PBI-Guatemala accompanies Nuevo Dia in its opposition to an antimony mine that lacks free, prior and informed consent

On August 7, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page (in Spanish), “Today we accompany Nuevo Dia at the press conference and the delivery of the amparo in the CSJ.”

Nuevo Dia is an Indigenous Maya Ch’orti’ campesino/peasant farmer organization. The CSJ refers to the Supreme Court of Justice. And an amparo is a legal remedy for the protection of constitutional rights.

The PBI-Guatemala post adds, “The Ch’orti ‘people of the municipality of Olopa demand their right to free, prior and informed consultation about the mining activities of the ‘Cantera Los Manantiales’ company.”

The Nuevo Dia Facebook page adds (in Spanish) that the amparo is “against the Ministry of Energy and Mines for having granted mining license to the Cantera los Manantiales company, without consulting the Ch’orti ‘indigenous communities of Olopa, Chiquimula.”

Their post says that the mine “illegally extracts antimony, contaminating water, cutting down forests, causing strange diseases that especially affect children and removing tranquility, the peace and joy of the communities.”

And it notes, “Leaders and authorities have suffered criminalization, persecution, slander and defamation for opposing the company ‘Cantera Los Manantiales’.”

RIO Medios Independientes adds, “The direct concern is about the pollution of the Jupilingo River, as well as the appearance of skin diseases of children and elderly people.” The Belizean newspaper Amandala has reported that locals opposed to the mine say that it is also polluting the Zacapa River.

PBI-Guatemala Project has accompanied Nuevo Dia since 2009.

For additional background, please see the PBI-Canada article Indigenous Maya land and water defenders Nuevo Dia resist mining in eastern Guatemala (April 2019).

#OlopaLibredeMineria #AmparoNuevo #ResistenciaChorti