PBI-Guatemala accompanies Peaceful Resistance of La Puya at day of socialization in El Carrizal about consultation process

On September 18, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“PBI accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya and the Human Rights Law Firm at the day of socialization in the El Carrizal community about the consultation process that the resistance has been demanding for years and will finally be carried out.”

In June 2022, Factor Cuatro reported:

“in June 2020, the Constitutional Court notified the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the ruling ordering this body to execute it, which gives rise to the process of consultation with indigenous peoples, based on ILO Convention 169.

The consultation process is because the Ministry of Energy and Mines did not consult the communities before granting the exploitation license.

The process of consultation with the peoples must be within the framework of their forms, customs and cultures of the communities, therefore, the violation of their rights and their ways of life undermines peace in their families and their form of organization.

Respect for the communities is the fundamental basis for the process to take place, within the framework of what is dictated by the sentence granted by the Constitutional Court. The general population must be vigilant to the process and that the bad practices that took place in the process in the territory of the Q’eqchi’ comrades are not repeated. Peoples deserve to live in peace, their forms, their customs, their cultures, are their heart.”

Key dates

On March 2, 2012, residents from San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc – an area known as La Puya, just north of Guatemala City – set up a 24-hour a day blockade at the entrance of the Vancouver-based Radius Gold Inc. El Tambor mine also known as the Progreso VII Derivada mine.

By August 2012, the Canadian company sold El Tambor to US-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates, but retained an economic interest in the mine (including quarterly royalty payments on the gold production from the mine).

In December 2018, Kappes, Cassiday & Associates filed a $300 million claim with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank arbitration mechanism, claiming its investor rights under the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) had been violated.

On May 21, 2021, the court suspension on the mine imposed in 2016 was lifted, but authorization for the mine to begin operation has not been granted.

We continue to follow the consultation process.

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has accompanied the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya since November 2012.