Director
Closing arguments were made today (May 9, 2013) in the genocide trial against retired Generals Rios Montt and Rodriguez Sanchez in Guatemala City. The prosecution has asked for a 75 year prison sentence for the two generals. A decision is pending.
Canadian mining company Goldcorp has left over 20 toxic sites at current and former mines in Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico and Canada , among other places. Join us to help protest their legacy of toxic waste at their annual shareholder meeting at the Trump Hotel in Toronto . We will cordon off a hazardous zone around the meeting to highlight the serious threats that Goldcorp has posed to the communities where it has operated, ranging from health harms due to blood poisoning, to respiratory problems, food insecurity, water quality issues, violent and deadly attacks against community members, cracked houses and mental health problems. We will have masks and other safety gear on hand to protect Torontonians from the extreme levels of toxicity that Goldcorp brings wherever it goes.
Even as Tahoe / Goldcorp push ahead, even as repression increases, community after community are holding public, transparent consultations and every single one is saying ‘no’ to the imposition of this type of “development” project.
- Associated Press: “ GUATEMALA WAR TRIAL PUTS PAST CLOSER TO PRESIDENT”
- Reuters: “WITNESS AT EX-DICTATOR'S TRIAL LINKS GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT TO WAR CRIMES”
- Amed men fired bullets at not-for-profit organization, and broke into home of lawyer challenging the legality of mining license granted to Tahoe/Goldcorp.
- Tahoe/Goldcorp accused of operating an illegal armed group carrying out illegal actions against the civilian population.
Mining exploration and exploitation in the Siria Valley (municipalities of San Ignacio, Cedros and El Porvenir), began in 1995 and intensified after Hurricane Mitch (1998). The General Mining Law was approved on November 30, 1998, one month after Hurricane Mitch. It was published in the official “la Gaceta” on February 6, 1999 and came into force in 2000.
"The cozy relationship between Ríos Montt and the Reagan administration needs to be dug up from the graveyards of history, much like the bodies that are still being dug up from mass graves in Guatemala." (Cyril Mychalejko)
We salute the "Idle No More" movement in Canada. Rights Action is honored to support and learn from Indigenous Peoples led organizations and movements in Guatemala and Honduras that have long been at the forefront of work and struggles to transform how their unjust and unequal societies function and operate, all the while struggling to transform the unjust and unequal relations between the global north (particularly the USA and Canada) and Central America.
Do not let former President Bill Clinton whitewash the image of former "genocidal" general, now president Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala.
A Public Letter, sent to Member of Parliament Diane Ablonczy, concerning the criminalization of people in Guatemala who are peacefully defending communities from illegal and harmful entry of Canadian (and other) mining companies.
