The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:
“On Monday [March 23], #PBI accompanied José Miguel, a member of @_redsag [the Network for the Defense of Food Sovereignty], to the Multi-judge Court of First Instance for Criminal Matters, Drug-related Offences and Environmental Crimes in Retalhuleu, to attend the hearing against Ingenio El Pilar, which stands accused of pollution and diverting the river in Pajales Sis. The hearing began with the lawyer for Ingenio El Pilar, but the complainant, José Miguel, and his lawyer were barred from the courtroom.
WaterIsLife”
PBI-Guatemala has previously noted:
PBI has accompanied members of the REDSAG Political Council since September 2025, especially José Miguel Sánchez López from the Pajales Sis community in San Andrés Villa Seca, Retalhuleu, and sisters Carmelina and Estela Chocooj from the Soledad Sayaxut community in Cobán, Alta Verapaz.
The Pajales Sis community is located between the El Pilar and Tululá sugar refineries. José Miguel Sánchez López, a member of the Pajales Sis Community Development Council (COCODE), has been speaking out for years about the consequences of both sugar refineries’ poor practices, which have affected community members’ lives. As a result, he has been targeted for criminalization by the sugar refineries.
Legal proceedings
The community currently has two legal proceedings underway: a civil case against the El Pilar sugar refinery for the deterioration of the gabions, which now pose a serious flood risk; and a criminal case for the river’s contamination with agrochemicals from El Pilar. As a result of the latter case, community members, particularly José Miguel Sánchez, have been subjected to threats and defamation.
PBI-Canada visit
On May 2-4, 2023, PBI-Canada visited the South Coast of Guatemala to learn more about the impacts of sugar production on communities and their access to water.
At that time, PBI-Canada saw diminished and polluted rivers attributed to sugar production and visited numerous communities that shared stories about how the water required for sugar mills had dried wells and gardens.
Photo: The entrance to the El Pilar sugar mill. Photo by PBI-Canada.
Photo: PBI-Canada hears testimony in the community of Pajales Sis about the impacts of the El Pilar sugar mill, May 2, 2023.
We continue to follow this.
