[Aztlan] Mining Impacts - Indigenous Highland Maya Towns

[Elaine Schele]

Dear Listeros,

I don't know if any of you are aware of what the sequence of events
happening in San Miguel Ixtahuacán and in Saqmuj in the Western
highlands of Guatemala.

The context:  "As the Canadian gold mining giant Goldcorp attempted to
begin new mineral exploration in Saqmuj last week, community members
rallied in opposition, fearing mining activities would jeopardize
precious water resources and result in additional environmental and
health impacts. The conflict lead to the destruction of some company
equipment. As a result, the Guatemalan police and military moved in en
mass to the region, surrounding the offices of local development
organization ADISMI, and Goldcorp has filed legal complaints against
community leaders."  It is generally a big mess.

Here is a copy and paste from Reuters:

Protesters burn equipment at Guatemala gold mine
Reuters
6/15/2009

GUATEMALA CITY, June 15 (Reuters) - Protesters set fire to equipment
at a gold mine owned by Goldcorp (G.TO: Quote, Profile, Research,
Stock Buzz) in western Guatemala but the disturbance has not affected
operations, a company official told Reuters on Monday.  Mayan
villagers in the town in San Miguel Ixtahuacan in the mountainous
region near the border with Mexico claimed the Canadian mining company
was trespassing on their land and set fire to a pickup truck and an
exploration drill rig on Friday.

"They just came and attacked. They seem to want us to remove the rigs
but it's our land," Tim Miller, a Goldcorp vice president in Central
and South America, told Reuters.  Damage to the equipment, which was
being leased by a contractor of Goldcorp, will not affect production
at the Marlin mine since the tools were part of a drilling project
outside the main operations, Miller added.

The protesters said Goldcorp does not have rights to the property and
claimed that for two weeks they had asked the company leave the area.
Guatemala has a long history of land disputes, which have been
inflamed by international mining projects in some areas. Marlin is set
to produce 250,000 ounces of gold and some 4 million ounces of silver
annually over the course of its mine life but has met with sporadic
opposition since building began in 2004. In 2005, a Mayan man was
killed at a protest blocking a road transporting heavy machinery to
the mine, and last year output was interrupted when a local resident
tampered with a power line. (Reporting by Sarah Grainger; Editing by
Marguerita Choy)

Here is some photographic history of what was happening up to May 25,
2009: http://tinyurl.com/lbetjs