Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Activists Against Mining

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 16 2004 (IPS) - Guatemalan environmentalists are demanding that President Oscar Berger call off the processing of 360 applications for licenses to mine for gold, silver and nickel. ''They are going to hurt the country with the excuse that they are helping the poor communities, but they don't take into account the destruction of natural resources,'' Magalí Rey Rosa, head of the MadreSelva Collective, told Tierramérica.

The Canadian company Montana began mining operations in January to extract gold and silver in the southwestern department of San Marcos, ''and in that area there live more than 30,000 people,'' said Rey Rosa.

''The company will hire around one thousand people the first year to handle explosives, but only 180 will have permanent jobs in the 10 years for which Montana holds the permit. And that is no benefit,'' she said.

Tierramérica did not receive a response from Montana, but the company has responded to criticisms with assurances that it has systems in place to ensure protection of the environment and of the health of its employees.