Nuevo Dia Hearing

Today, Prensa Comunitaria reported (in Spanish) that, “Erasmo Ramos, a young Maya Ch’orti ‘ member of Nuevo Dia, attended a conciliatory hearing on Tuesday, May 28 for accusations against him by security personnel of a mining company.”

Nuevo Dia (also known by the acronym CCCND) was accompanied at the hearing by the PBI – Guatemala Project.

The CCCND is opposed to the Industria de Canteras y Minas (Incamin) SA-owned Cantera Los Manantiales antimony mine on their territory. Maya Ch’orti’ land and water defenders are maintaining a “permanent assembly” at the entrances to the mine.

At the hearing, Ramos stated, “This accusation made against me is because they want to criminalize me for defending my right to see my community without mining, we have been resisting for more than 3 months, we have been attacked, we have been shot, threatened and defamed by the mining company, and today they are accusing me.”

The Prensa Comunitaria article concludes, “In the end, the hearing was suspended because no agreement was reached between the parties. Erasmo Ramos asked the judge to take witnesses to the false accusations against him. The hearing was scheduled for June 4 of this year.”

For further context on this, please see Brent Patterson‘s rabble.ca blog ‘Land and water defenders resist mining in eastern Guatemala’ at http://www.rabble.ca/…/land-and-water-defenders-resist-mini…

The PBI – Guatemala Project has accompanied Nuevo Dia since 2009.

The full Prensa Comunitaria article can be read at https://www.prensacomunitaria.org/defensor-chorti-de-derec…/