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The first letter is dated March 30, 2023 and was signed by John Howell, commercial counselor of the U.S. Embassy. The document informs Minister Barrios Garrido that "Elevar Resources, S.A. is a subsidiary of Bluestone Resources Inc. a company with substantial capital from investors of United States of America (USA) origin, which is developing the Cerro Blanco mining project in the department of Jutiapa, Guatemala".
The document states to the head of the Ministry of Environment that "the company presented its modification of the environmental management plan before the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Guatemala since 2021 and has continued working with the respective authorities to obtain the necessary authorizations, presenting studies and information subject to the highest international standards in the matter".
"Therefore, we would appreciate your support to know the progress of the approval process of the modification of the environmental plan so that we can continue to assist U.S. investors who are interested in investing and contributing to the economic development of Guatemala," Howell states in the letter.
In addition, the diplomat reminded the authorities of the Ministry of Environment that "the development of the Cerro Blanco gold project will provide important economic benefits for Guatemala, both locally in Asunción Mita, Jutiapa as well as nationally".
[…]
Follow-up letter
Subsequently, on June 6, 2023, the acting commercial counselor of the U.S. Embassy, Kayla Savage, sent a new follow-up letter to the Minister of Environment, Gerson Barrios, with a copy to the Minister of Economy, Janio Rosales.
"For the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala it is very important to continue promoting the attraction of American capital investment in Guatemala, so we consider it important to continue working hand in hand with Guatemalan authorities to generate new job opportunities for Guatemalans, and to develop rural areas of the country," states the letter signed by Savage.
"Therefore, and in order to continue developing the "Cerro Blanco" project, we are kindly following up on our previously sent note and to know the progress of the approval process for the modification of the environmental plan presented by Elevar Resources, S.A. We hope to continue assisting U.S. investors who are interested in investing and contributing to the economic development of Guatemala".
“Unusual" and "surprising" letters
The former Minister of Environment, Gerson Barrios, confirmed having received the letters and said that at the time they responded to the U.S. diplomats through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"When we received a request from any embassy, the official protocol we had was that there should be accompaniment from the Minex for any embassy or ambassador," Barrios said.
The former official described the letters as "unusual" and "surprising". "It was a very particular matter", he added. Barrios added that he did not remember if there were more diplomatic letters about the Cerro Blanco project and assured that "during the government of President Giammattei, open-pit mining was not authorized".
Prensa Comunitaria sought the opinion of the current members of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, however, there was no response.
Controversial mining project
In 2007, Entremares S.A., owner of the extractive project, obtained permission to operate thanks to an environmental impact study with inconsistencies and information gaps. They assured that there would be no impacts on the environment and the population when the mine began operating.
The position of the terrain complicated the operation of the project because it was located on a geothermal surface. As a result, the mine tunnels were repeatedly flooded during excavation.
Upon seeing this, the company requested a two-year permit to suspend operations. After this time, if it did not start operations, it had to be cancelled and closed, according to the Mining Law. But the cancellation never came and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) reportedly kept the exploitation license in force under the argument that the tunnels were in "maintenance phase".
Shortly thereafter, Entremares entered into a partnership with Goldcorp Inc. mining company, also a Canadian company, but by 2013, it sold its shares because the project continued to flood. The shares were bought by Bluestone Resources.
By December 2021, Bluestone Resources submitted to MEM a proposal to reactivate the mine using an update of the same environmental impact study they submitted 14 years ago, but with one obvious change. The mine would no longer be subterranean but open pit.
Community members' rejection of Cerro Blanco
On September 18, 2022, organizations and the population of Asunción Mita held a Municipal Consultation of neighbors based on the Municipal Code in which the inhabitants were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the mining project.
A total of 7,481 people voted NO to mining, while 904 voted YES, the result of the Municipal Consultation of neighbors is directly binding.
In September 2023, the transnational Bluestone Resources (and its subsidiary Elevar Resources) filed a legal complaints of unconstitutionality against three of the articles of the Regulations of the Municipal Consultation on which the plebiscite on mining was based for the population of Asunción Mita.
The Constitutional Court (CC) decided to suspend the articles, temporarily, and therefore the results, but also the participation of the Municipal Council, the Catholic Church, and the neighbors who made up the Coordination Commission, was rendered null and void.
In October 2023, the CC issued another ruling in favor of the mining company, allowing it to continue to apply for the permit to reactivate the open-pit mine.
The controversial aspect of the case is that just five days before the end of Giammattei's administration, on January 9, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources approved the mining company to modify the environmental instrument, Bluestone issued a statement in which it announced that it would begin gold and silver mining.
In addition, the transnational stated that the MEM also updated the approved license of Cerro Blanco to match the open pit mining modality.
Although former Minister Alberto Pimentel Matta left office at the end of July 2023, it was the Giammattei government administration from MEM that approved the mining company's actions. Manuel Eduardo Arita Sagastume, who held the position of vice minister, replaced Pimentel Matta.
The former minister Pimentel Matta was accused by the US Treasury Department of receiving bribes and promoting corruption from that ministry and was sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act for favors to mining companies.
Government without defined position
María José Iturbide, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, announced through a video on social networks that on February 27 a complaint was filed before the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) related to some 939 pages of the original file of the Cerro Blanco project that were missing.
Minister Iturbide also informed that the complaint also pointed out the existence of administrative deficiencies so that the Public Prosecutor's Office can determine if such deficiencies constitute a crime.
Iturbide added that they conducted a field audit and found no environmental damage because the mine is not in operation. He also said that in the inter-institutional technical round table integrated by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the MARN, the representatives of these agencies were requested to be appointed to work in the instance and define the next steps.
After this video, there is still no defined position from the Executive Branch regarding the mining project.
Warnings on health and environmental risks
In November 2022, the media outlet La Voz de América published an extensive article warning about the environmental and health risks if Guatemala were to authorize the mining company to open-pit mine Cerro Blanco.
The media outlet consulted Salvadoran biologist and researcher of the Association of Environmental Women of El Salvador (AMAES), Cidia Cortés, who warned that one of the main problems with open-pit mining is the release of radon gas, one of the main cancer-causing gases.
The Voice of America report also warns that the mining company plans to dump the leftover liquids from the mining activity into the Ostúa and Lempa rivers. "The Ostúa River originates in Guatemala and flows into Lake Güija, the largest flow of which belongs to El Salvador. Lake Güija has already given El Salvador bleak images: fish gasping for oxygen and others floating lifeless. El Salvador's Ministry of Environment revealed, in a study published in 2021, that Lake Güija has "out-of-normal levels" of cyanide, arsenic, lead, mercury and other metals, and that it is the Ostúa River that carries them in its waters to the lake," reports La Voz de América.
The authorities of El Salvador are concerned about the contamination of the Lempa river, since one of its tributaries has a connection with the Güiija lake, which would endanger more than 3 million people living near the shore of the river.
Last January 24, the Salvadoran Chancellor, Alexandra Hill, informed the Guatemalan ambassador, Rubén Nájera, of El Salvador's concern about the contamination of the river's waters and requested the creation of a bi-national body for the authorization of the open-pit mining project.
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