PBI-Guatemala observes march of ex-political prisoners demanding an end to the imprisonment of defenders of Mother Earth
On January 14, PBI-Guatemala posted:
“Today PBI observed the march of ex-prisoners who denounced the criminalization and dispossession of indigenous peoples from their territories.”
Festivales Solidarios also tweeted:
“Chained hand and foot, former prisoners marched from Parque Morazán to Parque Central denouncing the human rights violations and political persecution in solidarity with the political prisoners currently detained.”
And Maya Q’eqchi’ environmental defender Bernardo Caal Xol tweeted:
“Today, January 14, we held a walk, for ex-political prisoners, in solidarity and demand for justice; and against the unjust imprisonment of the defenders of Mother Earth and in defense of Human Rights by the Guatemalan State.”
The photo that Bernardo is holding is of Virginia Laparra.
Deutsche Welle reports: “Former Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra was sentenced on Friday [December 16, 2022] to four years in prison.”
Reuters also provides this context: “FECI [Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity] collaborated with the CICIG [International Commission Against Impunity], a U.N. body that was expelled from Guatemala in 2018, after successfully imprisoning former presidents, officials and businessmen involved in corruption cases.”
Laparra has stated that the charges against her are part of a “vengeance” campaign by right-wing forces intent on protecting corruption rackets and military officers blamed for crimes during the 1960-1996 civil war.
Erika Guevara-Rosas, the Americas director at Amnesty International, says: “Virginia Laparra is a prisoner of conscience who has been unjustly deprived of her liberty. The criminal prosecution initiated against her is unfounded and solely due to her work as a prominent anti-corruption prosecutor.”
Oxec dams
On March 24, 2022, Caal Xol, a leader of the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón, regained his freedom after being imprisoned for four years for his opposition to the OXEC I and OXEC II hydroelectric projects built on the Oxec River, a tributary of the Cahabón River, without the free, prior and informed consent of Q’eqchi’ communities.
NS Energy has reported: “What began as a discussion with stakeholders in 2014 would later become [Mississauga, Ontario-based] Hatch’s formal engagement by Energy Resources Capital (ERC), the developer, and Solel Boneh Guatemala (SBG), the general contractor.”
“Hatch would be engaged to deliver the conceptual design and detailed design-build-engineering for the Oxec II Hydroelectric Project, recipient of a 2019 Award of Excellence from the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-Canada (ACEC).”
Design-Build combines all aspects of design services, construction services, and project management into one team that works together to complete a project.
Commenting on OXEC II, Ian Ainslie, a Hatch project manager based in Niagara Falls, Ontario, noted: “Hatch has been active in developing hydroelectric sites in Guatemala for over 20 years.” And Hatch’s managing director of power, Jim Sarvinis, says: “Projects like Oxec II are exactly why we do the type of work we do at Hatch.”
PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón since July 2017.
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