Rights Action tells us, “On January 14, 2014, Guatemalan President … Otto Perez Molina, ordered troops to the Mayan municipality of Sipakapa … in western Guatemala. The armed forces arrived on behalf of Goldcorp Inc. that is trying to illegally expand its ‘Marlin’ mine into Sipakapan territory.”
In September 2011, Blue Planet Project co-founder Maude Barlow visited Guatemala and saw the impacts of Goldcorp’s Marlin mine. During that trip, the Council of Canadians joined Rights Action and the community of San Miguel Ixtahuacan to call for the immediate closure of the Marlin mine.
The report continues, “In 2005, the Mayan Sipakapan people overwhelmingly rejected Goldcorp’s mine in their territory in a legally binding community consultation… During the peaceful protest (last week), a mining company employee signed a public agreement with Sipakapan community members, agreeing on the definitive suspension of Goldcorp’s exploration work at the ‘Los Chocoyos’ site…; the immediate withdrawal of Goldcorp’s workers from the ‘Los Chocoyos’ site; a 2 day period for Goldcorp to withdraw its mining equipment from the area.”
“(But) there is fear in Sipakapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacan that Goldcorp will not carry out with these commitments, but rather resort, again, to repression by the Guatemalan military and police forces so as to proceed with the illegal mining operations at the Los Chocoyos mine site.”
It is notable that, “On January 8, 2014, FREDEMI (San Miguel Ixtahuacan Defense Front) and PLURIJUR (Legal Multicultural Association of Guatemala) filed a lawsuit against the mayor of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, on behalf of five communities … all of which have suffered chronic water shortage and contamination since Goldcorp began its mining operation in 2005.”
“As part of the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) order (in 2010), the Guatemalan government and Goldcorp are obliged to provide sufficient water to the harmed communities. Four years later, the government and company are still not complying with this obligation.”
Take action
Rights Action calls on us to, “Contact Goldcorp in Canada, with copies to your elected politicians and media, insisting they withdraw completely and permanently from the Sipakapa territory and that they supply the five harmed communities with adequate water supplies on a permanent basis.” As noted on the Goldcorp website, they can be contacted at:
Goldcorp Inc. Corporate Office:
Park Place
Suite 3400-666 Burrard Street
Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6C 2X8
Telephone: (604) 696-3000
Facsimile: (604) 696-3001
To watch the 56-minute documentary ‘Sipakapa is not for sale’ on-line, click here.
To download or arrange to screen the film ‘Gold Fever’, see here.
Further reading
Goldcorp mining operations continue to expand
Council of Canadians and Rights Action demand shutdown of Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine