Guatemala

Canadian member of parliament, Peter Julian, announces Bill C-323, a law aimed at "allow[ing] non-citizens to sue Canadians and Canadian corporations for gross violations of basic human, environmental or labour rights when they are committed outside of Canada."

Report by Dr. Juan Almendares, translated for Rights Action by Rosalind Gill, about health and environmental harms caused by Goldcorp in Honduras' Siria Valley.

Otto Perez Molina, a former general who was in charge of the Nebaj, Quiche military base during Guatemala's genocide from mid-1982 to mid-1983, has won the presidency.

General Otto Perez Molina - Comandante Tito, as he was known in the early eighties, directing operations in the butchering fields of the [Maya] Ixil communities 3 hours north of here - is the founder of the Patriotic Party, and his sneering face on billboards, huge and small, the PP symbol of the fighting Iron Fist, their pumpkin-orange flags and banners, and frenetic pounding music are ubiquitous throughout the country, and especially in the Maya highlands, the very land where the genocide occurred.

On September 11, 2011 the general elections in Guatemala, which determine mayors, congress members and the president, played out as most recent elections have, with normal violence, denouncements of widespread fraud, and destruction of ballots; the culmination of a political campaign in which at least 35 were killed. Two presidential candidates go to the run off on in November, the expected winner Otto Perez Molina, Implicated in war crimes of the past (including genocide), of the Partido Patriota [PP] against Manuel Baldizon of the Libertad Democratic Renovada [LIDER].

Report summary: "Searching for Gold in the Highlands of Guatemala: Economic Benefits and Environmental Risks of the Marlin Mine", By Lyuba Zarsky and Leonardo Stanley, Tufts University, September 2011

On October 31, 2011, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) did two reports on the Canadian mining industry in general, on HudBay Minerals and serious human rights violations in Guatemala, and on the new, non-binding Corporate Social Responsability Counsellor in Canada.

"Friends and Colleagues, I hope this message finds you well. On this occasion I share a photo essay documenting the resistance that continues in San Miguel Ixtahuacán against Goldcorp's Marlin Mine". James Rodriguez.

Open Letter to President Obama. CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND RIGHTS ACTION URGE U.S. TO APOLOGIZE FOR INVOLVEMENT IN 1954 GUATEMALAN COUP AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS











