The state of Siege in Izabal and Alta Verapaz: shelters, poppies, and the fear of repression
- Details
- Category: Regional News
- Published: Wednesday, 22 July 2020 17:41
Jody García - Nómada
Sunday, July 19th, Government Decree 14-2020 was published, which establishes a state of siege in the municipalities of El Estor, Morales, and Livingston, in the department of Izabal; and Panzós and Santa Catarina la Tinta, in the department of Alta Verapaz.
The government's justification for decreeing the state of Siege is that the presence of organized crime groups carrying out illicit activities such as drug trafficking, illegal migration, contraband, among others, has been detected in the aforementioned municipalities.
As expressed in the press release from the government of Alejandro Giammattei, “the actions of these organized crime groups have caused the loss of jobs, the execution of multiple crimes against people and their property. Moreover, these actions intend to turn the region into an area controlled by criminals”.
125 national and international organizations rejected the state of siege imposed by the President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei. Executive decree 13-2020 restricts mobility and demonstration rights. In addition, this decree allows arrests and interrogations without warrants or any sort of justification. 
This Wednesday, July 1st, the organizations that make up the National Alliance against the Privatization of Water, presented a letter addressed to the deputies of the Committee on the Environment and Climate Change of the Legislative Assembly.
Failure to comply with constitutional judgments and provisions of the executive power characterize the actions of the mining company Guatemalan Nickel Company CGN-PRONICO in the exploitation of nickel that operates in El Estor, Izabal. In addition, the social leaders opposing the extremely serious contamination that impacts Lake Izabal and the hills where the mineral is massively extracted are victims of stigmatization and criminalization.The fishermen's association of the people from El Estor has filed an appeal against the mining operation of CGN-PRONICO (the Guatemalan Nickel Company) for breach of the Free, Prior, and Informed Consultation of Indigenous Peoples as stipulated by ILO Convention 169 [1]. In the middle of last year, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala granted legal protection to the fishermen and ordered the suspension of mining activities. The owners of CGN-PRONICO, a Russian-owned company based for tax reasons in the Swiss city of Zur, ignored the Constitutional Court's ruling and continued the exploitation of minerals in the area. Therefore, the mining company openly disrespects a judicial ruling of the highest constitutional body in Guatemala.
El director de la Agencia Nacional de Defensa Jurídica del Estado, Camilo Gómez les dijo a las autoridades de Bucaramanga que es optimista frente a la suerte del proceso iniciado por Eco Oro en contra de Colombia debido a que no pudo explotar metales preciosos en el páramo de Santurbán.
The hard work of protecting water and land from the long-term harms associated with gold and silver mining takes place daily on the frontlines of tenacious struggles throughout Latin America and around the world.