September 7, 2008
GUATEMALA: Latin America Water Tribunal to investigate Goldcorp Inc., amongst others, for water depletion and contamination in Guatemala.
IMPUNITY versus THE COURT OF PUBLIC DENUNCIATION
This is a non-binding tribunal. These hearings are crucial to continue to document the harms and human rights violations being caused by Goldcorp in Guatemala, given that there is no way to hold Goldcorp accountable in courts in Guatemala, in Canada, in the USA or internationally.
It is widely known in government, corporate and investor sectors that companies like Goldcorp Inc. are operating with effective impunity and immunity from prosecution or accountability.
We will publish the Tribunal findings as soon as they are ready. (Thanks to Rosalind Gil for translating this from Spanish)
WHAT TO DO: see below.
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THE IMPACT OF MINING TO BE EXAMINED BY THE LATIN AMERICAN WATER TRIBUNAL
Open-pit mining and liquid waste dumping are the main causes of water contamination, said Xavier Bogantes, President of the (LATW) Latin American Water Tribunal, in a statement announcing public hearings that the Tribunal will hold next week. Bogantes said that this type of mining must be investigated, because, besides causing pollution, it requires large quantities of water, which is diverted away from poor communities who are then left without this vital resource.
Enrique Beldarrain, of the LATW technical-scientific commission, pointed out that the chemicals used in mining activities cause water contamination that can harm people, even if they use the water only to wash their clothes.
Bogantes said that the LATW will examine 10 cases of contamination caused by mining exploitation and water hoarding in Central America and Mexico, three of these cases have to do with mining activities in Guatemala. One of the cases concerns the contamination of the Tzalá River, in the Cuilco River Basin, San Marcos, by the Montana Exploradora Mine (owned by Goldcorp Inc.)
The hearings will begin next Monday, at the Hotel Real Plaza, in Antigua, Guatemala. The verdicts will be rendered the following Friday at 5PM. The LATW is an ethical tribunal whose verdicts, although not binding, have, in the past, influenced corrective action.
HEARINGS:
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
The Chichoj Lagoon, in San Cristóbal Verapz, Alta Verapaz, is an important water source that has been contaminated by industrial and domestic waste. The local council is to be held responsible for the fact that 40% of drainage water flows into the lagoon. There is a second case concerning the San Juan River, in Aguacatán, Huehuetenango, where there are reports of sewage discharge, illegal logging and mining activity.
DETERIORATING RIVER BASINS
Community groups are asking the State and the Montana Exploradora de Guatemala Company why mining is threatening the means of living of the people of Sipacapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacán. Mining activity is contaminating the Tzalá and Cuilco Rivers. As well, mining could cause a cross-border conflict with Mexico, given that the Cuilco River is shared by the two countries.
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WHAT TO DO
TO MAKE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS for Indigenous and community-based organizations that are implementing their own community development projects (schools and scholarships, health clinics, solidarity economy productive projects, etc), human rights and environment projects in Guatemala and Honduras (as well as El Salvador and Chiapas), and resisting the harms caused by large-scaled “development” projects (like mining), make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
* UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887;
* CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8.
CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://www.rightsaction.org/Templates/donations_index.html
EDUCATIONAL DELEGATION-SEMINARS: Consider forming your own group and coming on an educational seminar trip to learn more about community and Indigenous development, human rights and environmental issues in Guatemala and Honduras.
2nd HEMISPHERIC GATHERING AGAINST MILITARIZATION – HONDURAS, OCTOBER 3-5
!Para callar las armas, hablemos los pueblos! (To quiet weapons, the people must speak!) For more information or to attend this gathering in La Esperanza, Intibucá, Honduras: (504) 783-0817; copinhonduras@yahoo.es; antimilitarizacion@gmail.com; www.antimilitarizacion.blogspot.com.
3rd SOCIAL FORUM OF THE AMERICAS – GUATEMALA, OCTOBER 7-12
Thousands of people from across the Americas are expected at this gathering to debate and discuss (and enjoy awesome music, art and theater) how Another World Is Possible … And Necessary. For information or to go: http://www.fsaguatemala.org/.
5th “SOLIDARITY ECONOMY” FORUM / FAIR – GUATEMALA, NOVEMBER 27-30
Come learn about “Solidarity Economy”, a challenge and alternative to the dominant “free trade” development model, and participate in the 5th Annual “Solidarity Economy Forum/Fair” to be held in Chimaltenango. For information or to go: escriba en espanol a: redraisgt@gmail.com.
JOIN: Rights Action’s listserv and newsletter lists (info@rightsaction.org).
CREATE YOUR OWN E-MAIL LIST: and re-distribute this and other information.
DAILY NEWS: listen to the www.democracynow.org news program and read www.dominionpaper.ca/.
READ: Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America”; Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”; Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine”; Paolo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”.
SMILE: And live to make another world is possible, everyday.
RIGHTS ACTION -- Based in Guatemala, Rights Action (with tax-deductible legal status in Canada and USA) funds and works with community-based Indigenous, development, environment and human rights organizations in Guatemala and Honduras, and also in El Salvador, Oaxaca and Chiapas; and educates about and is involved in activism related to global development, environmental and Indigenous and human rights struggles.