Peace Brigades International-Canada recently hosted a webinar to promote the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project call for applications for field volunteers. The deadline to apply is October 30.
One of the speakers on this webinar was Beatriz with PBI-Honduras joining from the team house in Tegucigalpa.
The application procedure
Beatriz explained: “The application procedure is very simple. [On our website you will find] information about the role, the requirements that the person must comply with. For example, having a nationality that’s different from Honduras to speak Spanish, have a commitment towards the different sexual and gender expressions, to be able to commit to stay 12 months there.”
She added: “[There is] a second PDF, which is the request itself, not just the CV itself. It’s more like a questionnaire. And you’re going to be asked if you’ve ever lived in a community, what you understand with concepts like nonviolence, to get to know you a little better. [And you will find on our website a] third PDF [that asks for] some references, somebody that knows you from work, a boss, or maybe an academic supervisor, a teacher, some people that you volunteer with.”
The three PDFs that Beatriz describes can be found here.
The selection process
Beatriz also described the selection process.
She noted: “It would be like a phase with personal interviews. People that pass these interviews would then pass to a self-training phase and information. Workbooks are sent so that you understand what is Honduras, what’s happening here. And finally, the people that complete that self-training go to a training week.”
The timeline following the application procedure includes a “training week” from February 12-15 and February 19-22, 2027.
It should also be noted that “joining the team is not immediate; it can sometimes take several months” before arriving in Honduras.
For more about the work of the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project, you can follow them on Instagram here.
Photo: Canada and Colombia meet to discuss mining and energy on October 19, 2026. Photo from Canadá en Colombia on X.
Peace Brigades International-Canada is attentive to the implications of the mining and energy sector on the safety and security of land and environmental defenders in Colombia. Last month, the Global Witness report Collective Power documented that “Colombia remains the deadliest country for defenders”.
This week, the Embassy of Canada in Colombia based in Bogota posted on their social media accounts: “Canada and Colombia are natural partners in mining and energy. In a meeting with Minister @MinEnergiaCo María Nohemí Arboleda, Ambassador Elizabeth Williams reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to supporting Colombia’s efforts to strengthen the mining-energy sector.”
This PBI-Canada article looks at how the new Colombian government intends to “strengthen the mining-energy sector” and the risks this could pose for land and environmental defenders.
Aguawil to resist fracking
The government of Abelardo de la Espriella assumed office on Friday August 7, 2026.
That day the Associated Press reported: “Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella on Friday pledged to revive the country’s oil and gas sector, restore state-owned energy company Ecopetrol and strengthen the electricity system, arguing that energy security would be a cornerstone of his administration.”
That article further noted: “The new president also confirmed his government would authorize fracking.”
Earlier this month, Jorge Ardila, a resident of Puerto Wilches, Colombia and member of the Committee for the Defense of Water, Life and Territory (AguaWil), told Mongabay: “Everything that surrounds this municipality would be affected by fracking. We have to resist it — and defend the wealth of our territory, including its cultural heritage, wildlife and natural environment.”
Mongabay explains: “Two research pilot projects, Kalé and Platero, were planned in the Middle Magdalena Valley by Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-owned oil company, together with U.S. major ExxonMobil. …Under the Petro administration, fracking pilots remained suspended. Colombia, however, has never formally banned fracking.”
Toronto-based Sintana Energy held a 30 per cent non-operating share in the Platero fracking pilot project block.
Ardila cautions: “The issue is that commercial fracking is already legal. Pilot projects are not even necessary anymore.”
Photo: On June 28, 2022, PBI-Canada and PBI-Colombia met with a Credhos-convened meeting of social leaders in Puerto Wilches and heard their determination to stop fracking and to defend life, water and territory.
Communities oppose the Libero Copper Mocoa mine
On September 3, 2026, Mining.com reported: “Colombia’s new government has repealed 10 resolutions restricting natural resource exploration and extraction, accelerating President Abelardo De La Espriella’s push to revive mining investment and unlock the country’s largely untapped copper potential.”
The article then specifies: “The development pipeline includes AngloGold Ashanti’s (JSE: ANG)(NYSE: AU)(ASX: AGG) Quebradona, Cordoba Minerals’ (TSXV: CDB) Alacrán, Libero Copper’s Mocoa and Royal Road Minerals’ (TSXV: RYR) Guintar-Aleman-Margaritas projects.”
While AngloGold Ashanti is based in Denver, USA and London, UK, Cordoba Minerals and Libero Copper (now named Copper Giant Resources Corp.) are Vancouver-based companies, and Royal Roads Minerals is traded on the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange with its major shareholders including Vancouver-based Rio2 Limited and Canadian businessman Rob McEwen (the founder of Goldcorp).
We remain attentive to the risks faced by community members who oppose the Mocoa copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Putumayo.
Amazon Watch has commented: “Mocoa’s story is also one of persistent resistance. Indigenous, campesino, environmentalist, women’s, and youth organizations have stood firm, even in the face of corporate attempts to co-opt communities through financial incentives.”
Photo: PBI-Colombia at the Amazon Pearl Campesina Reserve Zone on the Putumayo River downstream from Mocoa.
Critical minerals to be promoted in New York, November 16-19
On October 19, 2026, OilPrice.com reported: “Early last month, [Colombia and the United States] agreed to deepen cooperation on critical minerals, including rare earths, tungsten and antimony. …The timing is no coincidence. With depleted U.S. military arsenals and conflicts raging on multiple fronts, particularly in the Middle East, Washington is scrambling to secure supplies of the critical minerals needed to manufacture weapons and replenish dwindling munitions stockpiles. The agreement aims to unlock Colombia’s considerable critical-mineral potential by accelerating mining projects, improving cooperation on identifying viable deposits and mobilizing the investment needed to bring them into production.”
Colombian Vice President José Manuel Restrepo has told Caracol Radio: “We have identified strategic projects that could eventually be taken to Milagro Week in New York. We have identified projects around critical minerals [in the department of Tolima], and they can be very important opportunities to attract investment.”
ColombiaOne has further reported that Vice-President Restrepo and Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Mauricio Gomez Amin “will present a portfolio of 176 projects” at Milagro Week and that “the government has identified 37 of those projects as priorities” to pitch to the “nearly 300 investors, businesspeople and representatives of international funds” at this gathering.
The Milagro Week investor showcase will take place on November 16-19. Canadian investors are expected to be in attendance.
Accompaniment
This week, PBI-Southeast Asia commented: “Protection is not just about responding when threats arise. It is also about helping defenders anticipate risks, strengthen their security, care for their wellbeing, and decide for themselves what protection they need.”
This week, PBI-United Kingdom also released a new report that highlights “to truly disrupt the trend of ongoing violence” legislation is needed “to hold companies to account when they fail to prevent, identify or respond to human rights abuses and environmental harms in their operations and global value chains.”
PBI-Canada takes inspiration from these approaches and highlights the intersection between the physical accompaniment and protection of at-risk land and environmental defenders, investment in extractive megaprojects, the export markets those major projects supply, the legislation that can narrow the civic space to oppose powerful agendas (as well as the treaties and mechanisms that can hold transnational corporations accountable and strengthen the protection of human rights defenders), and the global supply chain that provides military goods, equipment and technologies that enable enforcement actions against communities upholding their rights.
Photo: Papuan human rights delegation visits London.
A delegation of Indigenous human rights defenders, journalists and artists from Papua, accompanied by Peace Brigades International, recently visited the European Union and United Kingdom.
The delegation included: Defe (PUSAKA, that aims to create and fight for a just life for indigenous peoples and the poor), Aida (journalist, JUBI Media, an independent, West Papua-based media outlet), Gege (Sa Perempuan Papua, that seeks to break the inequality for women and youth in eastern part of Indonesia), Costan (an artist and teacher), and Glenn (a craftsman and preserver of Papuan cultural artifacts).
PBI-UK notes: “During their time in London, the delegation spoke out about the South Papua National Strategic Project (NSP).”
Solidaritas Merauke, a broad coalition of Civil Society Organizations and people affected by Indonesia’s National Strategic Projects, says the South Papua National Strategic Project (PSN) has covered an area of 49,787 hectares through land expansion and deforestation from 2024 to present.
The tour included screenings of the 90-minute documentary ‘Pesta Babi: Colonialism in Our Time’ about the National Strategic Project. “Pesta Babi” can be translated as “pig feast”. You can watch the documentary here.
Last year, the National reported: “FORTY-ONE British companies, including household names like BP, Unilever and Barclays, are profiting from the ‘destruction’ of West Papua, a new study to be launched at the UK Parliament today has found.” The 52-page report Bringing it All Back Home: the role of British companies in the destruction of West Papua can be read here.
Indonesia and Canada
Last month, the Jakarta Globe reported: “Indonesia is inviting Canadian investors to explore opportunities in critical minerals, clean energy, food security and artificial intelligence as the two countries prepare to implement their comprehensive economic partnership agreement.”
The Jakarta Globe reports that when Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto visited Ottawa in September 2025, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney told him that the tariff eliminations would “open up opportunities for Canadian businesses in food, agricultural, agri-food, pulp and paper sectors”.
The Canada-Indonesia CEPA is expected to enter into force later this year.
Global Affairs Canada has noted: “In 2025, Canadian Direct Investment in Indonesia was $4.5 billion, the third highest in Southeast Asia. Indonesian direct investment in Canada was $6.9 billion.” The Trade Commissioner Service of Canada indicates that there are six Canadian mining companies operating in Indonesia.
According to Government of Canada annual reports on the exports of “military goods”, during the period of 2012 to 2024 when 25 land and environmental defenders were killed in Indonesia, Canada exported almost $45 billion of so-called “military goods and technology” to Indonesia.
We continue to follow this.
Further reading: Irish President Catherine Connolly welcomes indigenous West Papuan Environmental and Human Rights Defenders to Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence and workplace of the President of Ireland.
Video still: Danilo Ramos speaks with FEU Advocate.
Danilo Ramos, the Chairperson of the Philippine Farmers’ Movement (KMP), was present at the ongoing “kampuhan” protest camp outside the Department of Agrarian Reform in Quezon City on Monday October 19.
The FEU Advocate, the official student publication of Far Eastern University in Manila, explains that the peasant-led “kampuhan” is calling for “genuine land reform and an end to land grabbing” and that they “condemn land conversion and foreign-backed development projects, including those linked to the Luzon Economic Corridor and the U.S.-led Pax Silica”, a “strategic initiative” to secure their supply chain for the critical minerals and rare earths required for semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), high-level technologies, and advanced military equipment.
At that camp, Ramos told the FEU Advocate: “The main call is land for the farmers, not for Pax Silica. …The main theme is land, against corruption, imperialist plunder, strengthening the local production of food and importation, as well as helping the victims of the series of calamities, especially during the El Niño.”
Today, ABS-CBN reports: “Farmers and indigenous peoples continued their ‘Kampuhang Magbubukid’ protest in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) central office in Quezon City on Tuesday, October 20.”
“The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemned the Quezon City Police District’s alleged use of violence against Bulatlat reporter Ernest Cruz during Monday’s protest at the DAR central office.”
That article adds: “The protesting groups, DAR, and the Quezon City government have also entered into a memorandum of understanding to ensure that the protesters will not be forced to leave the area until their program has concluded. The camp out protest is expected to conclude on Wednesday.”
Protest at Camp Aguinaldo
Additionally, the Philippine Canadian Inquirer reports on a protest about 10 kilometres away at Camp Aguinaldo.
That news article notes: “The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has defended its counterinsurgency operations following a protest by farmers and other groups outside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, where demonstrators raised concerns over alleged militarization and human rights violations in rural communities.”
It adds: “The protest brought together farmers from Bicol, Southern Tagalog, Negros and Central Luzon. They condemned the reported militarization of Indigenous communities and alleged threats against people asserting their land rights. Demonstrators also called for justice for the 19 people killed in a military operation in Toboso, Negros Occidental, an incident that has drawn calls for an independent investigation.”
PBI-Canada and Danilo Ramos
PBI-Canada first met Danilo Ramos along with Rosie Lucente of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) on April 29, 2026, in Ottawa. We also recently met with him at the Kapit Bisig conference in Toronto on September 25-26, 2026.
In April 2026, Peace Brigades International (PBI) launched a Southeast Asia Project to accompany human rights defenders in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. This project is focused on the acute exposure to extractive industries, land conflicts, and climate-related violence defenders face.
Peace Brigades International-Canada is following the opposition to Pax Silica with the awareness that the Philippines is an extremely dangerous country for land and environmental defenders.
Video still: Manuel speaks at protest near the Canada Investment Summit gala dinner in Toronto, September 24, 2026.
Secwepemc-Ktunaxa land and water defender Kanahus Manuel has posted on social media: “Meet you in Ottawa, come stand with us for our Indigenous rights, title territories and self-determination.”
The National Day of Action coincides with the First Nations-First Ministers’ Meeting (FNFMM) that same day in Ottawa.
The Canadian Press reports: “The [provincial] premiers, [Canadian Prime Minister Mark] Carney and First Nations representatives [mostly regional chiefs from the Assembly of First Nations] are set to meet in Ottawa on October 26, just as tensions are rising over the federal and provincial governments’ major projects agenda.”
Another Canadian Press article notes: “Chiefs are set to meet with Carney and the country’s premiers in Ottawa later this month, and major projects are expected to be a major topic of debate.”
Those major projects include the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline (on Gitanyow and Gitxsan territory), LNG Canada Phase 2 (on Wet’suwet’en territory), and the Pacific Link oil pipeline (on Secwepemc territory).
On October 1, CBC News reported: “[The proposed Pacific Link] pipeline carrying one million barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the British Columbia coast has become the first project designated in the national interest, the federal and Alberta governments have announced.”
This past July, the Government of Canada Major Projects Office had stated the pipeline would “largely follow the existing Trans Mountain corridor”. The current Trans Mountain pipeline crosses about 518 kilometres of unceded Secwepemc territory in northern British Columbia.
In May 2022, when the Trans Mountain pipeline was being built, CBC News reported: “In a letter dated April 29, [the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination] CERD said the governments of Canada and British Columbia ‘have escalated their use of force, surveillance, and criminalization of land defenders to intimidate, remove and forcibly evict Secwepemc and Wet’suwet’en Nations from their traditional lands…’ The letter goes on to name the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) and private security forces as the perpetrators. …CERD previously sent letters in 2019 and 2020 asking B.C. and Canada to refrain from using force against Wet’suwet’en and Secwepemc Nations and to withdraw police and security services from traditional territories.”
The Truth Before Reconciliation Education & Advocacy Network website highlights the three demands of the National Day of Action: “1) Recognition and Respect for Aboriginal Title, Inherent Rights, and Treaties. 2) A New Policy Framework based on Nation-to-Nation relations, not federal delegation. 3) Restoration and Restitution for lands and resources taken without consent.”
The Space of Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC) has posted: “In the framework of the 25th anniversary of the murder of human rights defender Digna Ochoa y Plácido, family members and civil society organizations held a press conference and a symbolic act in front of the facilities of the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico City, to honor her memory and reiterate the demands for truth. justice and reparation.”
Espacio OSC notes: “25 years after her murder, the organizations denounced the lack of substantive progress in the investigation that would clarify the facts, identify responsibilities and punish those responsible.”
“During the event, the organizations warned that the conditions of risk for human rights defenders continue in Mexico. Threats, criminalization, disappearances, and killings affect defenders, their families, organizations, and communities.”
“They pointed out that during 2025, 43 murders of human rights defenders were documented in the country.”
The Protection Mechanism
Espacio OSC also highlighted: “It is a matter of concern that the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists continues to lack the strengthening it requires to guarantee effective protection. Between 2024 and June 2026, it received 409 requests for protection, of which 289 were inadmissible: 70.66%.”
And they cautioned: “These barriers to access, added to the deficiencies in the care of beneficiaries, have serious consequences. Some people have lost their lives while they had protection measures or were waiting to be reinstated.”
Starting on September 20, 2025, Manuel Jabonero Prieto, the advocacy coordinator for the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project, accompanied Héctor Hugo Arreola Galván and Elizabeth Guadalupe Mosqueda Rivera from the Civil Society Space of Organizations (Espacio OSC) in Ottawa to present proposals to strengthen the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.
PBI-Canada continues to support Espacio OSC and PBI-Mexico calls to strengthen the Protection Mechanism. We also support the United Steelworkers (USW) call for the creation of a National Protocol for the Protection of Trade Unionists and Labour Rights Defenders in Mexico, coordinated by an Inter-institutional Immediate Reaction Table for High-Risk Labour Disputes.
On October 16, the Central Union of Workers (CUT) in Colombia announced that Nelson Javier Alarcón Suárez had been elected its new president.
Radio Hoy notes: “One of the main messages of the pronouncement was the decision to maintain opposition to the Government of Abelardo de la Espriella.” Specifically, the statement says: “Maintain the unwavering decision to oppose the government of Abelardo de la Espriella and the fascist regime he is implementing.”
Infobae reports: “In October 2018, Nelson Javier Alarcón Suárez assumed the presidency of the Colombian Federation of Education Workers [known as FECODE], an organization that brings together teachers from the public sector and is one of the most representative subsidiaries of the CUT.”
“During his time in the federation, Alarcón became one of the union spokespersons linked to the national mobilizations of 2019 and 2021. In those years he participated in the activities of the National Strike Committee, a space in which trade union and social organizations converged to promote days of protest and present demands to the Government.”
Video still: Alarcón at mobilization in October 2018.
That Infobae article adds: “His public exposure was accompanied by complaints about threats against his life and that of his family. Due to this situation, he had to temporarily leave Colombia in mid-2021, according to the background of his union career.”
In its article about the election of Alarcón to lead CUT, Portafolio reports: “The union confirmed that it will maintain social mobilization and presence in the streets as a central mechanism of action, along with its participation in institutional scenarios such as the Permanent Commission for the Coordination of Wage and Labor Policies (CPCPSL) and the Congress of the Republic.”
Solidarity with Yessika Hoyos
The first public statement from Alarcón on the CUT Facebook page is his expression of solidarity with Yessika Hoyos.
In this video, Alarcón says: “From the Central Union of Workers and as president of it, all our solidarity and accompaniment to Dr. Yessika Hoyos, member of CAJAR, who has been a victim of threat, stigmatization and persecution. We reiterate all our solidarity. At the same time, we demand the government of Abelardo de la Espriella provide all the guarantees of protection and security for her and her whole family and at the same time, I leave those directly responsible for this reprehensible situation and that we reject from the Central Union of Workers.”
The father of Yessika Hoyos, Jorge Darío Hoyos Franco, a Colombian labour leader, was assassinated on March 3, 2001. At that time, he worked as an advisor and organizer for the national teachers’ union, FECODE, along with other unions.
Peace Brigades International has accompanied the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) since 1995. Yessika Hoyos joined CAJAR in 2001 as a law student. The AFL-CIO has noted: “In 2006, she founded an organization, along with the relatives of other slain trade unionists and human rights advocates, to build a social movement that will preserve the memory of the murdered and will help bring an end to the impunity brought on by a failed prosecutorial and justice system.”
The CUT
The Central Union of Workers (CUT) is the largest union federation in Colombia representing about 600,000 workers. Nearly 800 members of CUT were murdered between 1987 and 1992.
El Espectador reports on a death threat against lawyer Yessika Hoyos, a member of the José Alvear Restrepo Collective (Cajar) in Colombia.
The threat has also been made against three members of the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (Movice) in the department (province) of Sucre: Candelaria Barrios Acosta, Malena Martínez Montoya and Juan David Díaz Chamorro.
The newspaper reports: “At 1:05 p.m. on October 18, a message arrived on the phone of lawyer Yessika Hoyos Morales: ‘If William steps on jail, you (sic) Candelaria, Malena and Juan David buy the boxes (stay still) we are following you.’”
It is believed that this is related to the conviction of William Martínez Santamaría, the former director of Comfasucre, the Family Compensation Fund of Sucre, who has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for the killing of three brothers in the village of La Guaripa in Sucre in January 2018.
Hoyos represented the victims in this court case while Movice accompanies the family in their search for justice.
El Espectador notes: “Now, a month after the conviction, the message received by Hoyos and Barrios threatens reprisals if Martínez Santamaría goes to prison.”
Cajar comments: “This threat occurs in a country where, between January and August 2026, at least 112 social leaders and human rights defenders were murdered, and where the Constitutional Court has declared an unconstitutional state of affairs due to the lack of guarantees for their work (Judgment SU-546 of 2023). Three of the four people threatened are women defenders, which aggravates the risk.”
Cajar also calls “on the international community, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, the Inter-American Commission, the diplomatic corps, and human rights organizations to accompany the threatened persons and to follow up on the State’s response.”
Solidarity from the Central Union of Workers (CUT)
In a social media post, the Central Union of Workers (CUT) has expressed “its full solidarity with Yessika Hoyos, a member of Cajar, who has been the victim of threats, stigmatization, and persecution.” CUT adds: “We demand that the Government of Abelardo de la Espriella provide immediate protection for her and her family, as well as justice and punishment for those responsible.”
In this video, CUT president Nelson Alarcón Suárez says: “From the Central Union of Workers and as president of it, all our solidarity and accompaniment to Dr. Yessika Hoyos, member of CAJAR, who has been a victim of threat, stigmatization and persecution. We reiterate all our solidarity. At the same time, we demand the government of Abelardo de la Espriella provide all the guarantees of protection and security for her and her whole family and at the same time, I leave those directly responsible for this reprehensible situation and that we reject from the Central Union of Workers.”
Statements of solidarity
Humanidad Vigente (Humanity Endures) has also posted: “We express our solidarity and demand guarantees for their lives, an investigation that allows us to identify those responsible and the recognition of the work of those who defend human rights and support victims in their search for truth and justice.”
And the Ombudsman’s Office of Colombia has expressed its “deep concern over the reported death threats”.
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has accompanied the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) since 1995.
Photo: PBI with Hoyos in 2004.
Photo: Hoyos in Ottawa in May 2009.
PBI-Canada and PBI-Colombia briefly met with Hoyos during a visit to the Cajar office in Bogota on July 5, 2022.
The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project is sharing on their Facebook page statements from the Maya and Xinka Indigenous Authorities of Guatemala, the Protection Unit for Human Rights Defenders – Guatemala (UDEFEGUA), the Forum of International Non-Governmental Organizations in Guatemala (FONGI), and a joint statement from international organizations following the murder of Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa in Guatemala City this past weekend.
News reports/context
France 24 reports: “Former anti-corruption prosecutor and high-profile lawyer Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa was killed by hitmen on Saturday, October 17, while playing soccer on a field in Guatemala City, in a crime that President Bernardo Arévalo strongly condemned.”
That article adds: “Two days before his death, he published a video in which he said that an operation allegedly carried out by mercenaries of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States in the city of Huité, in the department of Zacapa, to capture a high-profile drug trafficker caused the death of eight people from the town. according to him, without criminal links, in an incursion in which more than 100 ‘elements of the Army who activated their weapons at some point’ would have participated.”
Prensa Comunitaria also notes: “The last video he posted on his networks was on October 15 where he talks about the death of eight people in Huité, Zacapa. ‘My conclusion after analyzing the data we have is that it was an incursion by CIA mercenaries, supported by the Guatemalan army and carried out from the US military bases in Honduras,’ he wrote at the time of publishing the video.”
The Los Angeles Times further reports: “Foppa, who had state security because he had received threats, was recognized for his constant criticism of the management of former President Alejandro Giammattei and that of former Attorney General Consuelo Porras, and used to question the co-optation of justice.”
And the Spanish news agency EFE notes: “Solórzano, who served as director of Criminal Analysis (2013–2016) at the Public Prosecutor’s Office and head of the Superintendency of Tax Administration (2016–2018), gained notoriety for leading intelligence efforts in high-profile investigations, including key expert testimony in the ‘La Línea’ case that forced President Otto Pérez Molina to resign in 2015, and for taking on the defense of imprisoned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín.”
Prensa Comunitaria comments: “Solórzano Foppa, 43, stood out as a lawyer who denounced cases of corruption, investigated gangs and organized crime.”
The statement from the Maya and Xinka Indigenous Authorities of Guatemala says: “As the Indigenous authorities of our peoples, we express our condemnation and indignation regarding the vile and cowardly murder of Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa—a man who, throughout his life and in the various roles he held, made meaningful contributions to the people of Guatemala.”
Their statement adds: “We demand that the government of Guatemala put an end to this wave of violence—a situation that is escalating against political contenders, even as we approach the start of the 2027 electoral process.”
The statement posted to social media by UDEFEGUA says: “With deep sorrow and respect, we join in the outrage over the murder of Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa—a lawyer and former public official who dedicated his efforts to the pursuit of legality and the fight against impunity in Guatemala. We reaffirm our solidarity with his family and loved ones, while also joining the call for the State to ensure a proper and transparent investigation into this crime.”
The statement from FONGI says: “We call upon the State of Guatemala and the relevant institutions—within the scope of their constitutional and legal mandates—to fully clarify these events and ensure an exhaustive, independent, and transparent investigation, with full respect for due process. It is essential that these investigations lead to the identification and establishment of all applicable criminal liability—covering both the actual perpetrators and those who may have planned, ordered, or facilitated the commission of these crimes—and that those responsible are brought to justice and sanctioned in accordance with the law.”
And the statement from international organizations says: “We call upon the international community to stand in solidarity with the family of Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa, to urge the State to clarify what occurred, and to ensure the protection of human rights in Guatemala. It is imperative that effective measures be taken to protect human rights defenders and to guarantee a safe environment where they can carry out their work without fear of reprisal.”
Additional statements
PBI accompanied journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc has also posted on social media: “Our condolences and strength to the family and close friends, from these ancestral Mayan lands of El Estor, Izabal.”
And the PBI accompanied FAMDEGUA has posted on social media: “The Assembly of the Guatemala Association of Family Members of Detained and Missing Persons (FAMDEGUA) and relatives of victims of the Diario Militar case mourn and condemn the heinous murder of Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, grandson of Alaíde Foppa, a poet and social activist who disappeared under forced circumstances in 1980. We express our deep solidarity with his family and loved ones. We demand truth and justice for this crime.”
The Embassy of Canada
The Embassy of Canada in Guatemala has also posted on social media: “Today is a sad day for Guatemala. Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa was a brave man who fought for an impartial justice system, among others. Our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. His murder cannot go unpunished: to honor his memory is to demand justice and defend the democracy he served.”
Accompaniment
The statement from the Maya and Xinka Indigenous Authorities of Guatemala is posted on the Facebook page of the San Francisco Quezaltepeque Indigenous Community which is accompanied by Peace Brigades International.
Photo: The group “Stop General Dynamics” organized a protest at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield facility on May 30, 2026.
The Rover, a Quebec-based reader-funded investigative journalism project, reports that the General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) facility in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, just south of Montreal, produces M31A2 propellant used in heavy artillery systems, particularly 155mm shells.
That propellant, a type of explosive fuel used to launch artillery shells, is exported to the United States through contracts administered by the Ottawa-based Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC).
Now, General Dynamics has plans to increase production of the M31A2 artillery propellant by expanding its facility near Montreal with $390 million in funding from the United States Department of War.
Earlier this year, the Government of Canada also awarded almost $1.1 billion in “contribution agreements” to GD-OTS including $355.7 million to construct a nitrocellulose facility in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. Nitrocellulose is the primary chemical foundation used for the propellant charges that fire 155mm artillery shells.
The Maple has also reported that the $682 million expansion that would add 12 new buildings will allow GD-OTS to expand its production of M31A2 propellant from 6 million pounds per year to 16 million pounds per year.
Construction on the facility will reportedly be finished in 2028.
BAPE: “Potential violations of international humanitarian law”
On June 29, 2026, the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE) issued its report on the planned expansion. The BAPE commission of inquiry urged “the Government of Quebec—as it develops its defense sector—to consider the risks of potential violations of international humanitarian law and to ensure that an appropriate forum exists for addressing public concerns.”
Ploughshares: “155mm artillery shells – the primary driver of civilian harm”
In March 2025, the Waterloo, Ontario-based Project Ploughshares documented: “Throughout Operation Swords of Iron [the Israeli military assault in Gaza that began in October 2023], Israel has relied heavily on 155mm shells, most supplied by the US government.”
Upon impact, 155mm shells expel 2,000 sharp metal fragments in every direction, risking injury, death, and permanent disability to civilians within 300 meters of the blast.
Ploughshares adds: “Throughout this operation, Israel has repeatedly faced credible allegations of violating international humanitarian law (IHL). Humanitarian and human rights monitors have identified the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) – largely airstrikes and ground-launched munitions such as 155mm artillery shells – as the primary driver of civilian harm events.”
The export of artillery propellants
The Maple has reported: “In September 2024, the U.S. Department of War listed Israel as a destination for up to $55.1 million USD worth of M31A2 produced by GD-OTS.”
The March 2025 Project Ploughshares report further notes: “This agreement [to supply the United States with artillery propellants for Israel] was signed after Canada announced that it was suspending arms exports to Israel, which authorities stated would explicitly include weapons transfers through the United States.”
And by July 2026, the Ottawa-based Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit agency, indicated that “propellant powders” (which would include the M31A2 propellant), are among “Canada’s strongest export opportunities” and that “existing capabilities have the potential to capture growing global defence markets”.
The Arms Sales Accountability Project says “the M109 is a U.S. designed self-propelled howitzer that fires 155mm artillery rounds”.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) further notes: “The world’s seventh largest weapons manufacturer, U.K. company BAE Systems manufactures the M109 howitzer, a 155mm mobile artillery system that the Israeli military has been using extensively, firing tens of thousands of shells into the Gaza Strip.”
The AFSC adds: “They are slated to gradually be replaced by the 155mm Ro’em/Sigma, ‘the world’s first fully automatic howitzer’, made in Israel by Elbit Systems.” In June 2024, Janes Information Services reported: “The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on 3 June that the first of its new Roem self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) recently entered service and had been fired for the first time.”
Photo: The Israeli military fires a howitzer at Gaza, May 2021.
GD-OTS, BAE and Elbit at CANSEC 2026
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), BAE Systems and Elbit Systems were present at the annual CANSEC arms show at the Cohere Centre in Ottawa this past May 27-28, 2026.
The Ottawa-based Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) promotes CANSEC as “Canada’s largest defence, security & emerging tech tradeshow where $1B+ in business deals happen every year”.
The General Dynamics news release for CANSEC in 2026 highlighted: “GDOTS Canada is advancing Canada’s 155mm artillery capabilities through a series of major industrial initiatives at its Quebec facilities. These efforts include establishing domestic production of critical materials like nitrocellulose, alongside new capabilities to load, assemble, and pack (LAP) modular artillery charges used in 155mm systems.”
Photo: A banner with the names of some of the more than 21,000 Palestinian children killed since October 2023 is draped across the main parking lot entrance to the CANSEC arms show with Ottawa Police Service riot police in the background.
GD-OTS at CANSEC 2025
In May 2025, GD-OTS posted photos on social media in which their “Large Caliber Ammunition Propelling Charges For 155mm Artillery Projectiles” display is visible. That display noted: “M231/M232A1 Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS).”
Peace Brigades International-Canada monitors the export of Canadian “military goods” and their impacts on the safety and security of human rights defenders within a context of upholding international law and international human rights norms.
The Government of Canada definition of human rights defenders includes journalists, land rights and environmental human rights defenders, Indigenous human rights defenders, workers, activists, students and others who “act to promote or protect human rights through peaceful means”.
In March 2024, Mary Lawlor, then the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders, wrote in The Guardian: “Palestinian human rights defenders have emphasized to me the importance of a ban being placed on [the sales of weapons to Israel], given that Israel has demonstrated time and again that it will use such weapons indiscriminately against Palestinians.”
The Qatar News Agency reports that as of today 74,475 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023 with another 175,517 Palestinians injured.
We continue to follow this.
Poster: Shut Down CANSEC was at the “Evening of Convergence and Mobilization Against Militarism” in Montreal, September 26, 2026.
