ENVIRONMENT-GUATEMALA: Mines Bring No
Benefits to Local People
By Danilo
Valladares
GUATEMALA CITY (IPS) - The new draft law on
mining before the Guatemalan parliament does
not strictly regulate water use and
environmental protection, does not provide
for community consultation, and sets
royalties payable to the state at too low a
level, say environmental and social
organisations.
"We oppose the approval of the draft law by
the congressional Commission on Energy and
Mines because it did not take into account
the process of dialogue that we had been
carrying out," activist Gabriel Valle, head
of the Foundation for Ecodevelopment and
Conservation (Fundaeco), told IPS.
The text about to be debated in plenary
sessions of Congress is the draft approved
in December 2008, without the social and
environmental amendments adopted by
consensus by a high-level negotiating
committee that included environmental
organisations.
The draft law, to reform a mining law that
came into force in 1997, does not stipulate
that indigenous peoples must be consulted
about planned activities in their
territories, even though Guatemala agreed to
this guarantee when it adopted International
Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 169 on
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, nor does it
contain clear regulations on water use and
environmental protection, Valle said.
Furthermore, it provides tax breaks for
mining companies, and sets royalties payable
to the state at between one and seven
percent, when royalties should not be less
than 10 percent of the value of the
resources extracted, according to social and
environmental organisations.
A number of demonstrations have been held to
protest the draft law. The latest took place
on Jul. 15, when thousands of people blocked
the highway to the Atlantic ocean and the
Inter-American Highway to the Mexican
border.
In the municipality of San Juan
Sacatepéquez, 35 kilometres from the
capital, thousands more protested against
the planned construction of a cement factory
near the capital, for fear it will use too
much water and cause pollution.
In Valle's view it is essential that the
draft law be revised, because mining in
Guatemala "is a dismal problem. The country
has all the disadvantages when it comes to
managing this industry."
"There is no monitoring capability for
mining, and there is no water law.
Municipalities have neither the staff nor
the resources to deal with land use
planning, let alone run an environmental
management office," Valle said.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) has
issued 170 permits to mining companies,
three of them for mineral extraction, three
for reconnaissance, and the rest for
exploration, according to the Savia School
of Ecological Thought.
The fast-growing mining industry in
Guatemala produced minerals worth 223
million dollars in 2007, an increase of 67
percent on 2006, according to the MEM.
But in spite of the wealth generated by the
mines, the local communities where they are
located have not seen any positive
development. On the contrary, their water
sources have been polluted and their
environment harmed, according to Uriel
Miranda, a legal adviser to the Roman
Catholic Church's Pastoral Commission for
Peace and Ecology (COPAE).
"We believe this draft law is a gift to
foreign corporations, which only want to
exploit our natural resources to rake in the
profits," Miranda said.
In his view, it is essential that the new
draft law establish the right of local
communities to be consulted. "In order for
our country to become more democratic, its
riches must serve the common interest and
not the interests of the few," he said.
COPAE is based in the northwestern
department (province) of San Marcos, where
the operation of the open cast gold and
silver Marlin mine, belonging to the Montana
Exploradora company which in turn is wholly
owned by the Canadian mining giant Goldcorp,
has given rise to vigorous protests.
In 2005 a community referendum was held on
the mine, located in the municipalities of
Sipacapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacán. Eleven
out of 13 villages voted against the
project, but two years later the
Constitutional Court ruled that the vote was
non-binding.
To date, 36 community votes have been held
in the provinces of San Marcos,
Huehuetenango, Quiché, Zacapa and
Sacatepéquez. Over 500,000 men and women
have expressed their opposition to mining,
according to the Coordination of
International Accompaniment in Guatemala (CAIG).
Concerns about environmental destruction due
to open cast mining are also growing.
According to Julio González, head of the
environmental group MadreSelva, the damage
may be irreversible.
"All mining causes a great deal of water
pollution because it takes place near
rivers. The local people who depend on these
water sources are affected by the chemicals
used, including cyanide. The damage caused
will last hundreds of years, and no price
can be set on it," González told IPS.
The negotiating committee on mining, made up
of MadreSelva, COPAE, the Centre for Legal,
Environmental and Social Action (CALAS),
Fundaeco and Ceiba, among others, requested
strict regulation of water use and
environmental preservation.
The organisations proposed that mining
companies be required to pay for the water
they use, and not be permitted to alter its
quality nor local people's access to it.
They should also remove all pollutants from
their waste water before discarding it, the
committee said.
The groups also want stricter regulation of
the transport and handling of toxic
chemicals, environmental impact studies, and
regular compulsory monitoring.
The negotiating committee recommended an
audit of everything extracted from the
subsoil, in order to guarantee transparency
and access to information.
Several of these demands were proposed as
amendments to the draft law in June by
opposition lawmaker Rosa María de Frade, a
member of the Commission on Energy and
Mines, but to no avail.
De Frade told IPS she will carry on
lobbying, although she said there was scant
interest in parliament. "There is a lack of
political will in Congress to have a broad,
serious and in-depth discussion about
mining," she said.
Since Jan. 14, 2008, the MEM has been under
instructions not to issue any mining
concessions until the negotiating committee
has reached a consensus on the draft law to
reform the regulatory framework, Guatemalan
President Álvaro Colom told a delegation of
protesters on Jul. 14.
Douglas González, head of the Gremial de
Minas y Canteras, the industry association
for mines and quarries, said "the current
law has been in force for too short a time
to be changed now. More time is needed to
evaluate its performance."
Civil society organisations are planning to
hold an international conference on mining
Aug. 3-5.
The next parliamentary session begins Aug.
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