The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on social media:
“On Saturday [March 21], #PBI accompanied the Ch’orti’ Maya Indigenous Council of Olopa Chiquimula at the Meeting of Guardians of the Common Home, held in Mixco. These sessions, organised by the Procladegua Foundation, aim to bring together communities from different regions affected by or at risk of extractivism in their territories. It has been a space for learning and coordination where defenders strengthen their knowledge and tools for community security and the defence of their territory.”
As noted on their website, the Procladegua Foundation “is inspired by objectives of social outreach and cooperation, solidarity and humanitarian assistance.”
Territorial defence against mining
PBI-Guatemala has previously explained: “The Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa are fighting for recognition as indigenous communities, the recovery of their spirituality, the defense of their territory and the right to free, prior and informed consultation before the entry of mining projects into their territory. They also seek to minimize the negative impacts of mining activities on the health of the people in their communities, denounce illegal logging and fight against gender violence in their communities.”
They also note: “The communities of Olopa are confronting the company American Minerals S.A., which was granted a 25-year antimony extraction license in 2012, without prior consultation with the communities.”
Canada
The independent Canadian magazine The Walrus has reported that according to Professor Catherine Nolin (University of Northern British Columbia) and geographer Jacqui Stephens Canada’s advocacy through its embassy in Guatemala to create a pro-mining, pro-business environment included forming ties with Otto Pérez Molina, Guatemala’s president from January 2012 to September 2015.
According to the National Security Archive, Pérez Molina was allegedly involved in ‘scorched earth campaigns,’ which annihilated entire Indigenous villages during the country’s civil war.”
In December 2023, the Costa Rica-based La Ruta del Clima (the Climate Route Association) noted: “Los Manantiales corresponds to the transnational company Texas American Minerals, and to the Guatemalan company American Minerals, S.A. …According to one of the people interviewed, the strategy of multinationals is to work through subsidiaries, so that the companies appear to be local, but are linked to foreign capital, in this case Canadian.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International began accompanying the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa in June 2021, following their request, which is based on the serious increase in security incidents, defamation and criminalization.
