Crumbling political support for Tahoe Resources in Guatemala

Article written in collaboration with MiningWatch Canada and the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network. 

If the militarized security strategy that Tahoe Resources has used to put its Escobal silver mine into operation isn’t enough to raise questions about the ethics of the company’s operations in Guatemala, the recent resignation of Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina should be. Pérez Molina stepped down on September 2 after Congress voted to strip him of his political immunity. A week later, he was indicted on charges of illicit association, customs fraud, and bribery for his involvement in a customs network that robbed tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money.

Rewind to July 2013, when former President Otto Pérez Molina made a personal site visit to the Escobal mine located in San Rafael las Flores in the department of Santa Rosa. The visit took place just a few months after Tahoe’s head of security was arrested for his role in the shooting of seven peaceful protesters and a subsequent month-long military state of siege was imposed on four municipalities in the area. While at the mine, Pérez Molina mingled with workers and filmed a national television address affirming support for the project. 

Former President Otto Pérez Molina poses with Escobal mine
workers. Photo: Tahoe Resources

Today, Pérez Molina is accused of heading “La Linea” customs network that is said to have benefited transnational companies by offering lower tariffs in exchange for handsome pay-offs to politicians. Vice-president Roxana Baldetti has also been indicted on the same charges and over a dozen cabinet ministers potentially implicated in the fraud scandal have resigned, including Minister of Energy and Mines, Erik Archila. Archila approved Tahoe’s exploitation license in April 2013 without taking into consideration over 250 individual complaints filed against the license for potential impacts on water and health of the local population.

While it is unclear if Tahoe or other North American mining companies benefited from the fraud ring, the company’s cozy relationship with Otto Pérez Molina's scandal-ridden government has been well documented. During his administration, state-sponsored repression plagued communities in resistance to Tahoe and has facilitated the imposition of the Escobal mine against the will of the local population. 

It is too soon to know how the recent general election results may change this arrangement, but cracks have already started to show at the local level where Tahoe has also relied on close political relationships. 

Cracks in Tahoe’s privileged political support

During the past four years, Tahoe has relied on the mayor of San Rafael Las Flores to prevent local communities from holding a referendum about whether or not they want mining in their municipality. While the six municipalities surrounding the Escobal mine held referenda overwhelmingly rejecting mining, residents of San Rafael las Flores were denied this important opportunity. Instead, nine villages within the municipality organized their own referenda, in which the majority overwhelmingly rejected the Escobal mine. 

Results from Guatemala's general elections held September 6 indicate an important shift in support for Tahoe Resources in San Rafael las Flores, as well as in the surrounding areas. In San Rafael Las Flores, Roberto Pivaral, member of the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace who was an early victim of Tahoe's strategy to criminalize opponents, won enough support in rural areas of the municipality to win the mayoral race on a pro-referendum platform. 

Municipalities surrounding Tahoe’s Escobal project vote against mining

In the neighboring municipality of Mataquescuintla, where 96% of voters opposed mining in a 2012 referendum, Hugo Loy was re-elected as mayor. Loy has openly opposed Tahoe’s presence in the region and has fought hard to uphold the results of the 2012 vote by opposing the construction of an electrical line between Mataquescuintla and the Escobal mine. Opponents to mining in Mataquescuintla have faced severe threats and violence, including the 2014 attack in which 16-year old Topacio Reynoso was murdered and her father Alex was seriously injured. 

Rejection of Tahoe Resources also came through loud and clear in two other municipalities close to the Escobal mine. In Santa Rosa de Lima, residents ousted the candidate who had accepted royalty payments from the company, and instead, elected community leader and pro-referendum candidate, Llan Carlos Dávila. In Nueva Santa Rosa, voters re-elected the current mayor who, due to community pressure, has so far upheld the results of the consultation and refused to accept mining royalties. 

Tahoe Resources' selective amnesia

In a press release issued following President Pérez Molina’s resignation, Tahoe Resources asserted that all is calm in Guatemala and that business will continue as usual. Tahoe expressed support for acting President Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, who became Vice President after the resignation of Roxana Baldetti. Tahoe stated Maldonado has been "the force of calm in the country" and that "his leadership has been viewed within Guatemala as very positive." 

However, Tahoe fails to mention that Maldonado, a former Constitutional Court judge is also a founding member of the now non-existent National Liberation Movement party (MLN in Spanish), an extreme right-wing political party known for its connection to death squads in the 1960s. The company also doesn't say that during his time in the Constitutional Court, Maldonado voted to annul the historic 2013 genocide sentence and one year later, voted for the early removal of respected Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz. 

Finally, Tahoe assures investors that, “The embassies of Canada and the United States are heavily involved in assisting and supporting the Guatemalan government’s efforts to maintain order and peace and assure stability during these difficult times." But, far from deserving congratulatory remarks for their role, serious questions should be raised about what North American Embassies in Guatemala might have known about rampant corruption in the Otto Pérez Molina administration, and be challenged for their willingness to demonstrate support for such a repressive regime in order to protect Canadian and U.S. economic interests in the country. Rather than providing staunch support to ensure the interests of mining companies, such as Tahoe Resources, Goldcorp, Kappes, Cassidy & Associates and others, they should order investigations as to whether these companies were at all benefiting from the customs fraud ring and make a commitment not to provide any support for mining activities where communities have not given their consent.

Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina resigns, detained on charges of corruption

Update:
On Tuesday, September 8, former President Otto Pérez Molina was indicted on charges of customs fraud, illicit association, and bribery in connection with "La Línea," a customs fraud network accused of stealing millions of dollars from the Guatemalan state. Given the number of people still being investigated in connection with La Línea, Judge Galvéz ordered that Molina be sent to preventative prison while he awaits trial so as to not pose a threat to the integrity of ongoing investigations. The prosecution team have been given three months to build their case, with an expected trial opening date of December 21.

Late last night Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina was forced to resign after more than four months of massive popular protests throughout the country. On Tuesday, Congress unanimously voted to strip Pérez Molina of his presidential immunity, after evidence provided by the Public Prosecutor and International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) directly implicated him in the customs fraud network, “La Linea." An arrest warrant was issued for the President Wednesday afternoon and he resigned just hours later. Pérez Molina and former Vice President Roxana Baldetti are accused of heading the criminal network that defrauded the state of at least $3.7 million.

Former President Otto Pérez Molina listens to the criminal
charges of corruption against him. Photo: Roderico Y. Díaz

Vice President Alejandro Maldonado, who was named to the position after Roxana Baldetti was forced to resign, assumed the presidency this afternoon. Maldonado is the founder of a political party known for promoting organized violence and death squadrons during the 1960s and 1970s. He was also one of the Constitutional Court judges who voted to overturn the historic 2013 ruling that sentenced former de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt to 80 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity. 

This morning, Pérez Molina appeared before Judge Miguel Gálvez to give his first declaration and hear the charges against him, which include illicit association, bribery and customs fraud. The Prosecution played hours of wiretap recordings throughout the day, laying out the hierarchy of the criminal structure before revealing recordings directly implicating the President. Deemed a flight risk, Judge Gálvez ordered Pérez Molina to spend the night in custody at the Matamoros military prison. The hearing is expected to continue tomorrow. 

Today Guatemalans celebrate this incredible victory, born of months of resistance in the streets and decades of resilience in the face of structural corruption, racism and violence. However, we know the struggle is far from over. Calls for electoral reform were recently struck down in Congress, and all signs point to elections taking place as scheduled this Sunday. Many Guatemalans have refused to accept this decision and have continued to protest outside the elections office demanding, “In these conditions, we do not want elections!” 

If the impressive show of Guatemalan people power so far is any indication, the charges officially lodged for corruption are just the beginning in the search for justice for Pérez Molina's crimes. The former general is also implicated in the genocide against the Ixil people and his administration is responsible for the criminalization and imprisonment of hundreds of human rights defenders and repression and violence against thousands of Guatemalans defending life and dignity at La Puya encampment, in Totonicapan, San Rafael las Flores, Santa Cruz Barillas and many more.

The past four months have seen people from all walks of life take to the streets in protest in Guatemala - some for the first time and some for the hundredth. Meeting spaces have given birth to new proposals for movement building and structural change that will have impacts reaching far beyond Pérez Molina's resignation. The value of memory has been strong over the past four months, with many references being made to the 1944 revolution and the ten years of spring. As one sign read: "WE ARE HERE...for those who dreamed and struggle for a better country." 

Despite the arrest of former VP Roxana Baldetti, President Otto Pérez Molina says he won't step down

On Friday, the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and Public Prosecutor's office revealed evidence connecting Guatemala President Otto Pérez Molina to the massive customs corruption network known as La Línea. Prosecutors have filed a legal motion to strip Pérez Molina of his presidential immunity – the second action of its kind to be filed in the last 3 months.

For the eighteenth week in a row, protesters from across the country took to the streets to demand the President's resignation. At least of 16 members of his cabinet and other high-level posts have resigned; 11 did so after new evidence was released on Friday directly implicating the president. As Pérez Molina's government crumbled around him Sunday night, he dug in his heels - refusing to step down and proclaiming his innocence in a televised address.

President #OttoPérezMolina says to preserve the institutional integrity of the state & democracy, he will not be bullied into stepping down

— NISGUA (@NISGUA_Guate) August 24, 2015

Estas fueron algunas de las declaraciones del Presidente Otto Pérez Molina. ¿Qué opina del mensaje qué envió? pic.twitter.com/PmOYFWRiaP

— Emisoras Unidas 89.7 (@EmisorasUnidas) August 24, 2015

Despite being more isolated than ever, the President remained combative in his address, denouncing foreign intervention and alluding that powerful economic interests from the Chamber of Commerce (CACIF) are conspiring against him. During the speech, which is being described as a “declaration of war" against CACIF, Pérez Molina threatened to push Guatemala even closer to the edge of complete political turmoil as nation-wide strikes and ongoing protests are expected to ramp up this week.

Protestors also demand election law reforms: In these conditions, we don't want elections! #RenunciaYa #JusticiaYa pic.twitter.com/sD9OvaSWEl

— NISGUA (@NISGUA_Guate) August 23, 2015

Wiretaps, emails, and other documents revealed on Friday and presented as evidence in court this morning accuse former Vice President Roxana Baldetti and President Pérez Molina of heading the criminal structure La Línea. The customs fraud network is believe to have stolen more than 8 million quetzals. In the wiretaps, Molina and Baldetti are referred to as “the 1”, “the 2”, “the head of the plantation”, and "the mera mera (the head honcho)." In a Monday morning interview, Attorney General Thelma Aldana made clear that the President himself was caught on tape communicating with the criminal network.

En escuchas donde se identifica al Presidente, la fiscal indica “son inevitables porque no se le tiene intervenido el teléfono a él 1/2

— MP de Guatemala (@MPguatemala) August 24, 2015

Pero él se comunica con la estructura criminal, con quienes si se tiene la intervención telefónica y si lo escuchamos”. 2/2

— MP de Guatemala (@MPguatemala) August 24, 2015

Above tweets:  In wiretaps where the President is identified, the public prosecutor states, "It is inevitable, because his telephone has not been tapped." 1/2; But he communicates with the criminal structure, who have their telephones tapped, and we heard him." 2/2

On Friday, the public prosecutor immediately filed a request to strip the President of his immunity, while Baldetti was arrested and transferred from the private hospital where she had sought refuge to Matamoros military prison in zone 1 of Guatemala City. While Matamoros has been exclusively for male prisoners, a reform published this morning - three days after Baldetti was arrested - changed the rules to allow women. 

The first attempt to remove Pérez Molina's immunity was filed by Congressman Amilcar Pop in June and was unanimously accepted by the Supreme Court. And while a congressional investigative commission recommended stripping immunity and opening the president up to a full investigation, the recommendation only earned 88 of the 105 congressional votes necessary to proceed. This decision was rejected by protesters and political analysts alike – further evidence that the political system is irrevocably broken and electoral reforms are absolutely necessary. 

The latest request to strip President Molina of his immunity will likely be accepted by the Supreme Court, although questions remain as to how Congress will react. Some believe that Pérez Molina's surprising decision to stay in power hinges on his belief that his allies - including presidential hopeful Manuel Baldizón and other Molina supporters who make up the LIDER-Partido Patriota alliance - will save him from immediate prosecution by maintaining his presidential immunity.

In the meantime, Guatemalans remain vigilant as rumors circulate that the President will attempt to flee the country. Citizens presented a legal action Sunday morning requiring a judge to physically locate Pérez after the president failed to appear in public for 48 hours. He was eventually located mid-day Sunday at the Presidential Palace in zone 1.

Roxana Baldetti's arraignment hearing took place Monday morning, during which time the prosecution laid out the groundwork for its case against the former Vice President. She is accused of illicit association, passive bribery and special cases of customs fraud for her involvement in the La Línea.

In wake of Guatemala corruption scandals, Tahoe Resources’ Escobal license faces legal challenge

On July 12, 2015, the Guatemalan Center for Environmental and Social Legal Action (CALAS) filed criminal charges against former Minister of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), Erick Archila, and former mines director at MEM, Fernando Castellanos. CALAS is accusing Archila and Castellanos of violating the Constitution and for breach of duty for having granted Tahoe Resources an exploitation license for the Escobal project without adequate consideration of more than 250 community complaints against the project. CALAS called on the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to fully investigate the Escobal licensing process, citing Archila's possible involvement in influence trafficking and illicit enrichment.

CALAS’s complaint reflects ongoing and widespread opposition to mining in Santa Rosa and Jalapa, which the government and company alike have ignored. Beginning in December 2011, more than a year before MEM granted Tahoe Resources its license, residents from various communities in Santa Rosa and Jalapa began filing administrative complaints against the project, according to provisions within Guatemala's mining law. The complaints, over 250 in all, expressed opposition to the project based on anticipated environmental impacts, which would violate residents' rights to water and to live in a healthy environment. 

According to the mining law, MEM is required to hold a hearing with the affected individual and the mining company in order to resolve each complaint. However, on April 3, 2012, less than one hour before the press conference when the approval of Tahoe’s exploitation license was announced, all of the complaints were dismissed.[1] CALAS argues that the Escobal license was therefore granted illegally and in violation of constitutional rights.[2] In May 2013, they initiated legal proceedings to repeal MEM's decision.[3]

On July 23, 2013, the Civil and Mercantile Division of Guatemala's First Court of Appeals decided in favor of the communities, upholding the appeal and putting the legality of the Escobal exploitation license in question. Tahoe Resources' Guatemala subsidiary Minera San Rafael appealed the decision, sending the case to the Constitutional Court. A final decision is pending. 

The recent charges come in the wake of an ongoing political crisis in Guatemala sparked by joint CICIG and Public Prosecutor investigations that revealed rampant corruption in the social security and customs offices, as well as in the judicial system and Congress. So far, 42 people, including President Molina's former personal secretary, his general secretary and the head of the national bank, have been arrested. Vice President Roxana Baldetti resigned on May 8 under suspicion of illegal enrichment and Congress is considering stripping Otto Perez Molina of his presidential immunity. Former MEM Minister Erick Archila resigned on May 15 and is facing allegations of corruption, money laundering and anomalies in the granting of numerous government contracts.

[1] Prensa Libre, “MEM inválida oposiciones en Santa Rosa” (5 April 2013), online:

[2] La Hora, “Tensión por proyecto minero en San Rafael Las Flores” (10 April 2013), online: http://www.lahora.com.gt/index.php/nacional/guatemala/actualidad/176076-tension-por-proyecto-minero-en-san-rafael-las-flores

[3] El Periodico, “Despues de recibir ataques, CALAS anuncia acciones legales contra mina” (4 April 2013), online:

Petition to remove Pérez Molina's presidential immunity moves to Congress

On June 10th, Guatemala's Supreme Court unanimously voted to accept Congressman Amílcar Pop's petition to remove President Otto Pérez Molina's immunity. Pop is accusing President Molina of playing a role in the corruption scandals in the tax and health sectors, which were recently unveiled by the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) – revelations that have led to widespread protests throughout the country and calls for Molina's resignation. According to the constitution, the Supreme Court was then required to turn the file over to Congress, where five members were selected at random to form an investigative commission. The President is being accused of concealment and illicit association.

With one Congressman from CREO, one from Molina's own Partido Patriota, and three from LIDER - a party which allegedly spent the last three years making deals with the current government to stack the judiciary – the commission is now tasked with determining whether sufficient evidence exists to recommend stripping the president of his immunity. While this would not necessarily lead to an impeachment, it would allow for a full investigation and could possibly lead to the President's resignation. 

Congressman Amílcar Pop appears before the Commission.
Photo credit: Prensa Comunitaria  

The Commission's final recommendation will be voted on in Congress, with 105 of 158 votes needed to pass. Congress can also vote to invalidate the recommendation and send the process back to the commission for further consideration. There is no set time limit for making the recommendation. Although the Commission has so far moved quickly and is set to hear Pop's arguments today (Tuesday, June 16), analysts warn that the process could drag on. The President has assured the public that he has no intention of stepping down and welcomes the investigation. 

Protests in the country continue, criticizing the behind-the-scenes maneuvers by powerful economic and political actors to gain control of the crisis and thus the outcome. Chants and posters frequently seen and heard at the demonstrations denounce the intervention by the U.S. Embassy, and call for respect for autonomy as people push for real, systemic change.

A woman holds a sign that reads, "Gringos: Mind your own business."
Photo credit: Nelton Rivera, Prensa Comunitaria

On June 2nd, President Molina and U.S. Ambassador Todd Robinson announced that the U.S. would provide polygraph tests for workers at the national tax agency. This announcement, together with the stark visual of Ambassador Robinson at the presidential podium with President Molina, has been seen as a strong signal of support for the embattled President, and has become a focal point in denouncing U.S. intervention in the country.

Ambassador Robinson with President Pérez Molina in June 2015
Photo Credit: Nómada

In an interview with Nómada published on June 10th, Robinson re-stated multiple times that he is “not in charge in Guatemala.” He gave this statement in response to questions about the message the public event sent at a moment when “nobody wants to be photographed with President Otto Pérez.” Robinson emphasized that the U.S. remains committed to combating corruption in Guatemala, with the billion-dollar Alliance for Prosperity at the center of its foreign policy strategy. The Ambassador revealed that the U.S. had “one word” in the resignation of Vice-president Baldetti, but maintained that it was primarily the decision of the President and the Guatemalan government. He stated that the U.S. government “is looking forward to working with [President Pérez Molina] during the rest of his period.” 

While the Embassy remains committed to Molina, popular support throughout the country is waning. For the eighth time last Saturday, thousands of people gathered throughout the country and in Guatemala City's central square to demand Molina’s resignation. Protestors also gathered last week outside of Congress to demand a speedy response from the Commission as they deliberate their recommendation to remove or maintain immunity. 

Background:

The joint CICIG / Public Prosecutor investigation into two separate corruption rings have resulted in the resignation of Vice President Roxana Baldetti and six cabinet members. So far, 42 people, including President Molina's former personal secretary and the head of the National Bank, have been arrested. The Public Prosecutor's office has carried out searches in three of the properties owned by former Vice President Roxana Baldetti under suspicion of illegal enrichment due to involvement in the La Linea customs scandal.

A corruption scandal, a new Vice President and the largest mass mobilization in Guatemala’s recent history

Tens of thousands gather in Guatemala's central park to demand an end to impunity
and corruption. Photo credit: SkyCam Guatemala

A crime ring that defrauded the Guatemalan national tax collection agency (SAT) and customs office, and implicated high-level authorities in different government institutions all the way up to Vice President Roxana Baldetti’s private secretary, was dismantled on April 16th with the arrests of 22 people. Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) carried out the joint investigation, which immediately sparked massive and ongoing public protest and political crisis. The VP’s private secretary, Juan Carlos Monzón Rojas, is still at large.

While the investigation into the criminal network known as “La Linea”, has yet to explicitly name Vice President Baldetti, suspicions of her involvement in criminal activity were immediately raised after the arrest warrant for Monzón was issued while he was traveling with the VP in South Korea. Baldetti lied publically about her return to Guatemala from said trip and Monzón has been on the run ever since. On May 8th, after popular protests the size of which had not been seen in recent Guatemalan history and pressure from the powerful economic sector CACIF, Vice President Baldetti resigned. With resignation also comes the end of immunity for Baldetti, opening the doors to a full investigation into her involvement in the corruption case. 

The layers of corruption exposed by this investigation continue to unfold and have resulted in the arrest of three lawyers representing members of “La Linea” who are accused of influencing judicial authorities in order to guarantee impunity for their clients. For more information and analysis, see InSight Crime article “Guatemala Corruption Scandal Leads Investigators to Judicial Corruption” or from The Guardian, “Guatemala on brink of crisis after vice-president falls to corruption scandal”.

Reverberations of the “La Linea” corruption scandal have also been felt in other cases, including the April 30th request by the CICIG and Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s office to withdraw Judge Carol Patricia Flores’ immunity from prosecution. Flores, whose rulings led to the current quagmire of Guatemala’s genocide case against Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, is being investigated for money laundering, illicit enrichment and other crimes. Also caught up in the fallout of the current political crisis is head of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Erick Archila, who resigned on May 15th. Archila is facing allegations of corruption, money laundering and anomalies in the granting of government contracts and is under investigation for his handling of contracts for the proposed Xalalá dam project. 

Guatemala's new Vice President: An old face from the extreme right

A little over a month after the scandal broke, Guatemala now has a new Vice President. President Pérez Molina, tasked with submitting a slate of three candidates to Congress, struggled to put together his list after two proposed candidates withdrew. In the end, Héctor Alejandro Baltazar Maldonado Aguirre was the last candidate to be added to the list and was approved by Congress. Maldonado Aguirre is not a new figure in Guatemalan politics, rather has a long history of representing the extreme right – a founder of the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional or the National Liberation Movement (MLN), a political party known for promoting organized violence and death squadrons during the 1960s-70s.

From there, Maldonado Aguirre went on to serve as the Guatemalan representative to the United Nations during the military government of Romeo Lucas García during which time the Guatemalan government worked hard to convince the international community that it was not participating in massive human rights violations. Maldonado Aguirre was later the Minister of Education during the military government of Carlos Arana Osorio and ran for president in 1982 as a candidate for the National Renewal Party, a slightly less extreme version of the MLN. He was finally elected as a member of the Constitutional Court in 1986-1991, returning again to the position in 2006 and reelected to the Court by Congress once more in 2011. 

According to Gustavo Illescas of Guatemalan Independent Media (CMI-G), “Thanks to his discursive capacity to present the ideas of the extreme right in a moderate way, Maldonado Aguirre has been called upon in various moments of his life to deflect the tensions that have been provoked by the violent actions of the State and during the political crises that develop as a result.” 

In Guatemala, these violent actions and political crises have often revolved around crimes committed during the internal armed conflict and the unwavering effort to bring those responsible to justice. Examples of Maldonado Aguirre's role as a “Fire extinguisher of Justice” are outlined in an article by CMI-G and include: delaying investigations for one year in the case for the 1998 murder of Archbishop Gerardi in order to protect Byron Lima Oliva, a member of the Presidential General Staff (EMP, Estado Mayor Presidential) and authoring the judicial resolution that allowed former General Efraín Ríos Montt to avoid extradition to Spain where he would have been tried for genocide and terrorism. 

After being reelected to the Constitutional Court again in 2011, Maldonado Aguirre played a key role in yet three more extremely controversial decisions, decisions that have had very real consequences on access to justice and the future of judicial independence in the country. First, voting to annul the historic genocide sentence in May 2013 and one year later, voting for the early removal of Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz from her position. Finally in November 2014, Maldonado Aguirre voted to approve a judicial nomination process that was plagued with anomalies, in which both the CICIG and the US Embassy expressed serious concern about the trafficking of influences and the impartiality of the process. 

“Maldonado resolves crisis for the right. This is his trump card. In order to have been chosen [as Vice President] he had to have the approval of the US Embassy and of CACIF, and even though it means conservative groups are left without an important player inside the Constitutional Court, he will play an important role in the coming months of this crisis. It is doubtful, however, that this decision will be enough to deflate the protests programmed in various parts of the country for Saturday the 16th or to diminish the feeling of indignation that is blooming toward #OtraGuatemalaYa - #AnotherGuatemalaNow.” Gustavo Illescas, CMI-G.

A new Guatemalan Spring?

The series of protests sparked by the corruption scandal have been a spontaneous and massive expression of frustration in the capital and other parts of the country. Prior to the #RenunciaYa (Resignation Now) protests, the largest scale protests in recent years have been undertaken by indigenous and campesino groups and have lacked participation from the urban population. The first protest on April 25th took place in Guatemala City immediately following the announcement of the “La Linea” arrests, and it was estimated that between 15-25,000 people participated. This action was quickly followed by #RenunciaYa demands added to the traditional May Day marches, with another protest following on May 2nd. 

Sundown approaching and #Guatemala #RenunciaYa protestors continue to arrive pic.twitter.com/JeH4KG8h2e

— NISGUA (@NISGUA_Guate) May 16, 2015

The protest on Saturday, May 16th, was the largest popular protest in recent Guatemala history, with estimates ranging between 30-50,000 people in the capital alone. Protests also took place in at least 15 other Guatemalan cities, with reports of numerous international protests by the Guatemalan diaspora. These leaderless, popular protests have been compared to those of the “Guatemalan Spring”; massive popular mobilizations that took place during the resignations of military dictator Jorge Ubico and the subsequent de facto military government, and led to Guatemala’s first democratically elected governments of Juan José Arevalo and Jacobo Guzman Arbenz. 

It remains to be seen where the current wave of mobilization will land given the diversity of participation and demands, which range from accountability for corruption to total transformation of the political system of the country. What we know is that for the first in recent history, a wide swath of sectors that include business, academic and student, indigenous and campesino, human rights groups, as well as unaffiliated urban youth and citizenry, have come together to express outrage and desire for change. With information from Gustavo Illescas and Guatemala Independent Media (CMI-G)

Click here for more photos or here for a video from the May 16th protest.

UPDATES:  

May 20: Former private secretary to President Molina arrested in separate corruption scandal

In another joint CICIG/Public Prosecutor corruption investigation unveiled another scandal involving the national health system (IGSS in Spanish). So far, 17 high level functionaries, including the President of IGSS Juan de Dios Rodríguez, have been arrested. Rodríguez was Otto Peréz Molina's private secretary until the President nominated him to the IGSS position in 2013. 

Also arrested was the President of Guatemala's National Bank, Julio Roberto Suárez Guerra. Those implicated are believed to have defrauded the national health system of 116 million Quetzals, or roughly 15 million dollars through the granting of illegal contracts for treatments related to liver failure. The fraud ring is accused of negligence in the death of at least seven patients, according to complaints filed by Guatemala's Human Rights Ombudsman. 

May 21: Minister of the Interior, Mauricio López Bonilla resigns

One of President Otto Peréz Molina's most trusted cabinet members, Minister of the Interior, Mauricio López Bonilla, resigned this morning. Four additional members of the President's cabinet have also resigned, including Vice Minister of the Interior, Edy Juárez; the Minister of the Environment, Michelle Martínez; and the head of the Strategic Intelligence office, Ulises Anzueto (previously Peréz Molina's Minister of Defense), and the recently named Minister of Energy and Mines.

Bonilla, unike President Molina, has not been the specific target of calls for resignation, nor has he been so far connected to the numerous corruption scandals uncovered by the joint CICIG/Public Prosecutor investigations. His abrupt departure raises questions about the reasons behind the decision and what his future role may be in an increasingly uncertain political context moving toward national elections later this year.  

2015 US Appropriations Act maintains restrictions on US military aid to Guatemala

When President Otto Peréz Molina was elected in 2012, he came with an agenda to fully re-instate US military aid and end the restrictions on funding to Guatemala in place to varying degrees since the Carter administration implemented a direct security aid ban in 1977.

Even before the Peace Accords were signed in 1996, the outright ban on military assistance to Guatemala had progressively weakened, with restrictions loosened for military training and other areas of military support. In 2005, the ban on US military sales to Guatemala was lifted. Yet despite these changes and much to Molina's chagrin, certain human rights conditions continue to prevent the unrestricted flow of military aid to Guatemala.

Peréz Molina is the first ex-military officer to take power in a civilian government since 1987, and an increase in military presence has been felt throughout the country. Despite his efforts, the US Appropriations Act released in November 2014 for the fiscal year ending September 2015 continues to maintain human rights conditions. The bill requires that the Guatemalan government show progress in the implementation of reparations for communities affected by the construction of the Chixoy dam. It also makes funding dependent on the government building an effective civilian police force separate from the military, and fully cooperating in trying former and current military suspected of committing gross violations of human rights.

On May 10th, 2013, ex-president Ríos Montt became the first former head of state in the world to be tried and convicted in a national court for crimes against humanity and genocide. The case took more than 12 years to go to trial, and included the testimonies of more than a hundred eyewitnesses and experts. However, just ten days later, the Constitutional Court made what many consider an illegal ruling, effectively annulling the verdict. Now, more than a year and a half later, the retrial remains stalled after the presiding judge for the new tribunal was recused at the last minute by Montt's defense. 

The US Embassy in Guatemala supported the genocide case during the first trial, bringing diplomatic attention by attending the public hearings and publishing press releases calling for an independent judicial system and speedy due process. Likewise, Embassy officials announced they were observing the second trial and were present for the opening hearing on January 5th. While Peréz Molina has loudly denounced the Embassy for its public stance on this high-profile case, its international presence has been important to survivors, witnesses and their legal teams.

But as the Guatemalan Center for Independent Media (CMI) points out, the reasons behind the Embassy's support for the case are complex and multi-faceted. When Montt was initially convicted, a strong case could have been made that the Guatemalan judiciary had successfully tried one of its highest-ranking former military with the support of the Guatemalan state, showing advancement on one of the main conditions of reinstating US military aid. However, since the Constitutional Court annulled the verdict and there is currently no clear timeframe or process for the resumption of the retrial, this same argument no longer applies. Although the appropriations bill makes no mention of specific crimes, it essentially ties the lifting of restrictions to the advancement of the biggest and most emblematic case currently before the judicial system - the Ixil genocide case.

US military restrictions only go so far

In 2008, the Bush administration modeled the highly controversial Plan Colombia to launch the Mérida Initiative - a plan that provides training, equipment and intelligence to Mexican and Central American security forces to address key security issues such as drug trafficking, gang violence and judicial reform. As part of the Mérida Initiative, the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) was formed and was later expanded under the Obama administration. Since its inception, more than $800 million in funding has been given to Central America under Mérida/CARSI, and the Appropriations Act for FY2015 allocates an additional $130 million to the region for this year - $57 million earmarked for Guatemala alone.

Specifically, the funds are designated to increase border security between Mexico and Guatemala and expand economic and social development in the regions where most unaccompanied and undocumented minors travelling to the US originate and where significant gang activity occurs. The funds are also designated to support facilities that address the need for safe repatriation and reintegration of minors, combat human trafficking, and promote judicial and police reform with a particular focus on strengthening judicial independence and community policing.

There is no doubt that the US Embassy has played a role in helping to promote the progression of the genocide case through a variety of measures, and that the ongoing restrictions included in the Appropriations Act are an additional pressure point. It is also clear, however, from the Mérida/CARSI Initiative and other US sources of funding for military support in Guatemala, that the northern country's foreign policy in the region privileges a military solution to narcotrafficking and undocumented migration. What's more, a strong judicial system certainly bodes well for North American extractive companies in the region and other foreign investors looking for stability. The US' support for the very structures that have led to the problems they now want to eradicate is well documented. Contradictions in US foreign policy are certainly not new.

But while the advancement of the genocide case is essential, as long as the former-general-turned-president Peréz Molina stays in power, major concerns exist for what reinstating unrestricted US military aid to Guatemala could mean for communities, human rights defenders and civil society organizations already experiencing a heavy-handed response to their work against impunity and in defense of territory.

During the last two years alone, Molina has enacted two states of siege - a measure likened to marshal law - almost exclusively under the guise of combating narcotrafficking. Under the states of siege, communities found themselves with many of their constitutional rights suspended, dozens of leaders arrested without charge and a major increase in the presence of military checkpoints and patrols. All of the places where a state of siege has been implemented are host to large-scale resistance movements where communities are organized against the presence of transnational extractive projects.

It remains to be seen what will transpire over Peréz Molina's final year in office. Although the US currently provides training and support to the Guatemalan military, the restrictions in the Appropriations Act continue to give human rights organizations a glimmer of hope that the US will not resume its unrestricted support for military aid to Guatemala.

Human Rights Convergence statement on the Attorney General nomination

The pact to maintain impunity consolidates with the nomination for Attorney General

The Human Rights Convergence states:

The director of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is a key and decisive position to guarantee that justice is done and that it is swift. With Doctor Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey at the head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, meaningful steps were taken in recuperating the Office’s ability to undertake criminal persecution. The Nomination Committee for candidates for the Attorney General position missed an opportunity to advance [these steps]. Instead of offering the Guatemalan society a quality nomination, it presented a list that does not guarantee that this is achieved.

The list of candidates put forth by the Nomination Committee seeks to consolidate a pact to maintain impunity. It is a pact pulled together in the shadow of impunity, by structures responsible for grave human rights violations, sectors of the traditional economic power of the oligarchy and sectors of organized crime.

In the hands of deans, the majority of whom prevail from private universities, the President of the Guatemalan Bar Association and its Ethics Tribunal, the decision was made to form a list of applicants that does not comply with the minimum standards required for candidacy.

During nearly two months, the Nomination Committee joined in the perverse game, mounting a spectacle in which criteria was defined for rating the candidates’ qualifications, including requirements for work plans, education levels and interviews; criteria that was not respected in the end. [The Committee]  flagrantly violated the right to petition exercised by more than six thousand citizens, whose demand [that Paz y Paz be included in the final list of candidates] was illegally dismissed.

Therefore, the list of candidates that was approved and delivered to the President of the Republic includes people who have been sanctioned by the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office, people lacking experience in criminal proceedings, people linked to the executive office, as well as people linked to private companies, among other shortfalls required for the position.

By presenting this list of candidates, which left out the only Attorney General who has demonstrated leadership in the pursuit of justice, the Nominating Committee has inflicted grave damage on Guatemalan society.

Thus, we reiterate our commitment to the pursuit of justice and we call on all Guatemalan citizens and the international community to uphold the rule of law and respect for human rights in Guatemala.

Guatemala, April 30, 2014

Say No to State Department funds for Guatemalan Army

Join NISGUA and GHRC in calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to deny certification of DOS funds to Guatemala

"We need more teachers and not military brigades." Photo: PrensaComunitaria

Guatemala’s UN Truth Commission report not only attributes 93% of all human rights violations and acts of violence to the Guatemalan State, which included over 600 massacres, it also finds the US responsible for playing a large role in providing military assistance and training to the Guatemalan Army during the conflict. It was not until 1990, seven years after the most violent period of Guatemala's internal armed conflict, that the US enacted a full ban on Department of State aid to the Guatemalan Army. Over the past two decades, restrictions on the ban have been weakened. Now, we face the possibility of seeing the restrictions lifted completely.

Currently, State Department funds may only go to the Guatemalan Army if the Secretary of State certifies that the Army:

1. Has a narrowly defined mission focused on border security and external threats, and a credible plan to end the Army’s involvement in internal law enforcement.
2. Cooperates with civilian investigations and prosecutions of human rights cases involving current and retired military officers.
3. Publicly discloses all military archival documents related to the internal armed conflict in a timely manner in response to requests by civilian judicial authorities.

In addition, this year, the US Congress approved special conditions for reinstatement of aid, contingent upon the Guatemalan government taking credible steps toward implementing the 2010 reparations plan for the communities affected by the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam. Over 3,000 people were affected by the dam, including 444 people massacred and several communities completely inundated when the dam was built in the early 1980s.

Otto Pérez Molina in Santa Cruz Barillas with soldiers and special forces Kaibiles.
Photo: Simone Dalmass

The persecution, criminalization and repression carried out by Otto Pérez Molina’s military government and the Guatemalan state aim to minimize or put an end to the opposition to the implementation of mining exploitation projects.  --- Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) 

Why should the US maintain restrictions on military aid?

• Survivors have not seen justice for the atrocities carried out by the military. This neglect has been demonstrated by survivors of the Guatemalan genocide who have filed a complaint in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the Guatemalan State for the denial of justice to witnesses involved in the genocide trial
• Peaceful communities have suffered military repression, and leaders are increasingly criminalized for their work defending human rights, territory and natural resources.
• Guatemala clearly does not meet conditions necessary to receive military aid defined by the US Department of State, as the Guatemalan Army expands its role in law enforcement, and refuses to disclose some documents related to the internal armed conflict.

Take action today!

Download NISGUA's Background on US Military Aid to Guatemala for additional information. Print our petition in English or Spanish, circulate it in your community and mail to: NISGUA PO Box 70494 Oakland, CA 94612.

ADH expresses solidarity with Santa Cruz Barillas political prisoners

We demand liberty for our leaders; they have not committed crimes
Photo: ADH

Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango Communiqué in Solidarity with the Civil Society Movement of Santa Cruz Barillas

Today, March 4, 2014, we attended two hearings in which the cases would be presented of six leaders from Santa Cruz Barillas who are persecuted by Guatemalan injustice and Hidro Santa Cruz. We accompany the men and women who have dedicated themselves to their cause, our cause. The hearings were suspended, but that doesn’t mean that our presence or our voice is not useful. Saúl Méndez, Rogelio Velásquez, Adalberto “Don Tello” Villatoro, Francisco “Chico Palas” Juan, Arturo Pablo and Diego Marcos are each accused of different crimes by the Spanish company Hidro Cruz. The orchestrated “legal” cases form part of a strategy of criminalization in order to undermine the defense of territory.

The persecution, criminalization and repression carried out by Otto Pérez Molina’s military government and the Guatemalan state aim to minimize or put an end to the opposition to the implementation of mining exploitation projects, like in the cases of the resistances at San José del Golfo, San Rafael las Flores or in other cases of natural resources like water in hydroelectric projects like Cambalan I and Cambalan II in Santa Cruz Barillas.

We, as indigenous peoples, have never understood the Guatemala justice system because it is blind, mute and deaf when it deals with defending our rights. The historic aggression that is once again emphasized by the Guatemalan state against the Chuj, Q’anjob’al, Akateko and Mestizo people in northern Huehuetenango is no more than the continued utilization of all the institutional resources that political actors have at their reach to continue with the pillaging and plundering of our territories. Our history, our territory and our lives are in danger and that is why we respond pacifically at the outrageous concept that to national and foreign companies we are objects.

We, the people, have not called the companies to our territories, nor have we needed the state, because it has always abandoned us, what we want is to live in peace and continue constructing our own path toward the good life (el buen vivir).

This government, like others, will not stop us; the struggle of Barrillas and its leaders is everyone’s struggle. No to criminalization; yes to the liberation of our political prisoners.

Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango

March 4, 2014

La ADH expresa su solidaridad con presos políticos de Santa Cruz Barillas

Foto: ADH

Comunicado Asamblea de Pueblos de Huehuetenango, ADH, en Solidaridad con el Movimiento fe la Sociedad Civil de Santa Cruz Barillas

El día de hoy, 4 de marzo de 2014, acudimos a dos audiencias en las que se ventilan los casos de seis líderes de Santa Cruz Barillas, que son perseguidos por la injusticia guatemalteca e hidro santa cruz. Los acompañamos mujeres y hombres que hacemos de su causa, nuestra causa. Las audiencias fueron suspendidas, pero no por ello deja de tener sentido nuestra presencia y palabra. Saúl Méndez, Rogelio Velásquez, Adalberto “Don Tello” Villatoro, Francisco “Chico Palas” Juan, Arturo Pablo y Diego Marcos, son acusados de diferentes delitos por la empresa española hidro cruz. Son casos “legales” orquestados que forman parte de una estrategia de criminalización para debilitar la defensa del territorio. 

La persecución, criminalización y represión por parte del gobierno militar de Otto Pérez Molina y del Estado guatemalteco, tiene como objetivo minimizar y o acabar con la oposición a la implantación de proyectos de explotación minera, como los casos de resistencia en San José del Golfo y San Rafael Las Flores o el de otros bienes naturales como el agua en el caso de proyectos hidroeléctricos como Cambalan I y Cambalan II en Santa Cruz Barillas. 

Nosotros, como Pueblos nunca hemos entendido a la justicia guatemalteca porque es ciega, muda y sorda cuando de defender nuestros derechos se trata. La agresión histórica y que hoy nuevamente se acentúa en contra de los Pueblos Chuj, Q´anjob´al, Akateko y Mestizo del Norte de Huehuetenango por parte del Estado guatemalteco, no es más que la continuidad de la utilización de todos los recursos institucionales que sus operadores políticos tienen a su alcance para continuar con el saqueo y despojo de nuestros territorios. Nuestra historia, nuestra tierra y nuestra Vida están en peligro y por ello es que respondemos pacíficamente al atropello de que somos objeto por parte de empresarios nacionales y extranjeros. 

Nosotros los Pueblos no hemos llamado a las empresas a nuestros territorios, ni nunca hemos necesitado al Estado, porque éste siempre nos abandonó, lo que queremos es vivir en paz y seguir construyendo nuestro propio camino hacia el buen vivir. 

Este gobierno como otros no nos detendrá, la lucha del pueblo de Barillas y sus líderes es de todos. No a la criminalización y sí a la liberación de nuestros presos políticos. 

Asamblea de Pueblos de Huehuetenango, ADH. 

4 de marzo de 2014 

ADH denounces World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank

The Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango in Defense of Territory and for the Autonomy and Free Determination of the People – ADH – informs the national and international community:


During 1981, 1982, 1983, the Guatemalan Army massacred the Achí communities that lived on the banks of the Chixoy River; 444 people, including youth, children, men and women were executed. The justification of the massacre was the existence of an internal armed conflict, but in reality, they carried out this strategy in order to clean the zone and implant the construction of the Chixoy hydro-electric project. The National Electrification Institute – INDE – was responsible for the execution of this project, having received a loan from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank for almost 1 billion dollars. In 2012, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights condemned the State of Guatemala for the massacres of Rio Negro and called for fulfillment of the reparations to the victims' family members for the damages caused, including the expropriation of land, crops, animals, identity and culture.

On January 17, 2014, after a 32-year community struggle, the Congress and President of the United States made a declaration demanding that the State of Guatemala and Otto Pérez Molina should pay the $154,000,000 in damages to the victims. The response of “ Mr. President “ was immediate: “To give these communities $154,000,000, is like saying that we are going to privilege these communities and leave others out.”  “Mr. President” this is a historic debt owed by the Guatemalan State to the victims of the massacres and the civilized world. The communities of Río Negro continue living in extreme poverty and in inhumane conditions. Your response, “Mr. President”, is irresponsible and aberrant.

Today, February 7, 2014, the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango – ADH – and the people of Santa Cruz Barillas, demand that the military government of Otto Pérez Molina respond responsibly and quickly to resolve once and for all the conflict in Barillas. 31 years later, the same methods are being repeated by Hidralia-Hidro Santa Cruz. It is time to end the conflict created by the Spanish company in its attempt to implant two hydro-electric projects in the Q’am’balam River. The conflict has gone on for five years and has resulted in the persecution, intimidation, and co-opting of community leaders. There have been assassinations, imprisonment; there is fear and terror. “Mr. President,” it is necessary to stop these companies.

The sad and terrifying story of Chixoy is related to the current persecution in Barillas through international financial institutions. The World Bank and the Inter- American Development Bank are financing Hidro Santa Cruz through the Inter-American Corporation for Infrastructure Financing (CIFI), which in 2010 provided financing for the Canbalam hydroelectric dam. In 2008, CIFI received an $80,000,000 loan from the International Financial Corporation of the World Bank Group.  In 2001, CIFI received $10,000,000 from the Inter-American Investment Corporation of the Inter-American Development Bank. We believe that these investments are responsible for the human rights violations and the damages suffered by the communities of Barillas.

Mr. Otto Pérez Molina, do you want to continue protecting companies that act illegally? What do you and your government stand to gain? Will you continue to repress the Q’anjob’al and Mestizo communities of Santa Cruz Barillas? Or what are your plans for this region that has been abandoned by the state of Guatemala?

For all of the previous reasons, as the ADH we demand:

A: The end to persecution, repression and criminalization of community leaders.
B: That the Spanish company Hidralia-Hidro Santa Cruz be expelled from the country given the harm it has caused to the communities of Barillas.
C: That Hidralia-Hidro Santa Cruz pay material, physical, physiological and cultural damages to the victims.

We call on:

• International organizations and the Inter American Commission on Human Rights – IACDH to visit in order to investigate the damages caused by Hidralia-Hidro Santa Cruz and that they issue a public statement.
• The governments of Europe, Canada and Latin America to investigate and make a public statement against the improper use given to funds provided by the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. 
• International solidarity organizations to denounce these acts and remain vigilant to the evolution of Otto Pérez Molina’s military government so that he upholds his responsibilities and that the persecution, repression and criminalization ends. 
• National organization to close our ranks in solidarity and unity of the People.

We demand liberty for our political prisoners.

The people of Barillas are not responsible for the violence; they are the object of a dark plan of repression and criminalization.

We are all Barillas
Life and Territory have no owner

Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango – ADH – February 7, 2014

Communiqué denouncing recent repression in Northern Huehuetenango

On September 28, conflict erupted again in Northern Huehuetenango in response to the imposition of Spanish-owned Cambalam hydro-electric project in Santa Cruz Barillas. Despite ongoing criminalization and repression, community members continue to demand respect for the 2007 community consultation rejecting large-scale development projects in their territory.


During his September 3 visit to Barillas, President Otto Pérez Molina hailed hydro-electric projects as the future of development in the region and announced the establishment of a dialogue round table, supposedly to address ongoing community opposition to the projects. In the end, the promise of dialogue remained unfulfilled; the conversation did not take place, as the president failed to attend the meeting scheduled for September 19. While the public discourse has advocated for negotiation with communities, in practice, the government has consistently responded to popular opposition with militarization, repression and criminalization.

In the communique below, the Western Peoples' Council and the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango denounce this new wave of violence and militarization and call for international solidarity, the cancellation of licenses for controversial mega-projects and respect for community right to consultation.

We denounce before the international and national community: The current aggression against the Q'anjob'al, Akateko, Chuj and mestizo peoples in Northern Huehuetenango by the President and Commander of Chief of the national army, General Otto Fernando Pérez Molina, who in a recent press conference highlighted the importance of water, mineral, oil and forest resources.

These aggressions are part of a new process of transnational invasion, protected by the government in power, who take turns implementing projects of plunder in the name of false development. These actions are framed within a strategy of counterinsurgency and make us remember and relive the internal armed conflict of the 1980s during which the army orchestrated plans of aggression and violated civil society's fundamental human rights.

On September 28-30 of this year, the government used low flying helicopters, armored vehicles, army troops and National Civil Police (PNC) special forces units to terrorize the population. This strategy of invasion, which disproportionately uses police and military forces characteristic of a state of war, resulted in one civilian death and many injured.  This result is the unforgivable responsibility of the government.

This repressive and terrorist behavior attempts to paralyze communities' pacific and legitimate struggle in defense of territory. The licenses [for mega-projects] have been granted to companies in territories where we exist and live, and that we have been caring for during thousands of years. We will not allow our territories to be destroyed.

THEREFORE: We call on the international and national community to speak out and show solidarity with the people of Guatemala. We will remain vigilant and in permanent observation of the human and collective rights of the people, as attacks against the civilian population of Barillas continue.

WE DEMAND:
1. The government and its ministries respect the human and collective rights of the people, and that they stop lying to and confusing the national and international community.
2. The withdrawal of all army and PNC special forces troops in Northern Huehuetenango in order to guarantee the protection of human rights and not to serve transnational companies.
3. The cancellation of mining, hydroelectric, oil and other mega-project licenses that have been granted in Huehuetenango and which are responsible for undermining peace and liberty.
4. Respect for community consultations carried out   from 2006 to the present.

The Q'anjob'al, Chuj, Akateko and mestizo people have historically cared for territory for the benefit of everyone, including future generations. We only want to be treated as people and to be allowed to live freely in peace and harmony with Mother Nature.

Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH)
Members of the Western Peoples' Council (CPO)

Huehuetenango, September 30, 2013

Comunicado denunciando agresiones en el Norte de Huehuetenango

A LA COMUNIDAD NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL EXPRESAMOS:

La agresión actual a los pueblos Q’anjob’al, Akateko, Chuj y mestizo de la Región Norte del departamento de Huehuetenango, de parte del Presidente y comandante en Jefe del Ejército Nacional, General Otto Fernando Pérez Molina, quien en conferencia de prensa resaltó la importancia rica de los recursos hídricos, minerales, petrolero y forestales. Estas agresiones, son parte del nuevo proceso de invasión transnacional tutelado por los gobiernos que se turnan en el poder e implantan proyectos de saqueo en nombre de un Falso Desarrollo. Estas acciones, se enmarcan dentro de una estrategia de carácter contrainsurgente que hacen recordar y revivir el conflicto armado interno de los años ochenta, donde los militares orquestaban planes de agresión y violentaban derechos humanos fundamentales de la sociedad civil; los días 28, 29 y 30 de septiembre del presente año, han usado helicópteros a vuelo rasante, vehículos artillados, tropas del ejército y elementos de fuerzas especiales de la Policía Nacional Civil, para aterrorizar a la población. Toda la estrategia de invasión ha utilizado desproporcionadamente a los elementos policiales y militares con características de estado de Guerra, en la cual se ha ocasionado la muerte de ciudadanos y varios heridos; ésta, es una responsabilidad imperdonable del Estado. Estas conductas represivas y terroristas, pretenden paralizar las luchas pacíficas y legítimas en defensa del territorio de los pueblos. Las licencias han sido otorgadas a las empresas en territorios donde existimos, vivimos y que hemos cuidado por miles de años.y no permitiremos que nos destruyan.

POR LO TANTO: Hacemos un llamado a la comunidad nacional e internacional para que se pronuncie y se solidarice con los pueblos que conviven en Guatemala. Mantendremos una vigilancia y observancia permanente de los derechos humanos y derechos colectivos de los pueblos, porque los ataques continúan en contra de la población civil de Barillas.

EXIGIMOS:
1. Al Gobierno y sus Ministros que respeten los derechos humanos y colectivos de los pueblos así como dejar de mentir y confundir a la comunidad nacional e internacional.
2. El retiro de todas las tropas del ejército y fuerzas especiales de la PNC del Norte de Huehuetenango, garantizando la protección de los derechos humanos y no al servicio de las empresas transnacionales.
3. La cancelación de las licencias mineras, hidroeléctricas, petroleras y otros mega-proyectos otorgados en el departamento, que son las causas del socavamiento de la paz y la libertad de los pueblos.
4. El respeto a las consultas comunitarias expresadas desde el año 2,006 hasta la fecha.

LOS PUEBLOS Q'ANJOB'AL, CHUJ, AKATEKO Y MESTIZO HAN CUIDADO HISTORICAMENTE EL TERRITORIO PARA QUE TODOS Y LAS FUTURAS GENERACIONES. LOS PUEBLOS SOLO QUEREMOS QUE NOS TRATEN COMO PERSONAS Y QUE NOS DEJEN VIVIR EN PAZ Y EN ARMONÍA CON LA MADRE NATURALEZA.

ASAMBLEA DEPARTAMENTAL DE LOS PUEBLOS DE HUEHUETENANGO ADH. MIEMBROS DEL CONSEJO DE LOS PUEBLOS DE OCCIDENTE, CPO.

Huehuetenango, 30 de Septiembre del año 2,013.

Letter to the president expressing solidarity with San José Nacahuil

On September 7, six unknown men shot and killed eleven in San José Nacahuil, in the municipality of San Pedro Ayampuc. Today, NISGUA submitted a letter, signed by over a dozen international organizations, to President Otto Pérez Molina to express our solidarity with the community of San José Nacahuil and to call for a thorough and impartial investigation of this crime. Read the full letter below.

September 20, 2013

Dear President Otto Pérez Molina,

The undersigned organizations express our condolences to the community of San José Nacahuil and to the families of those who lost loved ones this past Saturday, September 7th. In solidarity with them, we call on the Guatemalan government to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the deadly attack, especially into allegations of police involvement.

On September 7 at 11 pm, 24 people were shot by unknown men in the town of San José Nacahuil in the municipality of San Pedro Ayampuc, just north of Guatemala City. Eleven of the victims died at the scene.

Minister of the Interior Lopez Bonilla immediately blamed the attack on gangs and placed the community under the control of a special contingent of police and soldiers. However, relatives of those killed suspect that the police may have facilitated the crime, or even carried it out. According to various reports, police arrived 20-30 minutes before the shooting, stopping at a few businesses demanding bribes. Community members also claim that the killers followed the same route through town on their killing spree that the police had taken minutes earlier. The Vice Minister of the Interior, however, immediately dismissed the possibility of police involvement.

Community authorities of San José Nacahuil, as well as other indigenous and grassroots organizations, criticized Bonilla for attributing the crime to gangs without first investigating. Further, they demanded that the police and military be removed from the community. Family members of the victims have also asked for an investigation into the police and their role in the shooting. 

San José Nacahuil is the only indigenous community in San Pedro Ayampuc. The population is made up of Maya Kaqchikel people, and the town has its own authorities, including a community police force. Residents expelled the national police six years ago, and local officials report a reduction in crime since that time.

Like many indigenous communities in Guatemala, the people of Nacahuil have suffered attempts to impose development projects without their free, prior and informed consent. In response, many residents of Nacahuil have participated in non-violent resistance, such as the ongoing peaceful road blockade at “La Puya” in the neighboring municipality of San José de Golfo. The blockade began in March of 2012 to prevent the construction of the El Tambor gold mine, which they fear will cause contamination and deplete scarce water resources. The mine is currently operated by Kappes, Cassidy & Associates (KCA) based in Reno, Nevada, which acquired the project from Vancouver-based Radius Gold in August 2012. 

In other struggles against mega-development projects in Guatemala, including Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver mine in San Rafael las Flores and Hidralia Energia’s hydroelectric dam in Santa Cruz Barillas, violence was used as a pretext by the government to declare a state of siege, which suspends constitutional rights. In both instances, the government then ordered the arrest of resistance movement leaders.

Members of La Puya signaled concern in the days leading up to the attack regarding increased police presence, including agents not assigned to local stations. In the past, the police have been used to try to intimidate and disburse groups involved in peaceful protest. In December of last year, police wielding tear gas arrested four protesters. All were released the same day due to a lack of evidence of any illegal activity.

We express our condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones and to the community of San José Nacahuil. We call on the Guatemalan government to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into Saturday’s deadly attack, especially into allegations of police involvement, with the assistance of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala. 

Further, we demand that the rights of the residents of Nacahuil and the surrounding region be respected, including their rights to life, security, and freedom of expression. Nacahuil has maintained effective security in their own community, and we ask the government to respect their call to withdraw members of the police and military. Finally, we call on the government to respect the rights to protest and to free, prior and informed consent over mega-projects that may affect their lives and lands.

Breaking the Silence, Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network - LACSN, MiningWatch Canada, Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network, Horizons of Friendship, Global Exchange, SalvAide, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), Social Justice Committee of Montreal, Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala (PAQG), Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America, Guatemala Human Rights Commission, OPSEU Social Justice Fund, Oxfam