“During the annual June 30th observance of Guatemalan Armed Forces Day, thousands of people marched in San Juan Sacatepéquez from their rural communities to the central square in rejection to the newly assigned military brigade in the municipality. Locals were joined by solidarity groups from throughout the country in support for their resistance against the militarization of their territory and the grave social conflicts created by the cement-mining license approved in 2007 for the powerful Guatemalan Cementos Progreso company. Despite holding a local plebiscite in 2007 where 8,936 residents rejected the project and only 4 approved it, the government has continued to favor the powerful Novella Family-owned mining project. “

This is from James Rodríguez of MiMundo and you can read more

Categories: Environment, Human Rights, Justice