Land, Rights & Environmental Defense Struggles
Since 2005, Rights Action has been supporting community defense struggles related to mining companies mainly from Canada, and also from the U.S. and Switzerland. These struggles differ little from community defense struggles related to hydro-electric dam projects, the production of ‘for export’ foods, the imposition of tourism compunds, etc.
Maya Q’eqchi’ Territorial Defense Committee
Rights Action has been supporting this community defense struggle in El Estor, eastern Guatemala, since 2004. Given the nature of the unjust global economic order, no fundamental changes have, as yet, come about for the Q’eqchi’ people harmed by this open-pit
Mayan Q’eqchi’ land, rights, environmental defenders in eastern Guatemala. This group of women are also plaintiffs in landmark “Hudbay Minerals” corporate accountability lawsuits in Canada
nickel mine (owned by INCO from 1964-2004, then by Skye Resources/Hudbay Minerals from 2004-2011, now by Switzerland-based Solway Investment Group).
Rights Action devotes a large percentage of time and resources to the struggle of the Q’eqchi’ people for justice, given the added importance of the landmark Hudbay Minerals lawsuits in Canadian courts, and a courageous parallel criminal trial against Mynor Padilla (Hudbay’s former head of security) in Guatemala.
‘El Gremial’ Maya Q’eqchi’ Fisherpeople’s Union
Mining repression, evictions and human rights violations against Q’eqchi’ communities continued after Switzerland-based Solway Investment Group purchased this mining interest from Hudbay Minerals in 2011.
Burial of Carlos Maaz, local Q’eqchi’ man shot and killed in 2017.
Mining harms and violence picked up particularly after 2014, when Solway actually started the open-pit mining operation that has led to increasing environmental destruction on top of the repression and related harms. Since 2017, Rights Action supports the ‘El Gremial’. Local communities are again experiencing illegal forced evictions, health and environmental harms, killings and attacks, jailings on trumped up ‘criminalization’ charges. El Gremial is at the forefront of resisting the current harms and violations.
Azacualpa Environmental Defense Committee
While this land/ environmental/ human rights defense struggle in western Honduras goes back some 10 years, Rights Action has been actively involved since 2014, when their struggle became increasingly tense as the U.S.-mining company Aura
Azacualpa community member Karen Yajaira Rodriguez blocks heavy machinery of Aura Minerals.
Minerals (formerly a Canadian company) started to illegally exhume bodies from the 200 year-old Azacualpa Cemetery, to get at the gold underneath, … and from there to proceed to mine further up the mountain ridge through the actual community of Azacualpa. Rights Action has been a key supporter of the affected community members since 2014.
CODIDENA
(Comisión Diocesana Defensa de la Naturaleza)
Along with the Indigenous Xinka parliament, CODIDENA is at the forefront of resistance to the illegal mining operation of Tahoe Resources in south-central Guatemala, recently bought by Pan American Silver. Rights Action has been supporting this struggle since 2012.
Territory in resistance against mining
Since 2017, Tahoe/PAS’s mine has been suspended as various lawsuits against Minera San Rafael, Tahoe/PAS’s Guatemalan subsidiary, proceed to the Constitutional Court. CODIDENA maintains road-side observation stations – peaceful community encampments - to ensure that Tahoe/PAS mining trucks are not entering / leaving the mine site. CODIDENA also supports community participation in the legal proceedings in Guatemala.
‘La Puya’ Community Defense Committee
After a courageous – and deadly – resistance struggle for over 8 years, community members with the La Puya resistance encampment successfully blocked the U.S.-company KCA (KAppes, Cassiday Associates) from operating its illegal mine. Rights Action has been funding and involved in this struggle since community members established their encampment on March 2, 2012.
Community members resisting illegal, violent eviction (in 2014) by Guatemalan military, on behalf of Kappes, Cassiday Associates (KCA).
They resisted by maintaining the ‘La Puya’ encampment for 8 years –and counting-, 365 days a year. And by working with courageous lawyers to challenge all aspects of KCA’s attempted mining operation. Now, KCA –abusing “free trade” agreements– is suing the Guatemalan government for $300 million in ‘lost future earnings’. This part of the battle is barely beginning.
For more information on projects and work related to mining resistances, please contact us.
