The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:
“On 13 August, #PBI accompanied the San Francisco Quezaltepeque Indigenous Community on a tour of the communal land in the village of La Peña. In previous years, attempts have been made to classify this land as municipal land, disregarding the ancestral land titles that legitimize the community’s right to their land. To this day, the residents of the area continue to be attacked and intimidated for defending their communal lands, with parts of their crops being destroyed and verbal threats that they could be evicted at any moment.”
Canadian mining company
PBI-Guatemala has previously noted: “The indigenous community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque is resisting a mining company working in the municipality: Minerales Sierra Pacifico S.A. This company has five exploration licenses for gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. The Ch’orti’ people are concerned about the negative impacts of these mining activities.”
As noted on page 10 of this report, Minerales Sierra Pacifico S.A. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vancouver-based Radius Gold.
And as noted on this Gold Group Management Inc. webpage, Radius Gold is part of this group and “has an Option Agreement for a 60/40 earn-in with Volcanic Gold Mines Inc. and includes the Motagua Norte project and the Holly project.” Volcanic Gold is also a part of this group and whose assets in Guatemala include the “Holly Project and the Motagua Norte project through an Option Agreement with Radius Gold.”
Accompaniment
In October 2023 PBI began accompanying the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque, in response to the numerous threats received by those who lead the defence of the rights of the Maya Ch’orti’ people.
