[News] Recent Killings Linked to Canadian-owned Nickel Mine in Guatemala

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Recent Killings Linked to Canadian-owned Nickel Mine in Guatemala

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2138/1/
Written by Dawn Paley
Thursday, 01 October 2009

Two Qeqchi leaders were shot and killed and over 
a dozen wounded this week near the site of a 
shuttered nickel mine in Guatemala.

The first shooting took place on Sunday, 
September 27 on land claimed by the community of 
Las Nubes, which Compañia Guatemalteca de Niquel 
(CGN), a subsidiary of Manitoba's HudBay Minerals, also claims to own.

Early reports indicated CGN's private security 
guards opened fire while attempting to remove 
families from their land. Adolfo Ichi Chamán, a 
teacher and community leader, was killed by 
gunshot, at least eight more wounded by bullets fired from an AK-47.

Prensa Libre, Guatemala's leading newspaper, 
<http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/septiembre/29/345489.html>reported 
that during Chamán's funeral service yesterday, 
thousands of people marched through the streets 
of El Estor, demanding that the company and the 
local police chief withdraw from the area within 24 hours.

HudBay released a 
<http://www.benzinga.com/press-releases/m18536/hudbay-minerals-provides-update-on-cgn>lengthy 
statement yesterday claiming that there were no 
evictions, but instead that "protestors" went on 
a rampage, attacking government vehicles, a local 
police station (where they allegedly stole 
automatic weapons), destroying a hospital built 
by a coalition of US NGOs, and wounding five employees.

Hudbay goes on to make the absurd claim that the 
protesters proceeded to open fire on each other.

Liezel Hill of Mining Weekly went on to 
<http://www.miningweekly.com/article/hudbay-reports-protests-near-guatamala-project-2009-09-30>parrot 
the company's version of events, as did the 
<http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/breakingnews/HudBay-says-several-employees-injured-and-one-protester-killed-in-Guatemala-dispute-62709637.html>Canadian 
Press and 
<http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN2913518420090929>Reuters. 


One day after the murder of Chamán, men armed 
with machine guns opened fire on a mini-bus 
carrying Indigenous educators and leaders from 
the El Estor region to Cobán. One man, Martin 
Choc, was killed, and at least 
<http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/septiembre/28/345127.html>nine 
more wounded.

These killings are a flare up in a tense area, 
where the 
<http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2099>track 
record of Canadian mining companies includes 
forced displacement over multiple generations, 
co-operation with the army, and the burning of 
homes belonging to Indigenous people.

Shortly after a series of 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q20YxkM-CGI>violent 
evictions that took place on nearby lands in 
2007, Skye Resources (later acquired by Hudbay) 
representatives went on the record and 
<http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/dawn/1120>lied 
through their teeth to defend their actions.

The English-language corporate media has 
<http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/dawn/2910>repeatedly 
turned a blind eye to recent and past events 
unfolding in El Estor. This kind of reporting 
facilitates corporate lies and deceit, plain and simple.

Lies and deceit are just what HudBay needs, not 
only to avoid an international outcry over the 
recent killings, but also to spin a mining 
project that is 
<http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/summary-review-skye-resources-technical-report-update-fenix-project-izabal-guatemala>not 
likely to produce any nickel at all.




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