Home Blog Page 135

As the CANSEC arms show approaches, where does the CADSI lobby group stand on calls to stop arming the assault on Gaza?

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Devastation in Gaza. Photo by AFP.

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) is “the national industry voice” representing its members that include some of the biggest arms companies in the world, notably Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics, BAE Systems, L3Harris Technologies, Leonardo, Airbus and Thales among many others.

Its membership also includes Elbit Systems, the Israel-based company that provides up to 85% of the land-based equipment procured by the Israeli military.

CADSI “advocates on industry’s behalf” and organizes the annual CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, a two-day gathering that brings together “more than 12,000+ registrants from all over the world” to market, buy and sell weapons.

This year’s CANSEC arms show will take place on May 29-30.

Registration for it opens in March.

If you were to cross-references the list produced by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center on Corporate Accountability of the companies profiting from the attack on Gaza with CANSEC exhibitors, you would find significant overlap.

AFSC says these weapons companies have sold to the Israeli military M109 howitzer mobile artillery systems (BAE), Apache AH-64 attack helicopters (Boeing), M16 assault rifles (Colt’s), MK-80 bombs (General Dynamics), AGM-114 Hellfire missiles (Lockheed Martin), and 120mm tank ammunition shells (Rheinmetall).

CADSI member Elbit Systems also exhibits at CANSEC.

The Elbit-made weapons now in use in Gaza include MPR 500 multi-purpose bombs (that contain 26,000 controlled fragments for “high kill probability”), 155mm artillery shells, Hermes 450 and 900 multi-payload unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Skylark tactical surveillance drones, and the Head-Mounted Display helmet technology used by the pilots of fighter jets and helicopters as well as the crews of battle tanks.

CADSI does not appear to have commented on its X/Twitter feed on the calls from multiple humanitarian and human rights organizations – including most recently Oxfam Canada – for Canadian companies “to immediately halt the direct or indirect transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel”.

Project Ploughshares has further highlighted: “The gravity of this situation calls for immediate action to ensure Canada is meeting its domestic and international obligations to mitigate the risk of contributing to violations of international law, for example, violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), including possible war crimes, in Gaza. Given the substantial risk that Canadian military goods could contribute to such abuses in Gaza, Canada must immediately halt all transfers of weapons to Israel.”

Nor has CADSI seemingly commented on the International Court of Justice finding that it is “plausible” that Israel has committed acts in Gaza that violate the Genocide Convention. Three Toronto-based law professors have noted: “Because the ICJ found a serious risk of genocide in Gaza, continuing to export arms to Israel would be illegal [under the Export and Import Permits Act where Canada’s ascension to the Arms Trade Treaty is reflected]. It would also be flagrantly inconsistent with Canada’s obligation to prevent genocide, and could expose Canada and Canadian officials to liability for participation in genocide.”

We remain attentive to public announcements by CADSI on social media, its lobbying of government institutions, including the Canadian Commercial Corporation (that is also a CADSI member and a CANSEC exhibitor), Canada’s response to the ICJ ruling and the planned mobilizations against the CANSEC arms show.

PBI-Colombia seeks new field volunteers, deadline to apply is March 2

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has posted this call for field volunteers to accompany organizations, defenders and communities for a period of 18 months.

Key dates include:

March 2 – deadline to apply

March 4-30 – 90-minute personal interviews with applicants

May 8-12 – five-day virtual training/selection meeting

June-July – first grouping of new volunteers integrated into field teams in Colombia.

The period of service on the team is 18 months. Volunteers need to be fluent in Spanish and a minimum age of 25 is recommended to volunteer.

PBI-Colombia has noted: “Given the nature of PBI’s work, there are certain personal risks that are well-defined. Team members frequently accompany people who are under threat of all kinds of physical harm. Before applying, each aspiring volunteer should consider whether he or she is prepared to take these risks.”

The list of the organizations defenders and communities you could be accompanying with PBI-Colombia is here.

PBI-Colombia adds:

“Each field volunteer will be assigned to one of the project’s Field Teams (currently based in Apartadó, Barrancabermeja and Bogotá), and will have, among other conditions:

-Monthly stipend for individual expenses of 1,203,000 COP/month [about USD $300/month]

-Volunteers undertake to have as their only residence in Colombia during their volunteer period, the houses that are the headquarters of the Project, where all the expenses of accommodation, maintenance, telephone, internet, services, etc. are covered. The project also provides cell phone lines for each person for the needs of volunteers.

-Monthly Vacations/Days Off/Mental Health Rest Time according to project parameters.

-Financial support from the project for holiday travel to the country of origin.

-Full Health Insurance Coverage.

-Visa, vaccination and travel expenses covered due to the needs of the Project.

-Round trip from the country of origin.”

To read more about the application process, click here.

The application form is here.

If you are applying from Canada and have questions, you can also contact PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson at brent@pbicanada.org.

PBI-Honduras welcomes acquittal of Henry Bonilla, opposes criminalization of the national strike

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Honduras has posted: “We attended the trial of Henry Bonilla, accused of the burning of the US embassy, at a demonstration in 2019. He was acquitted and exonerated of all responsibility. We celebrate the work of the @defencofadeh for #HumanRights and against the criminalization of the national strike.”

Defensoresenlinea.com further explains:

“Sentencing Court acquits the young university student Henry Arturo Bonilla Acevedo, unjustly accused by the Public Ministry of arson for events that occurred at the American Embassy in May 2019.

This Monday, February 5, in the Second Chamber of the Sentencing Court of the Supreme Court of Justice, the oral and public trial ended in the case that follows the young man, for the crime of arson, to the detriment of the embassy of the United States of America, where due to lack of evidence and reasonable doubts, the court acquitted the young man of the crimes for which the Public Prosecutor’s Office wanted him to be tried, which they could not prove in the process.

The trial began on January 22, continued on January 26 and concluded on February 5 with the presentation of the conclusions by the defense and by the prosecution, the Public Prosecutor’s Office. In their ruling, the judges declared a sentence of acquittal for the young man.

In 2019, Bonilla Acevedo was one of the many Hondurans who joined the mobilizations of the Platform in Defense of Health and Education, which between April and May of that year carried out more than 70 public actions, to demand that the government of Juan Orlando Hernández not privatize these two rights.

Henry Bonilla Acevedo was arrested in August 2021 and charged by the Attorney General’s Office with the crimes of arson to the detriment of the Embassy of the United States of America.

He was deprived of his liberty for four months and 10 days in the “Marco Aurelio Soto” National Penitentiary, regaining his liberty in December, under the care of Cofadeh, who is providing legal representation.

The previous year he underwent the amnesty process that was approved in February 2022 by the government of Xiomara Castro, but it was denied, ordering the Supreme Court of Justice that the process continue with the oral and public trial, which ended this day, leaving the young man free.”

The full article is at Tribunal de Sentencias absuelve a Henry Arturo Bonilla Acevedo (Riccy Ponce, 5 febrero, 2024).

Our previous article on this is at PBI-Honduras observes trial of student activist accused of arson at US Embassy during national strike protests (January 28, 2024)

PBI-Colombia accompanies investigative journalist Claudia Julieta Duque at meeting with Swedish Embassy

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Colombia has posted: “In meeting with human rights defender journalist @JulieDuque1 and Rickard Lunnerdal @SwedeninCOL. We share concerns about security incidents due to surveillance and monitoring. PBI continues to accompany some court cases that are close to statute of limitations. #FightAgainstImpunity”

Duque then tweeted: “Many thanks to @PBIColombia for facilitating these spaces for advocacy and protection, and to all the diplomatic delegations and @ONUHumanRights for their permanent support in my case.”

The Swedish Embassy also tweeted: “Thanks @JulieDuque1 and @PBIColombia for the conversation! Guaranteeing justice and free work for journalists, without persecution and harassment, are the foundations of democracy. Supporting these shared values ​​will always be a priority. #TheStoryWeWriteTogether”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied Claudia Julieta Duque as a journalist and human rights defender since 2010, and from 2004 when she was an associate member of the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR).

They have also explained:

“Among the topics of her investigative and journalistic work are forced disappearance, recruitment of minors by armed groups, the impact of impunity and the right to justice, and the infiltration of paramilitary groups within Government entities. She has investigated the 1999 murder of the renowned Colombian journalist and humourist Jaime Garzón, and the involvement in this crime of the then national intelligence entity, the Administrative Department of Security (DAS).”

Photo: 38-year-old Jaime Garzón was shot five times on August 13, 1999 as he drove his car to the Radionet station in Bogotá.

Duque was illegally followed, kidnapped and attacked, and she and her young daughter received death threats, in a campaign orchestrated by the DAS that began in 2001 after Duque published the results of her investigation of the role DAS played in the murder of Garzón.

Two weeks ago, in an article about allegations against former DAS agent Alba Luz Flórez Gélvez, Infobae reported:

“In November 2023, the Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Bogotá sentenced Ronald Harbey Rivera Rodríguez, a former member of the now-dissolved Administrative Department of Security (DAS), to 150 months [12.5 years] in prison. Rivera Rodríguez was found guilty of being a co-perpetrator of acts of psychological torture against journalist Claudia Julieta Duque Orrego between 2001 and 2004, when Duque was investigating the murder of comedian and journalist Jaime Garzón.”

Following this, the Committee to Protect Journalists highlighted: “Duque had been harassed and received anonymous death threats in the early 2000s following her reporting on the murder of Garzón, whom she alleged may have been killed by the DAS. In 2014, a Bogotá criminal court sentenced a former high-ranking intelligence official to 11 years in prison for carrying out a campaign of aggression and death threats against Duque.”

The Canadian-financed Hidroituango Dam

Duque has also reported on human rights violations related to EPM (Empresas Públicas de Medellín) and the Hidroituango hydroelectric dam. PBI-Colombia adds: “Several established media channels cited the facts revealed by Duque’s investigations in their reporting on the Hidroituango case, which caused public outrage in 2019.”

EPM has twice benefitted from the support of the Government of Canada financing agency Export Development Canada (EDC). In 2016 and 2017, EDC provided EPM with financing totalling between 500 million and one billion dollars.

The province of Quebec pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has also provided financing for the dam.

To read more about Duque from PBI-Colombia, click here.

PBI seeks Spanish-speaking volunteers for Honduras Project

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International is seeking Spanish-speaking field volunteers to accompany human rights defenders in Honduras.

The deadline to apply is Tuesday February 13.

For more about the application process (in Spanish), click here.

Any help in distributing this call-out to people who may be interested would be very much appreciated.

Retweet this volunteer call-out (and follow us) here.

Brent

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Human Rights Law Firm at hearing for Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist and fishers in Fenix Mine case

By
Brent Patterson
-

On February 1, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“Yesterday, #PBI accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm in the hearing in a criminalizing accusation against the 3 fishermen Tomas Che, Cristóbal Pop and Vicente Rax and the community journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc.

After 7 years of hearings and suspended hearings, the case is finally closed due to the resignation of the accusing party, leaving the fishermen and the journalist free of all charges.”

PBI began to accompany lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila in August 2010 then extended that in late 2013 to the other lawyers of the Human Rights Law Firm who work in high-profile trials to fight against impunity and in defending criminalized human rights defenders.

Our article posted about this on February 1:

Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist Carlos Choc and fishers released by court following criminalization related to Fenix mine in Guatemala

Published by Brent Patterson on 

On January 31, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted: “Carlos Ernesto Choc was released from the accusations against him in a case of criminalization of #FreedomOfExpression”

Carlos posted the good news on social media: “#MayanCommunityJournalism This day under the energies of Nawal 6 Tijax, a new stage in my life begins. After 7 years of criminalization, today the criminal prosecution against me was definitively closed. Thank you all very much – b’anyox eere, for the support.”

He also tweeted: “#IAmAJournalistNotACriminal Today I demonstrated my innocence in the face of two criminal proceedings against me, for documenting, investigating and reporting environmental damage and human rights violations, in the Q’eqchi’ Mayan territory. Long live the original peoples!”

And Prensa Comunitaria reported: “Three fishermen and community journalist are free after seven years of criminalization. #ElEstor The fishermen Tomás Ce, Cristóbal Pop and Vicente Rax, and the community journalist, Carlos Choc, were released.”

This started with a Canadian mine

Choc has reported on the Fenix nickel mine now owned by the Russian-owned Swiss-based Solway Investment Group.

In 1960, Toronto-based INCO Ltd. began negotiations with the military dictatorship of Guatemala to establish the Fenix mine. By 1965, EXMIBAL, a joint venture between INCO and the Guatemalan state, was granted a 40-year mining licence.

Professor Shin Imai has written: “Colonel Carolos Arana Osorio was responsible for clearing the Indigenous people out of the INCO region in Zacapa-Lake Izabal. He launched what has been referred to as a ‘reign of terror’ in the region, in which the number of people killed is estimated to be between three and six thousand.”

Professor Imai adds: “Major construction began on the El Estor mine in 1974 aided by a $20 million loan from the Canadian Export Development Corporation.”

Vancouver-based Skye Resources bought the mine from INCO in 2004. Skye Resources then merged with Toronto-based Hudbay in 2008.

The mine was purchased by Solway Investment Group in 2011.

In April 2023, Newsweek reported that Montreal-based Central America Nickel (CAN) could purchase the mine with the support of the U.S. Embassy.

Charged in 2017

Choc took a photo of Maya Q’eqchi’ fisher Carlos Maaz just after he was shot dead by police on May 27, 2017, at a protest against the pollution of Lake Izabal by the mine.

Forbidden Stories has reported: “On the pretext that he had participated in the protest, Choc, along with a journalist colleague and five fishermen, was accused of six crimes and misdemeanors by Solway Group. An arrest warrant was submitted against him in August 2017, forcing him into hiding for several months.”

We met with Carlos in Guatemala in May 2023 and then did a webinar with him on August 18, 2023. This was just prior to the August 21 hearing he was to have in relation to the substitute measure he was given in January 2019 on the August 2017 charges stemming from his May 2017 reporting on the police killing of Carlos Maaz.

That hearing was postponed until January 31.

We welcome the good news about Carlos, Tomás, Cristóbal and Vicente, and affirm our support for community journalism and the defence of land and territory.

Canada’s obligations under the Genocide Convention at issue as the CANSEC arms show comes to Ottawa, May 29-30

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: A #CeasefireNow march passes the US Embassy in Ottawa; January 28, 2024.

The CANSEC weapons show, that bills itself as “Canada’s leading defence, security & emerging technology event”, will take place on May 29-30 in Ottawa.

The organizing body, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), highlights that it “welcomes more than 12,000+ registrants from all over the world”, that “74% of attendees have purchasing power”, that there will be “50+ international delegations”, and that “600+ VIPS, generals, top military & government officials” will be present.

Among the exhibitors this year will be the Canadian Commercial Corporation (that helps “forge commercial contracts between Canadian businesses and foreign governments”) and the Global Affairs Canada Trade Commissioner Service (that “helps Canadian companies and organizations of all sizes grow and operate internationally”). The Trade Commissioner Service continues to note on its website that “Defence and Security” is one of the sectors that offers “the greatest opportunities for Canadian companies” in Israel.

The list of exhibitors also notes “Israel Representatives”.

Elbit Systems at CANSEC

The exhibitors this year at CANSEC will also include Elbit Systems, the largest Israeli weapons company with $4.75 billion in sales in 2021.

Elbit supplies hundreds of products to Israel’s Defence Ministry, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), artillery, munitions and electronic warfare systems.

In the third-quarter of 2023, Elbit said it earned $1.65 per diluted share excluding one-time items, up from $1.40 per share a year earlier.

In that third-quarter report on November 28, 2023, Elbit noted: “Since the beginning of the Swords of Iron War, Elbit Systems has experienced a considerable increased demand for its solutions from the IMOD compared to the routine levels of demand.”

Elbit’s fourth-quarter report is expected later next month.

The AFSC Action Center on Corporate Accountability has specified that the Elbit-made weapons now being used against Palestinians in Gaza include MPR 500 multi-purpose bombs (that contain 26,000 controlled fragments for “high kill probability”), 155mm artillery shells, Hermes 450 and 900 multi-payload unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Skylark tactical surveillance drones, and Head-Mounted Display helmet technology used by the pilots of fighter jets and helicopters as well as the crews of battle tanks.

Photo: It is believed that a bullet manufactured by the Elbit Systems’ subsidiary IMI killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022.

Twelve more companies

In the AFSC’s list of companies profiting from Israel’s 2023-2024 attacks on Gaza, those that will also be present at CANSEC include the American transnationals The Boeing Company, Colt, General Dynamics, L3 Harris Technologies, Leonardo DRS, Lockheed Martin, Palantir Technologies and Raytheon (now RTX); British transnationals BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce; and the German transnationals Rheinmetall and ThyssenKrupp.

These weapons companies have sold to the Israeli military M109 howitzer mobile artillery systems (BAE), Apache AH-64 attack helicopters (Boeing), M16 assault rifles (Colt’s), MK-80 bombs (General Dynamics), AGM-114 Hellfire missiles (Lockheed Martin), and 120mm tank ammunition shells (Rheinmetall).

International Court of Justice ruling

Last month, the International Court of Justice found that it is “plausible” that Israel has committed acts that violate the Genocide Convention.

The Court’s ruling can be read in full here.

Three Toronto-based law professors have commented: “Properly understood, the order should dramatically alter both the foreign and domestic policy decisions of Israel’s allies, including Canada and the United States.”

“The obligation to prevent genocide, combined with the court’s finding of a serious risk of genocide, means that all parties to the Genocide Convention [ratified by Canada in 1952] must refrain from taking steps that would actively frustrate the effective implementation of the court’s order.”

They add: “Because the ICJ found a serious risk of genocide in Gaza, continuing to export arms to Israel would be illegal [under the Export and Import Permits Act where Canada’s ascension to the Arms Trade Treaty is reflected]. It would also be flagrantly inconsistent with Canada’s obligation to prevent genocide, and could expose Canada and Canadian officials to liability for participation in genocide.”

What’s next?

It remains to be seen what will be the intersection between the CANSEC arms show and the ICJ ruling, the calls from Project Ploughshares, Oxfam Canada and others to stop arms sales to Israel, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe who has already welcomed CANSEC 2024 to Ottawa “on behalf of Members of Ottawa City Council”, and Ottawa By-law and Regulatory Services, backed by Ottawa Police Services, that have ticketed at least 12 people nearly $10,000 for using megaphones at #CeasefireNow mobilizations.

It does appear though that Israeli attacks will still be happening when CANSEC takes place in a little less than four months from now.

While at least 27,238 Palestinians have been killed and 66,452 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza over the past 122 days, it has been reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said just two weeks ago that he anticipates the war to continue into 2025, well past this coming CANSEC 2024.

We continue to monitor this situation.

SAVE THE DATE: May 29-30 in Ottawa.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS as it tests water in Yondó, calls for the right to water to be respected

By
Brent Patterson
-

On February 1, PBI-Colombia posted: “We accompanied @credhos_paz [the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights] in Yondó #Antioquia during their water testing in order to assess the impact of different industries in the region, such as palm monocultures, mining and oil companies, among others. These water sources supply communities in this municipality. #RightToWater”

The Barrancabermeja-based CREDHOS also posted: “We are investigating the reality behind the water supply in Yondó, Antioquia. Together with the Municipal Human Rights Committee, we toured the Drinking Water Treatment Plants and the wetlands: Laguna del Miedo and La Represa, performing in situ measurement of physiochemical parameters of the water. #HumanRights #PotableWater”

The municipality of Yondó (in the department of Antioquia) is situated across the Magdalena River from the municipality of Barrancabermeja (in the department of Santander).

The river flows northward past Yondó and Barrancabermeja impacting multiple interconnected wetlands, including the Ciénaga San Silvestre that is monitored by Yuli Velázquez and the Federation of Artisanal Fishermen of Santander (FEDEPESAN).

Ecopetrol discharges and spills

In July 2019, RCN Radio reported: “Jhosep Molina, councillor of the municipality of Yondó – Antioquia, described the discharges that Ecopetrol has been making into the Magdalena River for almost 34 years as a savage practice against nature and human beings. According to [Molina], through a 36-inch pipe, water contaminated with chemicals is poured into the Magdalena River 24 hours a day and sometimes, as happened on Tuesday [July 30], oil waste is also dumped.”

Furthermore, Óscar Sampayo, a political scientist from the University of Antioquia and a member of the Yariguíes Regional Corporation-Group of Social, Extractive and Environmental Studies of Magdalena Medio (CRY-GEAM), has noted: “In 2020 alone, we found that close to 200 barrels were spilled due to failures from Ecopetrol in oil concessions in the municipalities of Puerto Wilches, Yondó, Barrancabermeja, and Carmen Chucurí.”

The Banking on Climate Chaos report documents that the Toronto-based Scotiabank is a top financier of Ecopetrol, providing USD $3.9 billion in financing since 2018.

Bronwen Tucker of Oil Change International also shared on a PBI-Canada organized webinar this slide showing that Ecopetrol has been a top recipient of financing from Export Development Canada, the Ottawa-based export credit agency wholly owned by the Government of Canada, between 2012 and 2020.

Wastewater discharges

In July 2019, Vanguardia also reported: “In the municipality of Yondó, Antioquia, located 17 kilometers from Barrancabermeja, residents of the urban area expressed concern about the polluting effects, which apparently are being generated by a discharge of domestic wastewater. A citizen told Vanguardia that the situation is occurring in the El Paraíso neighborhood, at the entrance to Yondó.”

The news article quotes a resident who says: “The public utility company installed a pipe, through which the sewage is evacuated. Dumping occurs four times a day. It’s producing a significant environmental problem. It generates bad odors, contaminates the water of the creek and exposes the community to diseases.”

In November 2021, Radio Nacional de Colombia reported: “Along the banks of the Magdalena River, only 48 of the 130 towns have a WWTP [waste water treatment plant]. This indicates that 63% of the municipalities located on the river lack wastewater treatment. This further aggravates the recovery of the Magdalena.”

River in “critical condition”

Biologist Jhon Mario Flórez has commented: “We are in critical condition, if we compare it to a patient we could say that we are in intensive care. Today we can see a river that is in serious condition, we have to make visible the real situation of the river.”

The Magdalena River provides drinking water to 38 million people. The linked San Silvestre wetland provides water for 300,000 people in Barrancabermeja.

We continue to follow this situation.

Photo: UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water Pedro Arrojo-Agudo meets with CREDHOS, FEDEPESAN, and PBI-Colombia, October 2022.

Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist Carlos Choc and fishers released by court following criminalization related to Fenix mine in Guatemala

By
Brent Patterson
-

On January 31, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted: “Carlos Ernesto Choc was released from the accusations against him in a case of criminalization of #FreedomOfExpression”

Carlos posted the good news on social media: “#MayanCommunityJournalism This day under the energies of Nawal 6 Tijax, a new stage in my life begins. After 7 years of criminalization, today the criminal prosecution against me was definitively closed. Thank you all very much – b’anyox eere, for the support.”

He also tweeted: “#IAmAJournalistNotACriminal Today I demonstrated my innocence in the face of two criminal proceedings against me, for documenting, investigating and reporting environmental damage and human rights violations, in the Q’eqchi’ Mayan territory. Long live the original peoples!”

And Prensa Comunitaria reported: “Three fishermen and community journalist are free after seven years of criminalization. #ElEstor The fishermen Tomás Ce, Cristóbal Pop and Vicente Rax, and the community journalist, Carlos Choc, were released.”

This started with a Canadian mine

Choc has reported on the Fenix nickel mine now owned by the Russian-owned Swiss-based Solway Investment Group.

In 1960, Toronto-based INCO Ltd. began negotiations with the military dictatorship of Guatemala to establish the Fenix mine. By 1965, EXMIBAL, a joint venture between INCO and the Guatemalan state, was granted a 40-year mining licence.

Professor Shin Imai has written: “Colonel Carolos Arana Osorio was responsible for clearing the Indigenous people out of the INCO region in Zacapa-Lake Izabal. He launched what has been referred to as a ‘reign of terror’ in the region, in which the number of people killed is estimated to be between three and six thousand.”

Professor Imai adds: “Major construction began on the El Estor mine in 1974 aided by a $20 million loan from the Canadian Export Development Corporation.”

Vancouver-based Skye Resources bought the mine from INCO in 2004. Skye Resources then merged with Toronto-based Hudbay in 2008.

The mine was purchased by Solway Investment Group in 2011.

In April 2023, Newsweek reported that Montreal-based Central America Nickel (CAN) could purchase the mine with the support of the U.S. Embassy.

Charged in 2017

Choc took a photo of Maya Q’eqchi’ fisher Carlos Maaz just after he was shot dead by police on May 27, 2017, at a protest against the pollution of Lake Izabal by the mine.

Forbidden Stories has reported: “On the pretext that he had participated in the protest, Choc, along with a journalist colleague and five fishermen, was accused of six crimes and misdemeanors by Solway Group. An arrest warrant was submitted against him in August 2017, forcing him into hiding for several months.”

We met with Carlos in Guatemala in May 2023 and then did a webinar with him on August 18, 2023. This was just prior to the August 21 hearing he was to have in relation to the substitute measure he was given in January 2019 on the August 2017 charges stemming from his May 2017 reporting on the police killing of Carlos Maaz.

That hearing was postponed until January 31.

We welcome the good news about Carlos, Tomás, Cristóbal and Vicente, and affirm our support for community journalism and the defence of land and territory.

Municipal Committee blocks highway, calls on the Honduran government to not renew Los Pinares mining concession

By
Brent Patterson
-

On January 31, Guapinol Exige Justicia (Guapinol Demands Justice) posted a photo of a backhoe loader with the text: “Highway connection on CA 13 between Tocoa and Cayo Campo in the department of Colón.”

The yellow banner on the backhoe says: “Alert. This January 28th the ASP mining concession of Pinares-Ecotek expires. We demand the government not to renew the mining contract.”

The ASP mining concession is a 100 hectare area – inside a national park – where the mining company Inversiones Los Pinares would mine for iron oxide.

The licence for this open pit mine was granted to Emco Mining (now Inversiones Los Pinares) on January 28, 2014.

The community learned in October 2023 that Inversiones Los Pinares intended to renew the concession contract for up to 30 more years.

The Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) says: “We strongly call on the Government of Xiomara Castro to respond to our demands [that include an “Immediate response from INHGEOMIN [Honduran Institute of Geology and Mines] on the NON-renewal of the mining contract ‘ASP’ signed between Lenir Pérez de Inversiones Los Pinares and INHGEOMIN, in 2014 and which ended on Sunday, January 28, 2024.”

Investigative reporting conducted by the Honduran digital media platform Contracorriente, the Latin American Center for Journalistic Investigation and Univisión Investiga, found that the US-based steel company Nucor was associated with Inversiones Los Pinares.

Silive.com has reported: “The business relationship between Nucor and Lenir Pérez … began back in [March] 2015. Nucor said it left the project in [October] 2019 because of protests.”

This would suggest that Nucor was involved in the mining concession on October 27, 2018, when more than 1,500 police officers and military personnel begin the forceful expulsion of a protest camp opposed to the Los Pinares mine.

Also within that timeline, Guapinol River defender Jeremías Martínez was arrested in December 2018, thirteen other defenders faced charges in February 2019, and on September 1, 2019, seven defenders were indicted in charges related to their activism.

Photo: PBI-Honduras visited the criminalized Guapinol River defender Jeremias Martinez in La Ceiba prison and in court.

Recent investors in Nucor include the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec ($73 million), the Royal Bank of Canada ($61 million), the Bank Of Montreal ($40 million), and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ($36 million).

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Municipal Committee processes and the criminalized Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.

1...134135136...476Page 135 of 476