info release from guatemalan government regarding mining policy.
a quick note from guate city: it is beautiful outside, the central plaza is filled to the brim with people buying and selling everything, it’s great. i’m in a nice dark internet cafe sending emails and updating this blog…
Had the pleasure of meeting Luis Solano and doing an extended interview with him yesterday. His book Guatemala: petróleo y minería en las entrañas del poder is a must for anyone interested in mining, gas, Guatemala or Central America, and canadian companies. it will be translated into English shortly.
From the CEH (Guatemalan Truth Comission): The details of the murder of Oscar Adolfo Mijangos López, lawyer, human rights defender and activist against the INCO Nickel mine (EXMIBAL) in eastern Guatemala.
In other news, Canadian exports to Guatemala.
That’s all for now.
The Politics of Oil, and No War for Oil, by Charles Kohlhaas, CEO of Truestar Petroleum. Head office 333 Seymour, Vancouver.
“we have a legacy asset, that’s the original purpose of the company, which is a license in Guatemala. Now Guatemala, many people don’t realize, is an oil producing country, but the interesting thing about guatemala is it’s actually produced oil for quite a long time… Guatemala has had a bad time in the past with a communist insurgency, and several attempts to overthrow the government over a rather long period of time, that’s now been, uh, supressed, the country is now peaceful, you’ve got a very friendly group of people down there, you have a government that is hospitable to foreign investment, they uh have actually been up in the US on essentially a roadshow, trying to elicit foreign investment in their oil and gas industry, they have undeveloped, known hydrocarbon assets, they have pipelines and infrastructure in place, they have export port facilities in place, there is production in the country, which is operating and operating quite well. The export market is essentially the carribean and US gulf coast refineries.Most of the oil is coming up to the gulf coast, they get paid, they get paid in dollars, they get paid at a huston price minus the transport cost. So, it’s a good place to work, uh, and the particular licence that we have its a 544,000 acre licence.” -2006 Podcast of a symposium presentation by Kohlhaas. Injunction in the US for the books of Lexico corp, in Kohlhaas’ possession. Macquarrie, the bank that is financing Truestar.
i’m putting these together for when i travel, so i can refer back to them. should you be interested:
Canadian guide to the key docs of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
“The current resurgence of Canadian mining interest in Central America, particularly in Guatemala, fuelled by historically high prices for gold and nickel and supported by renewed investor confidence in the Berger regime, has the potential to involve our missions on several different levels in the coming months. This resurgence of interest is reflected in the fact that Canadian mining interests will soon form the largest single source of both foreign investment and revenue for the Guatemalan government for the next several decades. The three major Canadian mining companies in Guatemala are expected to have investments in that country totalling approximately $660 million in the near future.” -Canada’s international market access priorities, 2005.
Open letter about Canada’s mining companies in Guatemala. The list of signatories is a who’s who of people working on mining/solidarity issues with Guatemala.
“I’m sorry to say that Inco’s Guatemala project was not a success.” -Scott Hand, Chairperson and CEO of Inco, 2006.
CANADIAN COOPERATION OFFICE IN GUATEMALA (CCOG)
Promises by Lloyd Axworthy on signing of Peace Accords in Guate in 96.
Critique of CIDA aid, 1996, by Mark Fried.
“I notice from my own visits with Canadian representatives, they support a lot of projects, like transmigration which causes a lot of problems. And when I talk with them I get nothing concrete. It has to come from Canadians. You have to change CIDA.” -John Rumbiak, human rights activist in West Papua.
tax incentives for mining companies based in canada.
CANADA: Activists Push for Sustainable Mining Comprehensive article about Canadian mining corporations, Points towards important documents. According to the article, “Canada has nearly 60 percent of the mining and exploration companies in the world; they generate more than 40 billion dollars annually, representing about four percent of Canada’s GDP.”
mas fotos, estos mostran chile al fin de los años ochentas.
these are some of the most intense, excellent portraits that i have seen. there are lots, so get comfy.