Guatemalans attacked by Goldcorp mineworkers
Guatemalans attacked by Goldcorp mineworkers
SAN MIGUEL IXTAHUACAN, GUATEMALA--On February 28, people (mainly Mayan-Mam men and women) from villages harmed and damaged since 2004 by Goldcorp's Marlin mine, gathered for a Permanent Assembly coordinated by ADISMI (the Association for the Integral Development of San Miguel Ixtahucan) and FREDEMI (San Miguel Ixtahuacan Defense Front), to draw critical attention to the fact that the government of Guatemala and Goldcorp had not complied with a May 2010 order from the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to suspend Goldcorp's mining operation. 10 months have gone by, and neither the Guatemala government, nor Goldcorp have complied.
Their protests were violently broken up by Goldcorp mineworkers and other unidentified people.
* A local community member and human rights defender, Miguel Bámaca, was seriously beaten.
* Aniseto López (a member of ADISMI and FREDEMI) was illegally detained by Goldcorp mineworkers, threatened and beaten.
* As a busload of protesters traveled along a public road, they were illegally detained and threatened by Goldcorp mineworkers.
* As many as 17 protesters have been injured and one person hospitalized.
* Phones, cameras and videos-cameras were stolen from people in the protests.
This is not a local, Guatemalan issue.
This is an issue of the governments of Canada and Guatemala, of Goldcorp, of the major investors (like the Canada Pension Plan), etc, who have been informed, over and over, of the environmental and health harms and other human rights violations that have occurred and continue to occur regularly since 2004.
The repression of February 28, 2011, is but the latest "incident".
Over the past years, documentation of the harms and violations has been met by denials and omissions of the governments of Canada and Guatemala, of Goldcorp, of the major investors (like the Canada Pension Plan), etc.
In the next few days, we will prepare a response to the Goldcorp company communiqué and response letters that Goldcorp is sending publicly.
Keep sending letters to your media, your politicians and government officials, to Goldcorp, to the Canada Pension Fund and other funds invested in Golddcorp, etc. Politely insist on getting a response to your concerns and demands.
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GOLDCORP Inc.
Chuck Jeannes, President & CEO
666 Burrard Street, Suite 3400, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2X8
Main: (604) 696-3000, Direct: 604-696-3076, Chuck.Jeannes@goldcorp.com
Kim Keras, executive assistant, Kim.Keras@goldcorp.com
Goldcorp Inc
3201-130 Adelaide St. W., Toronto, ON, M5H0in5, T: (416) 865-0326
Tim Miller, VP Operations, Central America, Tim.Miller@montana.com.gt
Dina Aloi, VP Corporate Social Responsibility, Dina.Aloi@goldcorp.com, T: (416) 865-0326
David Deisley, legal counsel, david.deisley@goldcorp.com
Jeff Wilhoit, investor relations, Jeff.Wilhoit@goldcorp.com
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, T: (866) 696-3055, local (604) 696-3055, Directors@Goldcorp.com
HUMAN RESOURCES, hr@goldcorp.com
GUATEMALA CITY: Jim Schenck, jamess@montana.com.gt, Lisa Wade, lisa.wade@montana.com.gt
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/
Governor General of Canada, David Johnston Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1A-0A1 info@gg.ca, (613) 993-8200, 800 465-6890 Duncan Mousseau, Director, Policy, Planning and Correspondence Office of the Secretary to the Governor General Prime Minister Stephen Harper Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon 509-S Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6 Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent 125 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G2 (613) 992-0253, kent.p@parl.gc.ca Gilles Duceppe, leader, Bloc Quebecois 1200 Papineau Av, #350, Montreal, QC, H2K 4R5 Jack Layton, leader, New Democratic Party 221 Broadview Ave, Suite 100, Toronto, ON, MM 2G3 Elizabeth May, leader, Green Party Saanich Gulf Islands EDA, PO Box 20076, Sidney, BC, V8L 5C9 Michael Ignatieff, leader, Liberal Party 656 The Queensway, Etobicoke, ON, M8Y 1K7 Bob Rae, Liberal, Foreign Affairs Critic (613) 992-5234, RaeB@parl.gc.ca Francine Lalonde, Bloc Quebecois, Foreign Affairs Critic (613) 995-6327, LalonF@parl.gc.ca Paul Dewar, NDP, Foreign Affairs Critic 1306 Wellington St. W, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 3B2 dewarp@parl.gc.ca, 613-946-8682 Larry Bagnell, Liberal Stockwell Day, Conservative days@parl.gc.ca, 613-995-1702 Peter Julian, NDP International Trade Critic, Rm 178, Confederation Bldg., Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 John McKay, Liberal MP, Scarborough-Guildwood (613) 992-1447, MckayJ@parl.gc.ca, 613-947-4609 Claire Lehan, Legislative Assistant (613) 992-6512, McKayJ8@parl.gc.ca 549-D Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6 Kevin Sorenson, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, Room 518, Justice Building, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 (613) 947-4608, SorenK@parl.gc.ca, 613-992-2971 Dean Allison, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairperson, 4994 King Street, Beamsville, Ontario, L0R 1B0 allison.d@parl.gc.ca, 905-995-2772 Marketa Evans, Global corporate responsibility commissioner Marketa.Evans@international. CANADIAN Embassy in Guatemala Ambassador Leeann McKechnie Karin Reinecke, Assistant to the Ambassador karin.reinecke@international. Jennifer Chacon jennifer.chacon@international. 13 Calle 8-44 Zone 10, Edificio Edyma Plaza, Ciudad de Guatemala (502) 2363-4348, 2365-1201, gtmla@international.gc.ca * * * CANADA PENSION PLAN One Queen St. East, Suite 2600, Toronto ON, M5C-2W5 CPP Investment Board: csr@cppib.ca, 416-868-4075, 1-866-557-9510. Lisa Baiton, VP Stakeholder & Government Relations, CPPIB, (416) 868-6612, lbaiton@cppib.ca, www.cppib.ca; ONTARIO TEACHERS PENSION PLAN FUND 5650 Yonge St, Toronto, Canada, communications@otpp.com; Lynne Olver, Communications, 416-730-6518, lynne_olver@otpp.com * * * * * * * FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION & ANY QUESTIONS: Rights Action: Grahame Russell, info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org ADISMI: Javier de Leon, 5785-8701, nimjavier@gmail.com; Carmen MejÃa, carmenmejiaa@gmail.com; 5387-7438; * Please forward this information and re-post * To get on/off Rights Action's listserv: www.rightsaction.org