Guatemala’s metal mining sector has grown seven-fold since 2006, and the administration of President Otto Pérez Molina has granted more than 100 mining licenses during its first 18 months in power. There are also more than 50 hydroelectric projects at… Read More ›
Land
Defensora – the film
Defensora_PreviewTrailer from 6kidsProductions on Vimeo. Defensora is a documentary about a Mayan Q’eqchi’ resistance against mining in Guatemala. The story is set along the shores of Lake Izabal in the community of El Estor where a nickel mining company has… Read More ›
Organizations in defense of territory denounce violence against their communities
Late on Sunday, 13th April 2014, around 10:30pm, father and daughter activists involved in the resistance against Tahoe Resources’ Escobal Mine, Edwin Alex Reynoso and Merilyn Topacio Reynoso (above), were attacked by unknown suspects. Alex and Topacio were on… Read More ›
Report on pressure to construct Xalalá dam amid strong local opposition
NISGUA recently published the following summary of the report Pressure to construct Xalalá hydroelectric dam; Local opposition remains strong. Nearly two years after the Guatemalan government announced its renewed interest in constructing the Xalalá Hydroelectric Dam, communities maintain strong… Read More ›
Under the Volcano
An anti-mining banner at the roadblock reads: “Defend our Mother Earth from the rats.” Guatemala sits atop a wealth of natural resources—nickel, gold, silver, and titanium—that lie beneath the country’s rich volcanic soil. In 1960, the Canadian-owned and -operated International… Read More ›
‘La Puya’: Two years against the mine
We are all ‘La Puya’ Accompanied by great photographs from the 2nd anniversary celebrations at ‘La Puya’, from Sandra Sebastián, Oswaldo J. Hernández writes, Two years ago, just on the border between San Pedro Ayampuc and San José del Golfo,… Read More ›
La Puya: Two Years of Peaceful Resistance Against an Unwanted Gold Mine
More great photoreportage from James Rodríguez (MiMundo) chronicling the days leading up the 2nd anniversary of the Cominudad en Resistencia of La Puya. The highlight of the first few days was the removal of the heavy machinery that had been… Read More ›
Celebrating Two Years of Resistance in La Puya
Sunday, 2nd March 2014, saw the Comunidad en Resistencia of ‘La Puya’ celebrate its 2nd anniversary in its struggle for land and dignity against a rapacious mining industry and the Guatemala state. Rachel Small has put together a fine series… Read More ›
Chixoy Dam news
This picture is part of a set of photographs from International Rivers website here. For more than twenty years, communities affected by the Chixoy Dam have demanded reparations for the damages caused by the project, which was built during Guatemala’s… Read More ›
The Thorn Tree Resistance
As Emilie Teresa Smith articulates so well in Sojourners magazine, Gold and silver mines in Guatemala are wreaking havoc on local communities. But the people, using nonviolent Christian action, are fighting back. With regard to this article, she is referring… Read More ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 