A major victory against an exploitative corporate lawsuit in Guatemala.
Jen Moore wrote, recently, on the website of the Institute for Policy Studies about the victory celebrated by the Resistencia Pacifica La Puya with the ruling by an arbitration panel at International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against Nevada-based Kappes, Cassiday, and Associates (KCA) in its nearly half a billion-dollar arbitration claim against Guatemala.
The company sought hundreds of millions of dollars in response to the court-ordered suspension of its gold mining project Progreso VII Derivada for lack of free, prior, and informed consultation with affected Maya Kaqchikel and Xinka peoples.
In their response, the Peaceful Resistance La Puya underscored in a communique that it is they who have suffered the harms of KCA’s investment:
“This arbitration began in 2018 because the company and previous Guatemalan government administrations failed to respect the will of the population and their rejection of precious metal mining in defense of life, water, and territory. The result of this violation by the State in collusion with KCA has been conflict, local discord, intimidation, repression, and criminalization of the communities in resistance, and, finally, this international arbitration process that lasted seven years.”
La Puya engaged with Guatemala’s legal defense team during the course of the arbitration, providing testimony to the arbitration panel. Also, in order to defend its case, Guatemala’s defense team drew heavily on the resistance’s arguments showing that the company did not comply with Guatemalan regulations and that its project should have never been approved. In this way, the government recognized the legitimacy of La Puya’s struggle for over a decade in defense of water, life and territory.
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The peaceful resistance also reaffirmed their commitment to seek the cancellation of the Progreso VII Derivado project and ensure no further mining licenses are granted in the area.
You can read the full piece, with links including the link to the full text of the communique from La Puya, in English and Spanish, here, Water Defenders Celebrate Ruling Against U.S. Gold Company’s Claim.
You can read a previous piece on this court victory, here, La Puya: Yes to Life, No to Mining.
Categories: Accompaniment, Corruption, Criminalisation, Criminalization, Environment, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Land, Legal, Mining, Resource Extraction, Solidarity in Action, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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