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October 18, 2022


** Another mining project threatens Maya Q'eqchi' territories & communities in Guatemala
Linked to Switzerland-based Solway Investment Group/ CGN
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“Everything indicates that the government will repeat the same old pattern:
trampling on the people to help extractive companies forcefully enter the territories
and continue plundering the natural resources.”
New Mining Project Threatens Q'eqchi' Communities in El Estor
By Prensa Comunitaria, September 29, 2022
(Translated by Rights Action)
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The Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) could approve the exploration of 76 square kilometers in the north of the municipality of El Estor, Izabal, in the community of Sexán, for the company Minas del Norte S.A. This area was part of the polygon that the mining company [Solway Investment Group’s] Fénix exploited until 2021, when the Constitutional Court ordered it to suspend operations and reduced the area.

The news has caused alarm among the neighbors and communities that would suffer the environmental impact. Once again, they have not been consulted.

Everything indicates that the government will repeat the same old pattern: trampling on the people to help extractive companies forcefully enter the territories and continue plundering the natural resources.
The company Minas del Norte is represented by the Blanca Yaneth García Seijas. On November 4, 2021, she requested permission from the MEM to explore deposits of nickel, cobalt, iron, copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, manganese, molybdenum, cadmium, platinum group minerals and rare earths, for a period of three years, in accordance with the ruling 2948 of the General Directorate of Mining dated November 30, 2021, to which Prensa Comunitaria had access.

According to this document, signed by Elizabeth Keller, director of mining, the MEM requested the mining cadastre report, a copy of the environmental impact study with "modifications and extensions, if any", a photocopy of the approval resolution issued by the Ministry of Environment, a legalized copy of the current environmental license, in addition to a report from the Auditing Unit and the opinion of the MEM legal department.

The cadastral report, issued on January 21 of this year, states that the exploration area overlaps with the Lake Izabal basin, and therefore "is within the Authority for the Sustainable Management of the Izabal Lake and Río Dulce Basin (Amasurli)".

None of these documents refer to Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which establishes consultation with indigenous communities located in territories of extractive interest.

Minas del Norte S.A. also requested the exploration of another area of 81 square kilometers, under the application "La Colonia", in search of the same minerals and rare earths, as reported by the Observatory of Extractive Industries (OIE).

But that is not all. The company Minergia, S.A. also requested to explore 90 square kilometers within the former Fénix mine polygon, in search of the same resources.

These requests were made when El Estor was being controlled by the police and the army on government orders to favor the operation of the Fénix mining company, owned by the Swiss-Russian company Solway Investment Group.

They request a community consultation
Residents of the Sexán region, which has about 18 communities, have opposed this new mining activity. They have asked the MEM, the Ministry of Environment and the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, for an explanation about the violation of their rights and demand a consultation in accordance with ILO Convention 169.

Strangely, this time, the municipality of El Estor accompanies them in their claim. "We are the authorities of Nueva Jerusalén. The inhabitants of this community consume the vital liquid [water]. Our rivers will be permanently polluted by machinery. It is the obligation of the State to guarantee the protection of the communities and not to violate our rights", they expressed.

In addition, a neighbor of Q'eqchi' origin has said that this mining exploration "worries them a lot" because it would affect a large part of the crops that throughout history have sustained the community and that are part of the culture, economy and the financing of the children's education.

Exploration would also affect the only road they have to import and export their products or to mobilize in the event of an emergency. Neighbors also commented that there is a possibility that the company will work in the area of Cahabón, Alta Verapaz.

The community has shared a suspicion with Prensa Comunitaria. They believe that Minas del Norte S.A. is a satellite company of Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel (CGN) – [subsidiary of Solwway Investment Group] - and its processing company Pronico and Mayaníquel. All of them operate in El Estor and have been accused of polluting Lake Izabal and criminalizing the inhabitants who oppose them.

An ancestral authority of El Estor, who preferred not to be identified, commented that the State of Guatemala, in complicity with Solway's mining company, continues to violate the rights of the Q'eqchi' communities and this makes evident "their interest in destroying the lives of the people who, historically, defend their mountains, their sacred hills and the fullness of life".
Maya Q’eqchi’ land & environment defenders vs Mining:
A 60-year human rights & justice struggle
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Archives: INCO, Hudbay Minerals, Skye Resources, Solway Investment Group
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TESTIMONIO: Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala
The 60 year land and human rights defense struggles of the Q’eqchi’ people are one of four community defense/ mining resistance struggles addressed in TESTIMONIO, co-edited by Professor Catherine Nolin (UNBC) and Grahame Russell (Rights Action).
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