Gerardi’s memory is alive
Detail of a large quilt comemorating the murdered and disappeared from the department of Chimaltenango in Guatemala, displayed for the tenth anniversary of Bishop Juan Gerardi’s assassination. April 26, 2008.
April 26, 2008
February 28, 2008
Honduras - Plan de Cierre, Mina San Martin
Un resumen del plan de cierre que propone Goldcorp Inc. por la mina San Martín en Honduras. Algunos datos de interés:
La mina San Martín es una mina a ciel abierto, donde se han extraído alrededor de 500,000 onzas de oro.
Según el plan, la Fundación San Martín, que fue creada por la empresa en 2000, será encargada de administrar el sitio una vez que Entre Mares cese actividades industriales. La Fundación San Martín “promoverá en la medida de lo posible, el desarrollo sustentable en la zona. Hasta la fecha, la Fundación ha contribuida $26,000 a la comunidad.El plan señala que en la Ley General de Minería en Honduras, no establece ningún lineamiento especifico en cuanto al cierre o clausura de minas.
Señala que en los aguas superficiales, hay concentraciones “naturales” de arsénico, hierro, aluminio, antimonio, cadmio, plomo, níquel y magnesio, y que tres de las quebradas (Guajiniquil, Agua Tibia y Casitas) no son apta por consumo humano.
Peñasquito Project Summary
A couple of highlights:
The following mineral resources have been identified
-Measured & Indicated Resources 1,596,000,000 tonnes
-Inferred Resources 1,220,000,000 tonnes
The Peñasquito project will apply for permits to pump up to 40 million m3 of water per year. That’s equivalent to 40,000,000,000 liters per year. Zacatecas receives 28cm of rainfall per year.
The capacity of the Sulfide processing plant will be 130,000 tonnes per day.
The report estimates that total federal income tax paid over the life of the mine will be $2.0 billion. The net income to Goldcorp for the project over the life of the mine is over $5 billion.
February 15, 2008
Indigenous leaders pull out of FOCAL conference in Guatemala
For Immediate Release - February 11, 2008 - Guatemala City
The participants in the workshop “Economic Opportunities and Indigenous Development,” to take place from the 11th to the 14th of the present month, manifest the following to the national and international community:
First: As representatives of communities affected by mining activities, we were invited to participate in the aforementioned workshop by the Indigenous Development Fund of Guatemala (FODIGUA), to discuss the theme of mining exploration and exploitation in Guatemala.
Second: At the outset of the workshop, we were introduced to facilitators from FOCAL (Canadian Foundation for the Americas), who approached the topic of Indigenous development from the perspective of mining exploration and exploitation, with the supposed intention of learning about our proposals and generating dialogue between the state, mining companies and Indigenous communities.
Third: As the activity began to develop, the facilitator from FOCAL informed us that the workshop was co-financed by Goldcorp (Montana Exploradora de Guatemala), Skye Resources (Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel), the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the Prospectors and Developers’ Association of Canada (PDAC), by which the bias in the distinctive themes of the workshop and later in the proposed dialogue were made immediately clear.
Fourth: That public opinion be informed about the position of Indigenous communities with respect to mining in Guatemala, which has been manifested through more than 17 community referenda (consulta) which have rejected mining activity.
Therefore: As representatives of communities and indigenous organizations, and analyzing the content and the intentions of the workshop, we directly question the fact that the workshop was financed by the entities responsible of the damages to and exploitation of our natural resources.
We Resolve:
a) To withdraw our participation in the aforementioned workshop.
b) To reiterate our firm commitment to continue in the struggle in defense of Mother Earth and for the respect and dignity of our peoples.
c) To urge Indigenous communities and organizations in solidarity to be vigilant of the permanent attempts by the state and transnational companies to publicly manipulate our struggles.
Guatemala City, Guatemala, February 11th 2008.
By organizations and communities from: Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, Huehuetenango, Izabal, Retaluleu and San Marcos.
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September 25, 2007
Skye Resources Technical Report Summary
Click for a Summary Review of Skye Resources’ TECHNICAL REPORT TO AN UPDATE ON THE FENIX PROJECT. The review is slightly out of date because the company has delayed financing, but it gives an idea of the enormity of the project. Lea el resumen del informe técnico del CGN (Skye Resources) en español.
Also of interest may be MiningWatch Canada’s recent corporate analysis of Goldcorp Inc.
August 15, 2007
Turning the Tide: Chomping at the bit
A couple of thought provoking passages from Turning the Tide: The U.S. and Latin America by Noam Chomsky (1987).
“Assistance should be concentrated on those countries of primary strategic importance to the United States in cases of ideological warfare, excepting in those rare instances which present an opportunity for the United States to gain worldwide approbation by an act strikingly humanitarian.” Quoted from a secret report of the Joint Survey Committee, in 1984, in discussion of the military point of view on foreign assistance.
This one is pure Chomsky, on US intervention: “It is particularly important for people who hope to influence government policy to be clear about these matters. There is no point in wasting time in patiently explaining to our leaders that the policies they pursue are inconsistent with the goals they profess; they know this well enough without our help. Nor is there any reason to suppose that a different group of leaders would react in any essentially different way to the same institutional imperatives. It is not failure to understand a simple point so clear to us that regularly leads the political leadership to commit the same ‘error’ over and over again.”
August 12, 2007
August 7, 2007
Politic Amagni - Amadou et Miriam, 2004
La politique exige du sang, Des larmes/De l’ignorance, des mensonges/
Des vies et des votes/C’est pour cela, mon ami, c’est une évidence
La politique est violence/La politique c’est pas bon/La politique, c’est pas bon
Politiciens écoutez-nous/Politicien en faisant de la politique/Retirez-y vols et corruptions/Retirez-y mensonges et mots creux/Retirez-y conflits et crimes
Politiciens écoutez-nous/La démagogie nous n’en voulons pas/La corruption nous n’en voulons pas/Les exactions nous n’en voulons pas/Nous voulons des hommes honnêtes/Nous voulons des hommes intègres/Nous voulons du bonheur pour tout le monde/Nous voulons la paix pour tout le monde/Politiciens écoutez-nous…
