Government of Guatemala responsible for increased violence against local population

With the greatest urgency CATAPA asks the suspension of all activities of the Marlin mine and the application of the other precautionary measures which the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights requested of the Guatemalan government.

In San Miguel Ixtahuacán, in the last two weeks, we reported two armed attacks on two known people of the resistance against mining in that municipality. This is an apparent increase in the level of violence in a municipality that has been marked by social conflict as of the introduction of the Marlin mine of the company Montana exploradora, a subsidiary of Goldcorp, six years ago. These events are in contradiction with the supposed commitment of the government of Guatemala to "guarantee the life and physical integrity of the neighbors of the mine."

Source: Huffington Post, 01/06/10

Author's note: Last week, following the visit of U.N. Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights James Anaya, the Guatemalan government agreed to abide by his requests and those of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights, the Catholic Church, the International Labor Organization and others and has ordered the temporary suspension of operations at the Marlin Mine in the indigenous lands of Western Guatemala.

Several peasant, indigenous and environmentalist organizations from Guatemala are demanding the government to comply with a resolution of the International Labour Organization to immediately suspend some of the mining activities carried out by Cementos Progreso and Montana Exploradora in Guatemala.

Read more:  http://radiomundoreal.fm/Immediate-Suspension