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<font size=4><b>Recent Killings Linked to Canadian-owned Nickel Mine in
Guatemala<br><br>
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<a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2138/1/" eudora="autourl">
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2138/1/<br>
</a>Written by Dawn Paley <br>
Thursday, 01 October 2009 <br><br>
Two Qeqchi leaders were shot and killed and over a dozen wounded this
week near the site of a shuttered nickel mine in Guatemala. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
Prensa Libre, Guatemala's leading newspaper,
<a href="http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/septiembre/29/345489.html">
reported</a> 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. <br><br>
HudBay released a
<a href="http://www.benzinga.com/press-releases/m18536/hudbay-minerals-provides-update-on-cgn">
lengthy statement</a> 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. <br><br>
Hudbay goes on to make the absurd claim that the protesters proceeded to
open fire on each other. <br><br>
Liezel Hill of Mining Weekly went on to
<a href="http://www.miningweekly.com/article/hudbay-reports-protests-near-guatamala-project-2009-09-30">
parrot the company's version of events</a>, as did the
<a href="http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/breakingnews/HudBay-says-several-employees-injured-and-one-protester-killed-in-Guatemala-dispute-62709637.html">
Canadian Press</a> and
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN2913518420090929">
Reuters</a>. <br><br>
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
<a href="http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/septiembre/28/345127.html">
nine more</a> wounded. <br><br>
These killings are a flare up in a tense area, where the
<a href="http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2099">track record of
Canadian mining companies</a> includes forced displacement over multiple
generations, co-operation with the army, and the burning of homes
belonging to Indigenous people. <br><br>
Shortly after a series of
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q20YxkM-CGI">violent evictions
that took place on nearby lands in 2007</a>, Skye Resources (later
acquired by Hudbay) representatives went on the record and
<a href="http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/dawn/1120">lied through
their teeth</a> to defend their actions. <br><br>
The English-language corporate media has
<a href="http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/dawn/2910">repeatedly turned
a blind eye</a> to recent and past events unfolding in El Estor. This
kind of reporting facilitates corporate lies and deceit, plain and
simple. <br><br>
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
<a href="http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/summary-review-skye-resources-technical-report-update-fenix-project-izabal-guatemala">
not likely to produce any nickel at all</a>. <br><br>
<br><br>
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