PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya and the BDH law firm at workshop in El Tizate

On October 18, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“PBI accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya and the Human Rights Law Firm to a workshop where the community of El Tizate was informed about the process of choosing representatives for the p…”

In June, Prensa Latina reported: “The Minister of Energy and Mines, Alberto Pimentel … stated that the Government will soon issue regulations for carrying out community consultations stipulated in Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on indigenous and tribal peoples.”

“In addition, the pre-consultation stage is being prepared for the Progreso VII Derivada Mining project, also known as El Tambor or La Puya.”

The article also noted: “[Pimentel] also announced that the National Mining Policy is being prepared, which is not only based on a reform of the Mining Law, but also on a broader discussion process with the rest of the country’s sectors that will be convened to carry out the exercise of defining the future of mining in the country. Other entities such as the Ministry of the Environment and others should also be integrated. According to the official, the Policy would be finished in 2023, since he wants to finish it before the change of government.”

Canadian mining in Guatemala

According to Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Mining Assets (CMA) in Guatemala were valued at $382 million in 2020 (up from $377 million the previous year). That chart further notes that six Canadian companies are operating in Guatemala.

Notably, 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. 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).

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya since November 2012 and the Human Rights Law Firm since 2013.