Recently, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) posted a piece on a discussion forum, of which they were part, to share insights and discuss how international investment treaties allow transnational corporations to sue governments within the context of the experiences of the struggle of La Resistencia Pacífica La Puya.
Last December, defenders of life and territory received some truly inspiring news: the US mining company Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) lost its multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the Guatemalan state. This news comes after several years of waiting, as the mining company had brought this case before an international tribunal after a court in Guatemala suspended its ‘Progreso VII Derivada’ project due to its failure to carry out free, prior and informed community consultation with the affected Kaqchikel and Xinka Maya peoples, who are united in the Peaceful Resistance of “La Puya” which marked 14 years of resistance this March.
To celebrate this great victory, which also serves as a global example, members of Resistencia Pacífica La Puya, el Bufete Jurídico de Derechos Humanos, the Institute for Policy Studies – Global Economy Program, Earthworks, and the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, organized a discussion forum in which international and national experts, alongside comrades from the La Puya Resistance, shared their insights on how international investment treaties allow transnational corporations to sue governments, the lawsuits brought against Guatemala, the options for withdrawing from this unjust system, and, above all, the experiences of the struggle of the comrades from the La Puya Resistance.
You can read more, including links to slides and recordings of the discussions, here, Forum: La Puya’s Victory and the Challenges of International Arbitration.
Categories: Accompaniment, Audio, Corruption, Criminalisation, Criminalization, Environment, Evictions, Gender, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Land, Military, Mining, Report, Resource Extraction, Solidarity in Action, Solidarity in Action/Guatemala, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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