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PBI-Honduras accompanies COPINH at trial of soldier accused of the attempted murder of Lenca defender Allan Garcia

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 27, PBI-Honduras tweeted:

“At PBI we hope that the start of the trial against Kevin Saravia for the attempted murder of Allan García will be resumed soon, and that the events that occurred will be clarified. We highlight the work of the @COPINHHONDURAS in defense of the rights of the Lenca people.”

On Facebook, they further explain:

“Last week we accompanied COPINH at the oral and public trial against former sub-officer Kevin Saravia for the attempted murder of Allan Garcia, son of the defender Lenca Tomás Garcia killed the same day. The trial eventually had to be rescheduled due to staffing shortages.

From PBI we hope that the start of the hearings will resume soon, and that the facts that happened will be clarified and judged impartially and transparently.

We highlight the work of COPINH in defending the rights of the Lenca people and the Rio Blanco community.”

And Criterio.hn reports:

“The absence of the Prosecutor’s Office in the Sentencing Court of Siguatepeque was the official cause for the rescheduling of the trial against Kevin Yasser Saravia Ortiz’s non-commissioned officer, accused of attempted homicide against Lenca leader Allan García.

The trial that should have begun on Monday, October 19, 2022, was postponed to January 13, 2023, extending the hearings until February, and will take place between the cities of La Esperanza in Intibucá, and Siguatepeque in the department of Comayagua.

The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) through a tweet said that the breach of justice in the case of Allan García continues. In addition, they stated that both the organization and the Lenca people “demand a prompt resolution to the trial against non-commissioned officer Kevin Saravia for the attempted murder of Allan García.”

In the document issued by the Sentencing Court of Siguatepeque, Comayagua, in which the rescheduling was reported, it was also notified that electronic means are enabled for the conduct of the trial.

The case involves the actions of the non-commissioned officer of the Engineers Battalion during a demonstration against the imposition of the Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project on the Gualcarque River. For these actions Saravia was convicted of the crime of simple homicide against Tomás García in the 2015 trial.

However, he was acquitted of the attempted murder of Allan García. The Court argued that in Allan’s case it was only “misdemeanors,” and that “it was not his intention to kill him,” giving him a sentence of 30 to 90 days in prison.

Given this ruling, the private prosecution filed an appeal for cassation that resulted in the retrial with regard to the complaint corresponding to the events against Allan García, previously indicated to Criterio.hn one of the lawyers of the Law Firm Studies for Dignity, which is handling the case.

The prosecution, in its appeal for cassation, said that Saravia was not guilty of the crime of injury but of the crime of attempted homicide because the intention of the shot was not to injure or wound him, but to kill him, said the lawyer.

In December 2015, at the end of the trial, Lenca leader Berta Cáceres said: “We want to tell you that our position as COPINH, as the Lenca people of Río Blanco, will be to continue defending life and we will reach the ultimate consequences so that justice is applied.”

Cáceres was murdered on the night of March 2, 2016 for her leadership in COPINH and for pointing out the corruption network that operated for the Gualcarque River concession for the construction of a hydroelectric project by the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA).

Based on their complaints, ignored at the time by the Public Ministry, the UFECIC-MACCIH built the case Fraud on the Gualcarque, for which the sentence against six former officials is currently pending.

“For years, COPINH and the indigenous community of Río Blanco have suffered death threats and physical attacks at the hands of the Honduran Armed Forces,” the organization published in one of its recent posts related to the case of Allan García.

They added that “acts of violence against defenders of their ancestral territories, such as the case of our comrade Tomás García y Allan, not only violate their individual guarantees, but also undermine the fundamental role they play in the society of the Honduran Armed Forces.””

More on this at: El Pueblo Lenca de Río Blanco merece obtener justicia en el caso Allan García.

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied COPINH since May 2016.

PBI is present on-the-ground now

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo of the week by PBI-Guatemala.

At any given time, Peace Brigades International has 55+ volunteers in the field accompanying at-risk human rights defenders in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

Last year, they carried out 984 physical accompaniments of defenders at protests and marches, media conferences, court hearings, observation missions, meetings and ceremonies.

Our volunteers commit to at least one year in the field, speak fluent Spanish, live in communal houses, and experience intense situations.

Right now, PBI is seeking additional volunteers in Mexico (deadline November 11) and Colombia (deadline November 27).

Please help us spread the word about the need for volunteers by retweeting our tweet about Colombia and our tweet about Mexico.

Last weekend we had a webinar (that 50+ people registered for) about being a PBI field volunteer and we plan to do 3-4 more next year. We are also developing plans to have a more visible presence on university campuses across the country.

If you can help this work with a donation, please click here.

Upcoming

Meet the environmental defenders who will speak on PBI’s webinar about COP27 on November 15

Recent activities

PBI-Canada co-hosts field volunteer/brigadista outreach webinar

PBI-Canada observes Decolonial Solidarity painting salmon at RBC in support of Wet’suwet’en water protectors

Accompaniments

PBI-Guatemala accompanies UVOC at acquittal hearing for criminalized Poqomchi’ community leader David Maxena Caal

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH and Campesina Association of Jutiapa at gathering on the protection of water in La Tigra National Park

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation at meeting on Bill of Rights for Women Seekers of the Disappeared

PBI-Mexico accompanies International Day of Indigenous Resistance march in Mexico City

For daily updates on accompaniments, visit our website and follow us on Twitter.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies UVOC at acquittal hearing for criminalized Poqomchi’ community leader David Maxena Caal

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 26, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“#PBI accompanies UVOC [Verapaz Union of Campesino Organizations] at the hearing of notification of the acquittal for David Maxena.”

On October 18, UVOC posted on Facebook:

“#URGENT Community is declared acquitted of the charge of aggravated usurpation.

This is the Mayan Poqomchi, former political prisoner David Alejandro Maxena, accused and unjustly imprisoned for defending human rights and his fight for the recovery of his ancestral land.

This day a Single Judge of Sentencing of Coban Alta Verapaz, acquitted of the charge of aggravated usurpation, thus proving his innocence during the sentencing process, David Alejandro, unjustly imprisoned for 9 months, will now return to his family in the Chintun Tucuru community, after to suffer humiliations for a false judicial accusation before an oppressive and racist system.

We appreciate the solidarity of all individuals, organizations, collectives and groups, who were aware of our colleague.

#TheEarthisOurAncestralHeritage #FreedomforDavidMaxena #FreedomForPoliticalPrisoner”

Usurpation

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, has given the example of “usurpation” as when “Indigenous peoples become trespassers or illegal occupants of their own lands.”

The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras further notes that the charge of “usurpation” is “used to criminalize and prosecute actions of social protest” of organizations that defend human rights.

UVOC has also posted:

“This type of accusation and criminalization is due to the strategy of landowners and transactional companies, who have dispossessed the territory of the Poqomchi and Qeqchi’ Mayan people.

The accusation and criminalization, against the Defender of Human Rights and Mother Earth, originated from Hidroelectica Santa Teresa and Agropecuaria Shintun S.A. municipality of San Miguel Tucuru.”

Santa Teresa hydroelectric dam

In January 2017, Avispa Midia explained: “In the case of the Santa Teresa hydroelectric plant, it belongs to the company Agro Comercializadora del Polochic, SA (AGROPOLOCHIC), a member of the CM [Corporacion Multi Inversiones] consortium.”

That article adds: “EGI Guatemala was involved in the construction of the Santa Teresa hydroelectric plant, located in the Polochic region, in the municipality of Tucurú, which is owned by the Agropolochic company, a member of the CM group.”

It further notes that EGI Guatemala is the main subsidiary of ENEL in Guatemala, which owns the El Canada hydroelectric dam. That dam has been described as a “controversial carbon finance project”.

The Santa Teresa dam is situated on the Polochic River, which discharges 70 per cent of the total freshwater input to Lake Izabal.

PBI accompaniment

PBI-Guatemala accompanied UVOC multiple times during the court process for Maxena, including visiting him in prison in April.

UVOC has 367 affiliated communities (about 50,000 families); 98 per cent of which are Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’, Poqomchi’ and Achi.”

PBI-Guatemala has been accompanying UVOC since 2005.

“9 months in prison unjustly
Acquittal judgment in favor of David Alejandro Maxena
Enough of the persecution and criminalization against human rights defenders!”

RBC releases their “Net-Zero Report” as Coastal GasLink drills under Wedzin Kwa

By
Brent Patterson
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Last week, Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham (Sleydo’) spoke on a Decolonial Solidarity call about RBC-financed Coastal GasLink drilling under the Wedzin Kwa river on Wet’suwet’en territory without free, prior and informed consent.

She highlighted: “[The drilling at the site of our sacred headwaters] is happening now. The salmon are spawning in the river and you can actually hear the drilling happening from kilometres away. You can feel it in the ground, in the earth, from kilometres away. The salmon are spawning and you can feel the vibration of the drilling happening.”

Now, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has released their statement on its 2030 interim emissions reduction targets.

Notably the words “Coastal GasLink”, “pipeline”, “Indigenous”, “land defenders” and “human rights” do not appear in RBC’s 16-page Net-Zero Report.

Video: An RCMP officer points an assault rifle at land defenders and journalists during a militarized raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, November 19, 2021.

Stand.earth comments: “Unfortunately, RBC’s latest net-zero emissions pledges are essentially just more greenwashing as the bank continues to bankroll high-polluting sectors like fossil fuels. The bank released only ‘intensity-based’ targets for its energy sector clients, essentially which are a license to continue to pollute.”

Stand.earth has documented: “RBC is among top commercial banks providing the CGL project with working capital, including CAD $275 million in project finance, a co-financed $6.5 billion loan, a $40 million corporate loan, and $200 million in co-financed working capital – while acting as financial advisor for the pipeline.”

And according to the Indigenous Environmental Network and Oil Change International report: Indigenous Resistance Against Carbon (page 16), the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline could produce 125 million metric tons of CO2 pollution annually.

Construction on the pipeline is scheduled to be completed in 2023 and would be in service for a minimum of 25 years (to 2048). The pipeline will feed the LNG Canada export terminal, which could have a lifespan of 25 years. Given gas pipelines can have a lifespan of 50 years, Coastal GasLink could conceivably be operational through to 2073. 

Click here for more on the Decolonial Solidarity day of action on November 5 that will demand RBC defund Coastal GasLink.

Decolonial Solidarity tweet.

Meet the environmental defenders who will speak on PBI’s webinar about COP27 on November 15

By
Brent Patterson
-

To register for our COP27 webinar on November 15, please click here.

The United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) 27 talks will be taking place this coming November 6-18 in Egypt.

The UN Human Rights Council has affirmed that “human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement.”

That resolution was passed in March 2019. Since then, at least 639 land and environmental rights defenders have been killed.

Our webinar will discuss the crucial role of environmental defenders and water protectors, their frontline struggles, the risks they face, and what they expect from COP27.

Yuli Andrea Velásquez Briceño (Colombia)

Yuli is an environmental leader who works together with fishing communities to protect the environment, especially in the conservation of the waters of the wetlands surrounding the city of Barrancabermeja. Since January 2021, Yuli has suffered three attempts on her life and multiple threats, which occur just after carrying out verifications of environmental impacts caused by the oil industry or after denouncing acts of corruption.

Ana Paola Torres Barranco (Mexico)

Ana is a member of the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water. The FPDTA has been working for more than 10 years in defense of the land, territory and the self-determination of Indigenous peoples, against extractivist projects, notably the Morelos Integral Project (PIM) for which they have been threatened, attacked, harassed and criminalized. Náhuatl land defender and Peoples’ Front member Samir Flores Soberanes was murdered in 2019 for his opposition to the PIM pipeline-thermoelectric-aqueduct megaproject.

Gladys Losike (Kenya)

Gladys is a women human rights defender and Gender and Protection Focal Person with the organization Nanyuki-based Samburu Women Trust, an Indigenous women-led organization that champions the rights of women and girls. She will speak about how climate change and droughts impact young people, with a focus on women and girls. She is an advocate of young Indigenous women and girls’ inclusion in climate change strategies and discussions at the local and national level.

Walter Rene López Perez (Guatemala)

Walter is a 27-year-old defender whose work began six years ago when his community’s struggle against the privatization of water and the limitation of access to it due to the disproportionate use of that water by sugar mills began. He is a member of the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR), an organization whose main objective is the defense of the territory and human rights, especially the right of access to water, life and small-scale agriculture. Four of members of the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu have been criminalized for their defence of the human right to water.

Amaru Ruíz (Nicaragua)

Amaru is a biologist, researcher, environmentalist, and the president of the Fundación del Río, an organization focused on sustainable development and the conservation of natural assets in southeastern Nicaragua. In December 2018, Ruíz was forced into exile following warnings about threats of arrest and imprisonment and after suffering an attack on his life in his own home. From Costa Rica he continues to accompany Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities.

Christopher Castillo (Honduras)

Christopher is the General Coordinator of the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH), an organization that defends water and advocates against extractive projects. He and six other environmental defenders were arrested in March 2021 and placed under house arrest. They were charged with “forced displacement” for holding a peaceful demonstration in front of the offices of the poultry company “El Cortijo” to protest against the company’s activities that have polluted the Choluteca River.

Introductory comments by Pedro Arrojo Agudo (UN Special Rapporteur)

Pedro is the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. He has served as a member of the Spanish Parliament and was a professor at the University of Zaragoza (1989-2011). In 2003, he was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his contributions to conservation of water ecosystems and his involvement in water conflicts that affect the human rights of communities in vulnerable situations.

Hannah Matthews (moderator)

Hannah is the international communications coordinator for Peace Brigades Internationa. She is based in Oaxaca, Mexico. She was a field volunteer with PBI-Colombia accompanying at-risk human rights defenders from 2014 to 2017.

To register for our COP27 webinar on November 15, please click here.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH and Campesina Association of Jutiapa at gathering on the protection of water in La Tigra National Park

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 25, PBI-Honduras tweeted:

“PBI accompanies @Arcah_hn [Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication] and the Campesina Association of Jutiapa, who continue to fight for the protection of La Tigra and against the privatization of water. We recall the importance of considering the affected communities prior to the implementation of projects in the National Park.”

On Facebook they also noted:

“Last Sunday we accompanied ARCAH and the Campesina Association for Improvement and Defense of Jutiapa in the day ‘Life Begins in the Lung of the Forests’. This space constituted a moment of meeting for the community of Jutiapa, in which a tribute was carried out to the founding persons of the peasant association, who promoted the defense of the La Tigra National Park.

The Campesina Association continues to fight for the protection of La Tigra and against the privatization of water, as well as training future generations of Jutiapa in defense of human rights and the environment.

From PBI we remember the importance of considering the affected communities before the implementation of projects in the National Park.”

Two years ago, PBI-Honduras also posted: “This Wednesday [January 15, 2020] we observed a plant [sit-in protest] in front of the mayor’s office of Tegucigalpa made by the people of the La Tigra national park area. They oppose the construction of a reservoir in the sector as well as the construction of a housing complex that, according to their opinions, invades the buffer zone of that protected area.”

More on that at: PBI-Honduras observes protest against water use by proposed luxury housing project in Tegucigalpa.

On their website, PBI-Honduras has also noted:

“The Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (Alternativa de Reivindicación Comunitaria y Ambientalista de Honduras, ARCAH) is a space for community articulation and an anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, anti-colonialist and anti-classist social movement that seeks to defend territories and common goods from any project that threatens the peace and cosmovision of communities.

Since its founding in 2017, members of ARCAH have fought against the Jiniguare dam, the El Cortijo poultry company, the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE) and other projects in Francisco Morazán, Comayagua, Cortés and Olancho, always through resistance and permanent communication with planet earth.

PBI-Honduras has been accompanying ARCAH since September 2022.”

Mongabay: “In Colombia, 106 Indigenous reserves are affected by the presence of oil blocks”

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: PBI-Colombia observes a wetland with Jani Silva who says oil companies “exploit irresponsibly” and contaminate the environment in Putumayo.

Mongabay has published an article based on extensive analysis by the journalistic alliance ManchadosXelPetróleo, with information gathered by the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG).

The study looked at and Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia.

Among the findings:

– “In Colombia, 106 indigenous reserves are affected by the presence of oil blocks, most of them in the departments of Caquetá, Vichada and Putumayo. At least 84 of these reserves have been subsumed entirely within oil blocks.”

– “In Colombia, while no oil blocks overlap with protected areas, the analysis detected a pattern that calls for attention: there are oil blocks in 70 forest reserves. This is important because, under Colombian law, these areas are intended for the development of the forestry economy and the protection of soil, water and wildlife.”

The analysis also found that 49.07 percent of Indigenous communities in Colombia overlap with oil fields. It also found that 79.24 percent of Indigenous communities in Colombia have overlapping oil fields in 100 percent of their territory.

PBI in Putumayo

As noted above, most of the 106 Indigenous reserves affected by the presence of oil blocks are in the departments of Caquetá, Vichada and Putumayo.

PBI-Colombia has noted: “Processes to defend the territory and traditional cultures of small-scale farmers … and indigenous Nasa traditions … are accompanied by the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz).”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied Justice and Peace since 1994.

On April 6, Justice and Peace posted: “The Canadian company Gran Tierra Energy has ignored the territorial autonomy of the Cabildo Ksxa ́w Nasa that lives between the municipalities of Puerto Asís and Puerto Caicedo, Putumayo.”

And on May 31, 2021, they also issued this statement that documents the killing of campesino Yordan Rosero Estrella and the wounding of Victor Campo, an Indigenous Nasa leader, during a protest against Gran Tierra in Putumayo.

For more on Gran Tierra in Villagarzón, Putumayo, see the June 2022 Mongabay article: How Colombia disenfranchised Indigenous Inga communities in favor of oil.

The Justice and Peace Commission also accompanies Jani Silva.

Silva, the president of the Association for the Integral Sustainable Development of the Perla Amazónica (ADISPA), has stated that oil companies “exploit irresponsibly” and contaminate the environment in Putumayo.

PBI with Jani Silva.

ADISPA manages the Perla Amazónica Peasant Reserve Zone (ZRCPA). Nearly 800 families live in the 24 villages that make up the ZRCPA. While there are no Nasa people in the ZRCPA, Nasa people are near this peasant reserve.

Canadian extractivism in Putumayo

Along with Gran Tierra Energy, that describes itself as the “premier operator and top landholder” in the Putumayo basin, Toronto-based Frontera Energy holds assets in the Caguán-Putumayo basin as has Calgary-based Canacol Energy Ltd.

Natural Resources Canada has also reported that at $8 billion in 2018, Colombia was second largest location for Canadian Energy Assets Abroad (CEAA).

GeoPark in the Amazon

Andrew Miller of Amazon Watch has highlighted: “The Amazon Pearl is not the only area threatened by efforts to expand oil operations across the Colombian Amazon.”

He adds: “Through its acquisition of the oil company Amerisur, GeoPark now controls a number of different oil blocks that overlap Indigenous territories of the Siona, Kofán, and Kichwa Indigenous peoples.”

In November 2019, GeoPark announced it had acquired Amerisur for £242 million. The Banking on Climate Chaos website documents that the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) provided USD $13.68 million in financing to GeoPark in 2016.

Amazon Watch Finance and Climate Director Moira Birss, Jani Silva, Amazon Watch Advocacy Director Andrew Miller in Pedregosa within the Perla Amazónica.

Indigenous rights and extractivism

The American business magazine Forbes has reported: “Nearly a third of Colombia is designated indigenous territory… Often, that land sits atop natural riches that have made it the envy of prospectors. Conflicts abound in Colombia between indigenous communities and extractive industries clawing for oil, gold or lumber.”

That December 2019 article also noted: “This year, Colombia’s top weekly news magazine [Semana] reported that 37 petroleum production contracts awarded by the country’s National Hydrocarbon Agency infringed 81 indigenous reserves, another 26 of which were violated by exploration contracts.”

Colombia Plural has also reported that in December 2016, five fracking contracts (four of them for exploration) were signed with Drummond Energy. That article notes: “These new contracts increase the list of affected or affected indigenous territories and overlap with territories of the Yupka, Wiwa and Wayúu peoples.”

The Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP) has long sought the implementation of Judgment T-880/2006 of the Constitutional Court of Colombia. This ruling relates to the right to free, prior and informed consent, specifically in regard to the Indigenous community Barí-Motilón in the Catatumbo region vs the state oil company Ecopetrol.

PBI-Colombia with CCALCP lawyer Julia Figueroa.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Canada co-hosts field volunteer/brigadista outreach webinar

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video of PBI field volunteer outreach webinar.

PBI-Canada in collaboration with PBI-UK, PBI-USA, PBI-Netherlands and PBI-Mexico organized a volunteer outreach webinar on October 23.

It featured:

Clara van Tienhoven Amil: a former field volunteer with PBI in Mexico now Volunteer Coordinator with PBI’s team in Mexico City.

Duna Manent Puigjaner: the Training Coordinator with PBI-Mexico.

Roslynn Beighton: a recently returned from volunteering with PBI in Honduras.

And it was moderated by Andrew Miller, a PBI-Colombia field volunteer in 1999-2000 who is now a member of the PBI-USA national coordinating committee.

58 people registered for this webinar! And there have already been 80 views of the video of the webinar!

Some excerpts include:

“You get a chance to learn so much – it’s one of the most rewarding things. There’s a huge diversity of work, one week you’re in the field and the next you’re writing reports.” – Clara

“A day in the field is never the same – you’re constantly meeting with different people and organizations.” – Roslynn

“Most of our volunteers do come from Spain, or Latin America, right now Colombia is one of our top nationalities. We currently have volunteers from France, Hungary, Brazil, the Netherlands and also the United States.” – Duna

PBI-Mexico is currently seeking field volunteers. To apply prior to October 28 (now extended to November 11), please click here. PBI-Colombia is also seeking volunteers. Their deadline is November 27. More on that here.

To watch the video of the webinar, click here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya at meeting in San Jose Nacahuil on the El Tambor mine

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 23, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“PBI accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya and the Human Rights Law Firm to a meeting on the ratification of the incumbent and substitute representatives of the San Jose Nacahuil community, for the pre-consultation and consultation about the presence of the mine in the region.”

San Jose Nacahuil is about 30 kilometres north of Guatemala City.

PBI-Guatemala has recently accompanied both groups in related processes in nearby El Tizate, San Pedro Ayampuc and El Carrizal.

In June, Prensa Latina reported: “The Minister of Energy and Mines, Alberto Pimentel … stated that the Government will soon issue regulations for carrying out community consultations stipulated in Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on indigenous and tribal peoples.”

“In addition, the pre-consultation stage is being prepared for the Progreso VII Derivada Mining project, also known as El Tambor or La Puya.”

The article also noted: “[Pimentel] also announced that the National Mining Policy is being prepared, which is not only based on a reform of the Mining Law, but also on a broader discussion process with the rest of the country’s sectors that will be convened to carry out the exercise of defining the future of mining in the country. Other entities such as the Ministry of the Environment and others should also be integrated. According to the official, the Policy would be finished in 2023, since he wants to finish it before the change of government.”

Canadian mining in Guatemala

According to Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Mining Assets (CMA) in Guatemala were valued at $382 million in 2020 (up from $377 million the previous year). That chart further notes that six Canadian companies are operating in Guatemala.

Notably, on March 2, 2012, residents from San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc – an area known as La Puya, just north of Guatemala City – set up a 24-hour a day blockade at the entrance of the Vancouver-based Radius Gold Inc. By August 2012, the Canadian company sold El Tambor to US-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates, but retained an economic interest in the mine (including quarterly royalty payments on the gold production from the mine).

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya since November 2012 and the Human Rights Law Firm since 2013.

Photo: May 23, 2014: Over 300 anti-riot police approached the Tambor gold mine entrance in San Jose del Golfo, propelling tear gas canisters towards environmental defenders that make up La Puya – a peaceful human blockade at the mine entrance.

Backgrounder: Frontera Energy/ Catalyst Capital Group Inc. in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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“For every tree you plant, you guarantee water for three people.” Frontera Energy has been linked to 56 oil incidents in Colombia over the past 7 years. Photo by PBI-Canada; San Luis de Palenque, July 1, 2022.

Simply Wall St notes: “Every investor in Frontera Energy Corporation (TSE:FEC) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups.”

Their article adds: “Our data shows that The Catalyst Capital Group Inc. is the largest shareholder with 40% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.2% and 2.8% of the stock.”

And it highlights: “To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 3 shareholders have a majority ownership in the company, meaning that they are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the company.”

The Catalyst Group

The Catalyst Capital Group Inc. website notes: “Catalyst is a Canadian private equity investment firm founded in June 2002.” Their Portfolio webpage also confirms their current holdings include Frontera Energy.

Their website also confirms that: “Gabriel de Alba is a Managing Director and Partner of The Catalyst Capital Group Inc.” And the Frontera Energy website indicates that de Alba is the Chairman of the Board of Frontera Energy.

Gabriel de Alba

Controversies

In March 2021, the Associated Press reported: “Toronto’s Catalyst Capital Group Inc. agreed to pay up to US$11-million to an Israeli private investigation company in an arrangement that led to a sting designed to discredit an Ontario judge, according to court documents.”

That article adds: “Black Cube, based in Tel Aviv, is composed of former members of the Israeli Defence Forces and the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency. Its operatives were hired as subcontractors by a security company called Tamara Global, which Catalyst itself had hired in the summer of 2017 as it prepared to appeal a court decision issued by Justice Frank Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court, according to the documents.”

Frontera Energy in Colombia

Concerns have also been raised about Frontera Energy in Colombia.

Eight social leaders from the community of San Luis de Palenque who had been protesting Frontera Energy were arrested in a pre-dawn raid on November 27, 2018, involving a Black Hawk military helicopter landing on their farmyards.

That lead UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst to express his concern in his report to the UN Human Rights Council about “the apparent connection between Frontera Energy, the army’s 16th brigade and the Attorney General’s Support Office in this criminalization.”

Frontera Energy in Toronto

Frontera Energy has its head office in Calgary (2000, 222 – 3 Avenue SW) and its Investor Relations office in Toronto (333 Bay Street – 1100). The Catalyst Group also has its office in Toronto (181 Bay Street Suite 4700).

The last in-person shareholders meeting for Frontera took place on May 29, 2019 at “the offices of McMillan LLP, in the Rowell Room, Brookfield Place, Suite 4400, 181 Bay Street” in Toronto. Their last shareholders meeting, held as “a virtual-only format via live audio webcast”, took place on May 18, 2022.

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