PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya at meeting in San Jose Nacahuil on the El Tambor mine

On October 23, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“PBI accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya and the Human Rights Law Firm to a meeting on the ratification of the incumbent and substitute representatives of the San Jose Nacahuil community, for the pre-consultation and consultation about the presence of the mine in the region.”

San Jose Nacahuil is about 30 kilometres north of Guatemala City.

PBI-Guatemala has recently accompanied both groups in related processes in nearby El Tizate, San Pedro Ayampuc and El Carrizal.

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.

Photo: May 23, 2014: Over 300 anti-riot police approached the Tambor gold mine entrance in San Jose del Golfo, propelling tear gas canisters towards environmental defenders that make up La Puya – a peaceful human blockade at the mine entrance.