This is yet another mine-related killing that has Canada written all over it. Both the mining companies the Ngobe Bugle are trying to keep out of their reserve are Canadian with Corriente being based in Toronto and Petaquilla Minerals’ head office is in downtown Vancouver (Suite 1230, 777 Hornby Street).

The most recent Ngobe Bugle protests are due to the Panamanian Congress abitrarily removing form the new mining bill a clause that banned the development of mining and dams in the indigenous territories.Pls see the following links for petitions and more info.

It does not seem clear why the clause that was reached after a year’s negotiation with the Ngobe Bugle was suddenly dropped, but it is worth noting that in mid-2010 The Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement entered into effect. The FTA includes investor protection clauses allowing Canadian mining transationals to sue Panama for millions in lost “future” profits if trade tribunals deem that the companies were unfairly prevented from exploiting mines in Panama. Perhaps the Panamanian legislators got cold feet after taking a look at El Salvador, where Vancouver-based Pacific Rim is using a similar clause in CAFTA to sue the Salvadoran government for hundreds of millions for denying them a permit to exploit a gold mine.

“Corriente Resources Inc. have reportedly been working in the area since 2009 with the assistance of the consultancy firm, Kokopelli, owned by Canadian Don Clarke. Kokopelli’s role is, according to its own website, “to work directly with industry to build sustainable, respectful and responsible relationships with Indigenous communities.” Don Clarke was also Vice President of sustainable development for Ecuacorriente, a subsidiary of Corriente Resources Inc, a company which was allegedly at the centre of human rights abuses and social conflicts in Ecuador.”
-Broken Promises Fuel a New Wave of Anti-Mining Protests in Panama (http://intercontinentalcry.org/broken-promises-fuel-a-new-wave-of-anti-mining-protests-in-panama/)

Petition to the President of Panama:

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/take-action/panama/stop-violence-against-ngobe-protesters

Panama Expels Canadian Political Activist and Journalist Rosie Simms
http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20120127123925349

Before 11 January 2012, Guatemala’s minister responsible for mining must decide whether to allow a mine in Santa Rosa department, southeastern Guatemala, to begin extracting metals and minerals. Local communities have not been consulted about the plans.

The company planning to carry out the mining, Minera San Rafael S.A., is a subsidiary of Canadian company Tahoe Resources Inc. They already have a licence to explore the site, located in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores. However, while this licence must be renewed after two years, the licence for exploitation, needed for extracting materials from the mine, is granted for 25 years. Those living next to the mine were not consulted before the exploration licence was granted, in breach of Guatemala’s obligations under international law. In addition, the communities and environmental organizations have been unable to see the Environmental Impact Assessment that was reportedly prepared to support the company’s application for the exploitation licence. On 1 December, environmental organization MadreSelva filed a freedom of information request with the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources in order to gain access to this assessment.

Many of those living close to the mine make their living by selling crops. There is concern that the processes used in mining, which may involve the use of cyanide and other toxic chemicals, could lead to the pollution of the water they use to water their crops. Residents have told Amnesty International that one company has already expressed concern about continuing to buy their crops if the mining goes ahead at the proposed site.

On 29 November, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) published an official notice in the Diario de Centroamerica (the official state newspaper) and the national newspaper Nuestro Diario, announcing the request to approve the exploitation licence. Neither of these newspapers is distributed in the department of Santa Rosa. The MEM has 30 working days from the publication of the notice to approve the licence.

Please send a letter, fax or email to the authorities in Guatemala.

* Start with Dear Minister.

* Describe who you are and what concerns you have about the fact that the authorities have not consulted with the communities likely to be impacted by the operation of the mine in the department of Santa Rosa.

* Request that no exploitation license be granted to Tahoe Resources Inc. until there has been full disclosure of relevant information and a meaningful consultation with those potentially affected has taken place.

* Call for assurances that the consultation on this mining project and future mining projects will allow for a careful examination of the impact on communities affected, in a manner that means the communities can participate effectively, and determine their free, prior and informed consent.

Write to:

Minister for Energy and Mines:
Alfredo Pokus Yaquian
Ministerio de Energia y Minas
Diagonal 17 29-78, zona 11
Colonia Las Carchas
Guatemala City, GUATEMALA

Postage: $1.75
Fax: + 502 2476 3175
Salutation: Dear Minister / Estimado Sr.Ministro

Minister for Environment and Natural Resources:
Dr. Luis Zurita Tablada
Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales
20 calle 28-58 zona 10
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Postage: $1.75
Email: ministro.ambientern@marn.gob.gt
Salutation: Dear Minister / Estimado Sr.Ministro

Please send copies of your letters to:

His Excellency Georges de la Roche Plihal
Ambassador for the Republic of Guatemala
130 Albert Street, Suite 1010
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4

Postage: $.59
Fax: (613) 233-0135
Email: consular@embaguate-canada.com

Environmental organization MADRESELVA:
Colectivo MadreSelva
6a avenida 2-60 zona 2
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Postage: $1.75
Email: colectivomadreselva@gmail.com
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The failure of the Guatemalan authorities to ensure meaningful consultation of local communities prior to the granting of mineral exploration or exploitation licences has been noted in recent years. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous Peoples noted after a visit to Guatemala in June 2010 that he had received allegations that on many occasions the Guatemalan government had granted licences for the exploitation of natural resources in Indigenous territories without the necessary consultations with local Indigenous Peoples.

Impact assessments should seek to identify and address adverse human rights impacts on the basis of consultation with those potentially affected, they should be made available sufficiently in advance to those potentially affected to allow for a careful examination of its contents, in a manner and through mediums that fully respect the principles of accessibility of information and non-discrimination so that the local community can participate effectively and give their free, prior and informed consent.

Concerns over the failure of the authorities to protect the human rights of communities impacted by mine operations led the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an inter-governmental body, to call on Guatemala to suspend operation of the Marlin mine in western Guatemala in May 2010. The IACHR also requested that Guatemala implement measures to prevent environmental contamination until the Commission reached a final decision on a petition presented by local communities. On 23 June 2010, the Guatemalan government announced that they would comply with the IACHR request to suspend the mining operations, but added the next day that this would take some time as legal and administrative processes would have to be followed. The mining company’s operations continue to date.

Under international law, including the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), voted for by Guatemala, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, ratified by Guatemala in 1996, Guatemala has a duty to consult Indigenous Peoples concerning investment projects. This includes projects involving the exploration or exploitation of natural resources in their territories.

In addition, under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Guatemala is a party, countries must ensure the right of all individuals and communities to participate in decisions that affect the realization of their human rights. For participation to be meaningful, people must be informed sufficiently in advance of the relevant decision-making process, and informed in a manner and in ways that fully respect the principles of accessibility of information and non-discrimination.

If you wish to follow this case after it is taken off the website, send an email to urgentaction@amnesty.ca with “Keep me updated on Guatemala: Communities threatened by mining” in the subject line.

The first Indigenous Assembly against Mining and Pipelines was held in Neskonlith, Secwepemc Territories. The second Indigenous Assembly is being planned in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories to coincide with the pro-mining “Meeting Minds, Making Mines” Conference being held at the Pan Pacific Hotel from November 6-8th. The conference is sponsored by mining corporations and the Canadian Aboriginal Mineral Association who want to want to “sell” and push mining further into Indigenous communities. Brochure here

Indigenous communities from across the province are gathering in Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories to oppose this conference and those corporations who profit off the destruction of the land. No mining, no pipelines, no resource extraction on unceded native lands! Defend the people, protect the land!

Basic Schedule:

* Friday Nov 4th evening and Saturday November 5th all day:
Indigenous Assembly Against Mining and Pipelines.
(By and for Indigenous communities)
706 Clarke Drive.
Details and to register, email Arthur Manuel amanuel@telus.net

* Sunday November 6th:
NO MINING ON NATIVE LAND!
Public Demonstration – All welcome, please spread the word.
March starts at 3 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery

* Monday November 7th
PUBLIC PANEL AT 6:30 PM
Impacted communities speak out against Mining
All welcome. Dinner served.
1803 East 1st Ave (just east of Commercial Drive)

To the Native Peoples of the World.

To the National Indigenous Congress.

To the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity.

To the Governments of the World.

The Wirikuta Defense Front of Tamatsima Waha’a, headed by the Wixarika Regional Council, release the following communiqué to those who with their solidarity have shared with us their path and their struggle, to the honest men and women of the world, to the peoples, nations and indigenous tribes, to the supportive and conscious students, to those who suffer as a result of the war that this country confronts and that is expressed in so many ways as injustices throughout the national territory, to the ecologists, housewives, defenders of human rights, to those who sing, pray and dance so that it not be forgotten that our Mother Earth is alive, to those who respect the determined word, beginning with respect for our ancestors who continue to give us rain, corn, life and new dawns.

Considering

* That the sacred desert of Wirikuta continues to be threatened by mining and agroindustrial companies that threaten the survival of this place that is fundamental for the balance of life on Earth,

* That after more than a year since the Wixarika People and with them, thousands of people throughout the world, have been raising our voices against the attempt to destroy one of the most important sacred sites on the planet which is fundamental for the continued existence of the Wixarika People, who with the collective voice of their community assemblies, which are borne by their traditional and agrarian authorities, by their jicareros and their elders, are the point of the arrow that is the Wirikuta Defense Front of Tamatsima Waha’a.

* That the answer of the government in the face of this outcry has been to give more concessions and permits to big mining and angroindustrial companies in order to devastate all of the sacred territory, at the cost of extreme poverty in the communities of the desert and at the cost of assassinating the Wixarika culture and the balance of the cosmos.

* That the United States of Mexico has taken no notice of its obligations to indigenous rights, to which it committed in international conventions and treaties.

* That the Mexican State has betrayed its word given in the Pact of Hauxa Manaká signed in 2008, between the national executive and the governors of four states of the republic.

* That the Regional Wixarika Council has decided to take to Mexico City its word directed to the peoples and the governments of the World.

Today, more than a year after we issued a historic demand, in the hope that a tomorrow will be possible for all in which we will continue to depend on the Sun being reborn each day

We hereby call you to join the Mobilization

Save Wirikuta, Sacred Heart of Mexico

Under the slogan:

The Moment is Now
Oct. 26-27, 2011

How to join:

Participate actively in the meetings with university students, intellectuals, artists and social movements that support the Wixarika people. The agenda will be released in a press conference held by the Wirikuta Defense Front and the Wixarika Regional Council on Oct. 26 at 10:30 a.m. in the Agustín Pro Human Rights Center, Serapio Rendón 57B, Colonia San Rafael.

Attend the reception and welcome the Wixarika delegation that will arrive in University City (National Autonomous University of Mexico) at 16:30 pm on the 26th.

Accompany us on the march that will be carried out on Oct. 27, with the concentration to be at 16:00 at the Angel of Independence and we will walk to the Museum of Anthropology, passing by the official residence of Los Pinos. Don’t forget to make offerings of Gods’ Eyes and bring a candle, use your creativity in the signs and banners alluding to the defense of Wirikuta. There will be music and cultural activities.

Participate from your cities and communities organizing forums, workshops, marches, informational meetings, parties, performances, etc. Send photographs and videos where you are showing your solidarity with Wirikuta to the following e-mails:

President of Mexico Felipe Calderon
felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx

Secretary of Governance
secretario@segob.gob.mx

Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights
oacnudh@ohchr.org

Wirikuta Defense Front, for its diffusion
comunicacion@frenteendefensadewirikuta.org and ajagi1@prodigy.net.mx

We hope to count on your support.

Respectfully,

Wirikuta Defense Front of Tamatsima Waha’a

Wixarika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta

An ebulliant band of demonstrators broke the corporate routine of Vancouver’s business district this morning, bursting into the streets with signs, whistles, props, baby carriages, bicycles, a thirty foot banner and a marching band in tow.

The occasion was Goldcorp’s annual general meeting, held at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Curious onlookers shot video, cops on bikes attended to disgruntled commuters, and the business set looked downright uncomfortable.

“We are here for a very important reason, everywhere lands are being stolen,” said Kat Norris, a Coast Salish/Nez Perce woman. “This has been going on for hundreds of years, and I say, shame!”

At least 200 people joined this morning’s demonstration. “It makes me feel that we’re not alone,” said Oliver Hernan, who is part of the National Resistance Front of Honduras and has been actively organizing against Goldcorp’s presence in his home country.

For full story: Vancouver Demo Kicks Back Against Goldcorp.

Activists are bringing their claims of environmental damage and rights violations against two Canadian mining companies operating in Latin America directly to the firms’ annual general meetings this week in Vancouver.

Calling themselves the Mining Justice Alliance, they will be seeking the attention of Goldcorp Inc. and First Majestic Silver Corp. shareholders to address their concerns.

At Goldcorp’s AGM today in particular, activists have succeeded in putting a special resolution to shareholders asking them to suspend operations at the company’s Marlin mine in Guatemala, as was recommended by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a branch of the Organization of American States.

Full story: Activists square off against Vancouver-based mining firms

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

SATURDAY, May 14, 7:00pm: Nevermined – A Night of Arts and Resistance, at the Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway

SUNDAY, May 15, noon-5:00pm, and 6:00-8:30pm: Symposium on Mining, Social Justice and Indigenous Self-determination, World Arts Studio (2nd floor), Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 West Hastings

MONDAY, May 16, 3:30-8:30pm: Wixárika-Wirikuta Forum: Sacred Sites, Mother Earth’s Rights and Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native Education College, 285 East 5th Avenue

TUESDAY, May 17, 10:30am: Press conference, in the boardroom of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, 500 – 342 Water Street

WEDNESDAY, May 18, 9:15am: Protest at Goldcorp‘s Annual General Meeting (AGM). Meet at Waterfront Station, 601 West Cordova St. March to Goldcorp AGM and the office of the Canada Pension Plan, which invests in destructive mining companies

THURSDAY, May 19, 9:30am: Protest at First Majestic Silver‘s AGM, at the Terminal City Tower, 837 West Hastings Street

For more information, contact: miningjustice@gmail.com

The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board currently has $256 million worth of shares in Goldcorp, the company that operates the highly-contested Marlin mine in Guatemala’s western highlands. In May 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued precautionary measures urging that the mine be suspended in order to ensure the health and safety of affected communities,and as a result of the severity of alleged underlying human rights violations regarding the lack of consultation and consent from local indigenous peoples. Almost a year later, the Marlin mine continues operating; intimidation and threats persist against those who are critical or outspoken against the mine.

Shareholders have presented a resolution to Goldcorp asking the company to voluntarily suspend operations at its Marlin mine in compliance with the precautionary measures. The proposal comes in the wake of violent confrontations at the mine site and highlights the increasing national and international press focus on this issue.

Through your pension payments, Canadians help finance Goldcorp’s operations and alleged human rights abuses in the Americas.

–Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala

Please take action today and tell the Canadian Pension Plan to vote for shareholder resolution that asks Goldcorp to respect international law and voluntarily suspend the Marlin mine in Guatemala.

     Download PDF [290KB]

Nevermined: A Night of Arts and Resistance
Saturday, May 14, 2011 Starting at 7:00 PM
Rhizome Cafe (317 East Broadway)
Admission by donation: $0-$10

While Vancouver mining companies are buying up and out opera halls, symphonies, beach bards, youth programs, and university art centres, they are blowing up mountains, bulldozing land bases, toxifying water, displacing communities, and targeting those who resist. They are buying artistic voices in Vancouver, while silencing indigenous communities and campesinos elsewhere.

It’s time to stop the masquerade. Join us for a night of arts and resistance.

For more information, contact: miningjustice@gmail.com