El Estor, Guatemala

 

Houses in la Barrio de la Revolucion were dismantled and burnt to the ground during the eviction. Photo by James Rodriguez mimundo.org

Because of rising prices for nickel, gold, and other natural resources, there have been increasing efforts to reopen, expand and establish new mining operations all around the globe. Unfortunately many of these operations occur on traditional Native land, violating indigenous people's human rights and not recognizing the ownership of their own lands.

In El Estor, Guatemala, this is exactly what is happening. For the last three years, the Center has been providing legal help to Maya Q'eqchi' leaders to defend their collective land rights in the face of an increasingly tense land conflict with a Canadian nickel mining company, Skye Resources. Seventeen Maya villages that fall within the mining area are resisting the mine. Efforts to reopen and expand a nickel mine on traditional Maya lands have already forced some Q'eqchi' from their lands and threaten to cause permanent damage to their environment. These Maya people have suffered death threats, harassment, and intimidation, as well as the destruction of several villages and the forced removal of villagers from their land.

450 Police officers and 250 Soldiers helped forcibly evict the inhabitants of Barrio de la Revolucion. Photo by James Rodriguez  mimundo.org

In late 2006, the Center took action to defend the lives of three leaders of the Defensoria Q'eqchi' because of various threats and assassination attempts likely related to the on-going land conflict. We sought the intervention of the IACHR, which ordered the Guatemalan government to take firm measures to protect the lives of these Mayan human rights defenders. In 2007, the Center secured protective measures for these leaders.

We are currently preparing to bring a major case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to protect the right of the Maya Q'eqchi' and shut down the nickel mine. Working with our local partner, Defensoria Q'eqchi', we have completed a number of studies and legal analyses to prepare the case, and we have taken steps to exhaust domestic legal remedies.

The evictions left many people without homes and supplies. Photo by James Rodriguez  mimundo.org

A second threat to the Maya Q'eqchi's rights to self-determination and rights to their lands and natural resources is the creation of "protected areas".  These protected areas - both proposed and established - transfer the control and management of lands from the Q'eqchi' to private/public institutions.

In March 2008 the Center presented at a hearing before the IACHR, drawing upon environmental law and human rights law, while maintaining an indigenous point of view, the Center developed leading arguments to support indigenous control of protected areas.

Background information:

:: In 1954 the first Guatemalan democratic government was overthrown.

A view of the mine in the El Estor region. Photo by James Rodriguez  mimundo.org

:: For the next 4 decades hundreds of thousands were displaced and killed during a bloody civil war.

:: In 1965 the military government granted the Canadian mining company INCO large tracts of land on traditional Mayan soil which housed a mine that operated briefly in the 1980's.

:: INCO was bought out by another Canadian mining company, Skye Resources, and in 2005 the Guatemalan Government granted the company a mining exploitation license to the subsidiary of Skye Resources, the Guatemalan Nickel Company.

:: On January 8^th and 9^th, 2007, 450 police officers and 250 soldiers forcibly evicted the inhabitants of various communities and destroyed their homes.

To read more about our work in Guatemala, and to get more background information, please see our articles on the situation in an issue of our Indigenous Notes.