and learn about the lives of the indigenous Maya people. Guatemala is an amazingly beautiful country,
with countless mountains and valleys, and 22 volcanoes, the most in Central
America. The people are very friendly and good humored. Traditional Mayan
culture, mostly observed in the colorful dress of the Mayan women, lives side
by side with modernity. Picture a traditionally dressed indigenous peasant
woman tending her cattle and sheep on a hillside pasture. Now watch her pull a
cell phone out of her skirt to call her children.
We are not
just Spanish students and certainly not “tourists” in the usual sense. We are
active members of Veterans For Peace,
and we are very concerned about the U.S. role in Central America. The legacy of
the 36-year war waged by the Guatemalan military against its indigenous people
is everywhere. A peace agreement was signed in 1996, but many people we met,
especially in the mountainous Mayan communities, told us the war continues –
through discrimination, poverty, lack of voice in government, and now the
systematic destruction of their communities in favor of gold and silver mining,
hydroelectric dams, cement plants and oil exploration.
We learned
again about the CIA engineered
coup that overthrew the progressive, democratically elected government of
Jacobo Arbenz in 1954. Sponsored by the Eisenhower administration at the behest
of the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita), the coup led to a 36-year long war
of “scorched earth” genocide. More than
440 Mayan villages were destroyed and over 200,000 people died in massacres by
the Guatemalan military, with aid and encouragement from the United States
government.
An unjust order prevails to this day. Most of the land and
wealth is in the hands of only eight families. To make matters worse, between
2000 and 2004 the Guatemalan government granted over 400 mining and extraction
licenses to U.S. and Canadian mining companies who seek gold, silver and other
precious metals that are right under the feet of the poor Mayan communities in the
mountains. With massive profits to take away from Guatemala, the mining
operations are carrying out a “scorched earth” policy of their own.
Huehuetenango
After studying Spanish for two weeks at San Pedro Laguna on
Lake Atitlan (highly recommended), we stayed with a family in Huehuetenango,
close to Chiapas, Mexico, which used to be part of Guatemala. We visited the small mountain town of
Jacaltenango, where we met Bernardo Masariegos, a community leader who told us
of the struggles in the department (state) of Huehuetenango against mines,
hydroelectric dams, and petroleum extraction.
The people of Huehuetenango, the most indigenous and rural department of
Guatemala, adamantly oppose such exploitation.
In successful opposition to a hydroelectric dam on the Mesté
River, a grassroots movement of 9,000 to 14,000 people maintained a three year
long nonviolent occupation (rotating about 100 people at a time) at the main
square of Jacaltenango, swelling to more than 6,000 for every protest event. “All of the people who protest have no
education,” Bernardo told us, “Only ten to twelve people in the movement were
teachers and two to three were university teachers. They were the real people, the poor people.”
Indigenous peoples have an international and national
constitutional right not to have their natural resources used without their
knowledge and informed consent. This is
called the consulta comunitaria de buena fe, or good faith community
referendum. Twenty six of the 32
municipios (counties) in Huehuetenango voted against the mines in local referendums.
Our visit to the Marlin mine and affected communities
The huge Marlin Gold Mine is near the town of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, high in the rugged mountains of the department of San Marcos. It is operated by Montana Exploradora , a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian company Goldcorp. It is both an open pit and tunneling mine. This region is already damaged by decades of war. |
| The massive destruction of Goldcorp's Marlin Gold Mine can be seen in this immense open pit. |
On December 6, 2012, accompanied by community organizer
Aniceto López, we visited people affected by the Marlin Mine, adjacent to
several indigenous communities in the department of San Marcos. According to Amnesty
International, in February 2011, protesters in north-western Guatemala’s
San Marcos region were attacked after speaking out against the Marlin
Mine. Aniceto López was taken to the
local mayor’s office, where officials beat him and threatened to kill him if he
continued to speak out against the mine.
In San Marcos, we visited:
- The community of Ágel and a group called FREDEMI “Frente de Defensa Miguelense, San Miguel Ixtahuacán” (Front for the Defense of San Miguel Ixtahuacán). They have been resisting the mining activities since 2007. In February 2010, FREDEMI organized a protest in which 700 people blocked the entrance to the mine for 13 days.
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| Women of FREDEMI meet with Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon of Veterans For Peace. |
- Diodora Hernandez, who was shot in the eye for refusing to sell her land to Goldcorp.
- Solomon, who worked for Goldcorp for two years. He said, “They arrived in 1996 to explore and in 2003 started to settle down with machines – now people are starting to realize how serious the situation is. There are four problems – water (contamination, dead animals, skin rashes and hair loss), cracks in the houses, explosives rocking the land, and the earth.”
Our visit to the Community Occupation at La Puya
On December 10 - 12 we visited a proposed mining project, El
Tambor, about an hour's bus ride from Guatemala City. Kapps, Cassidy & Associates of Reno,
Nevada owns the license. Between the
towns of San Jose del Golfo and San Pedro
Ayampuc is an area called La Puya, and the entrance to the mining
area. Hundreds of residents of local
communities have maintained a successful nonviolent occupation here since March
2, 2012.
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| Helen Jaccard interviewed some of the community leaders at the La Puya occupation. |
We arrived late and we spent the first night sleeping on a
wooden platform in the middle of the occupation. This and having Spanish
language flyers handy to explain who we are helped us to be welcome here.
Company and police violence meets nonviolent resistance
Only days before we arrived at La Puya, on Friday, December
7, 2012, the police violently attacked the community using tear gas and batons
to injure people. Nearly 2000 police
from all over Guatemala descended on the encampment. In the morning, there were only 20 people
from the community – they lay down in front of the police and discreetly made
phone calls - soon the church bells in the nearby town rang the alarm. By the afternoon 1500 people had arrived to
support the La Puya occupation.
Paola Aquino Gutierrez’ 12 year old daughter was severely
beaten. “My 12 year old daughter was
beaten Friday – she is still sore physically but more so psychologically. I have never beaten my daughter and now a
police woman did. Many people still have
sore throats from the tear gas that was used against us. We were on the ground when the tear gas was
thrown right over our heads. My daughter
and I are even more determined than ever to continue this struggle.”
”The police captured four of us in order to scare the
others, but they weren’t scared, they were even more brave, so they started
calling people for help”, said Jorge Lopez.
“We are here to defend our water, our life and our territory.” After two hours of laying in the hot sun with
no food, water, or even a chance to pee, the captives were taken to two courts
who refused to hear the case because of lack of charges and evidence and
released.
This is a completely nonviolent resistance, which, according
to organizers, was key to preventing deaths when the police attacked with tear
gas and batons.
 |
| Nonviolent resistance may have saved the lives of many people |
Water shortage and being forced off of the land
The climate has become drier here. The rainy season used to start in May, but now it is dry. Lack of rain is causing crop failure in many
areas of Guatemala this year. On top of
that, communities that had barely enough water to survive are seeing the mining
companies steal their water for processing ore. Wells, springs, and streams
near mines are drying up.
The Marlin mine had a mechanical well, but it’s already
dry. They are building another well
closer to the spring. The people are
afraid that they will soon have no water.
Cristana Pérez said, “We tried to talk to the manager where they are
building the mechanical well, but security people come instead and said that if
we continue to fight them, they will prosecute us. The manager is saying that the well is built
in consultation with the local community – it is not.”
Solomon told us, “In 1987 the community bought the spring,
which gave water until last year – now it is dry. The human rights commission told the company
to provide water, but we got none.”
 |
Solomon turns on the spigot at his house near the Marlin
mine, but there is no water.
|
The Marlin mine has also displaced communities. For example, there were at least 60 homes on
the hillside that is now a hole in the ground.
At the El Tambor site, people are also concerned about lack
of water and being forced off of their land.
“For me, the motivation is life – life itself. I’ve been here for 71 years and managed to
live a tranquil life. I’ve been able to
live my life being happy, so I want my children also to be able to live a happy
life. If we don’t have water, if we
don’t have trees, and all of that, it’s just going to be a desert,” said one
man, “We struggle for life, water, and peace.
If we don't have this gold, we’ll still be able to live. But if we don’t have water, we’ll die.”
Milton Carrera explained about the water shortage, “We are
fighting because if they come here, we won’t have water. We are very, very short on water. Some communities only have water maybe one
hour a week. Other communities, like the
big town, we only have water for one hour a day. The company is located where
all of the wells are – right here. The
water for the town, the wells are close to here. So what’s going to happen for us, if in 5 or
10 years we don’t have water?
Water contamination, health problems, dead animals
Mines also contaminate the water. The Marlin mine has a tailing pond containing
the acidic mixture of cyanide, arsenic, heavy and radioactive metals,
explosives, and other chemicals - normal for a mine using cyanide to extract
gold. On September 23, 2010 at night,
this contaminated water was discharged
into the Quivichil River, which runs into Mexico.
 |
Tailing ponds at the Marlin Mine contain cyanide, arsenic,
heavy metals and explosives.
|
Both FREDEMI and Solomon told us about a lot of skin
problems and hair loss. According to
Solomon, “In 2008-09 various people have had skin problems – two of them
died. Their bodies were covered with
painful rashes, and then they died.”
Cattle have been dying from drinking the water from the
river. Diodora Hernandez told us, “The
mother of a calf was poisoned. The water
was pure white, like milk.” Her horse
also died from the poisoned water. There
are many other reports from shepherds whose cattle have died after drinking
water downstream from the mine.
Division and Conflict
When mining companies start their propaganda campaign near a
mining site, they cause divisions – in families and in communities. Aniceto
Lopez told us, “In the community, they are always in conflict – the
environment is so thick with conflict that you can breathe it - conflict
between those that support and those that are against the mine.”
“We were peaceful communities before all of this”, said one
71 year old man, referring to the mining license.
Among 75 local men who work at the Marlin mine, many have
left their wives and children for other women, without paying anything to help
support their original family – something they would not do had they not had
more money in their pockets, said Crisanta of FREDEMI. “We are really sorry
about this, because a long time ago it was better – we went to the farms - men
and women worked together to pick the coffee – there was no division between
families.”
Many of the miners and affected community members turn to
heavy drinking and drug use, Solomon told us. “There had been only 4
bars/liquor stores – now there are 100.”
At a Health Tribunal
held at San Miguel Ixtahuacán on July 14-15 2012, one man testified: “There is prostitution, crime, pollution of
Mother Earth … The workers, the Cocodes
(local authorities), have beaten me up.
When they are under the influence of alcohol, they come to my home and
threaten me”
Intimidation, violence and corruption
The Marlin mine bosses will stop at nothing and have an
arrogant attitude toward the Mayan people whose land they are destroying. They force entire villages to leave their
land and pay very little for the land they buy, according to FREDEMI. When met with resistance, they falsely accuse
people of crimes, and even shoot and kill them.
They intentionally poison animals – dogs, horses, cows, and
chickens.
The mining explosions rock the area. Together with tunneling and the constant
traffic of heavy trucks, over 100 homes have been severely damaged with big
cracks. The big trucks drive fast and
run over the chickens and dogs. People
pressured to sell their land, and to stop talking about the effects of the
mine. The police are bought off by the
mine, so do not prosecute these crimes.
The Minister of the Environment, in charge of making a report about the
contamination , was being hosted by Goldcorp.
On March 12, 2007 Alvaro
Sánchez, a Mayan villager living near the Marlin mine was murdered by mine
workers during a heated discussion.
Diodora Hernandez refused to sell her land to the company
and in 2010 two mine employees came and shot her in the eye. “I won’t sell my land – never. If I sold, where would I put my animals?” In another incident, she went to a meeting
and a man threatened to kill her with a machete.
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Diodora Hernandez in her pasture,
telling us about the struggle to keep her land and animals
|
Solomon worked for the company for two years, and then started
speaking out against it when he saw the problems. He said that the company comes to his home –
sometimes at night – to intimidate him. He has been falsely accused of five
crimes, a common tactic against mine resisters.
Crisanta Pérez of FREDEMI was also falsely charged her with
a crime. “Because of the arrest warrant,
I left my family and moved from place to place, hiding out for six months. When I returned home, they captured me – but
by that time, people were more aware, and they blocked the police car and freed
me after two hours.” Another man in the
community was beaten to death.
Milton Carrera at La Puya said, “We used to have a little
goat farm. They killed all my animals –
about two months ago. Another of my
family has a fish farm and a few months ago they put poison into the fish pond
and they killed about 2,000 fish.
Another lady had chickens at her house and they threw in poisoned
corn.
“They shot one lady June 13…she still has the bullet, only
two inches from her spine… Only God knows
how she’s still walking. She has nerve
problems, but she’s a very strong lady.
She stopped the confrontation last Friday – if it wasn’t for her, there
would have been a bunch of people killed here.”
According to mimundo.org,
on June 13th, 2012, after a month of receiving death threats due to her
involvement in the anti-mining movement, Yolanda “Yoli” Oquely Veliz, 33, was
shot three times as she left the resistance blockade.
Communities are fighting for their survival
There are seven communities within 700 meters of the
proposed mine. The Environmental Impact
Study proposes removing these communities.
The people have been living here for 300 or 400 years. “How can they expect us to move, when we
don’t even know where we would go?”
Deodora Oliva lives about 700 meters from the mine. “See that hill there?” She points to a hill about 100 yards from the
camp. “I live on the other side of that
hill and they’re going to disappear that hill.
I’m afraid that my village is going to disappear eventually, because the
hill is right in front of my village.”
In just two of the closest villages there are about 150 houses, about
1,000 people.
Milton Carrera told us, “We told the government they have to
kill us. The government has to kill us
in order to go inside. A lot of people
decided, if they have to die, they will, to save the land for the next
generation. Please tell your government
that we’re humans, not animals and should have our rights respected.”
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| La Puya Community in Resistance to the El Tambor mine |
La Lucha Continua
Clearly,
imperialism's war against Guatemala and its indigenous people has not ended.
U.S. and Canadian mining corporations, aided by collaborators in the Guatemalan
government, are systematically destroying Mayan communities, while taking 99%
of the enormous profits back to North America.
The
resistance of the Mayan communities also continues. It is no longer an armed
resistance, but it is strong, deep and broad. Rural communities, such as at La
Puya, are employing nonviolent strategies, while the government prefers to
portray their resistance as violent and to meet it with violence.
The government
is frantically attempting to isolate community leaders, accusing them of being
manipulated by NGOs and funded by foreigners. Apparently, the government and
the communities in resistance agree on one thing. International solidarity
strengthens the resistance movement.
Toronto based
Rights Action and Oakland-based NISGUA, which maintains an office in
Guatemala City, provide regular updates, action alerts, organize solidarity
delegations and even provide nonviolent “accompaniment” for community
organizers whose lives are at risk. Solidarity actions are also aimed at
culpable corporate executives and shareholders in Canada and the U.S.
For the last
four decades, many members of Veterans For Peace have taken bold actions in
solidarity with the peoples of Central America, and we will continue to do so.
We look forward to returning to Guatemala. In the meantime, there are many
mining companies to visit in North America.
The 1954 coup
against Guatemala's fledgling democracy was organized in order to halt land
reform and to guarantee that a U.S. company would be the primary beneficiary of
Guatemala's fertile earth and ideal growing climate. The CIA coup was also
meant as a warning to governments in the region who might be so reckless as to
put the needs of their own people first. Apparently however, the people of
Nicaragua and El Salvador did not heed the message, and neither have the people
of Guatemala.
Thirty-six
years of genocide has not put an end to deep-rooted resistance in Mayan
communities who wish to live free and healthy lives. Riding through the
beautiful countryside, we often saw signs along reading “No a la mineria.
Guatemala no se vende.” No to the mines. Guatemala is not for sale. Perhaps
that was our best Spanish lesson of all.
