Operations effectively halted in July 2008. In April 2017, following the enactment of the Law on the Prohibition of Metallic Mining, OceanaGold (through its subsidiary, Minerales Torogoz) announced that it would exit the country. The OceanaGold website states that project closure procedures were completed on 15 September 2017 and the company withdrew from El Salvador inContinue reading “El Dorado”
Subsoil Natural Resource Archives
Escobal
Operations suspended pending completion of consultations with affected Xinka indigenous communities, as per Constitutional Court decision released in September 2018.
2020- Guatemalan Government and the Xinka Parliament initiate pre-consultation over Escobal
In February 2020, the Xinka Parliament and the Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines restarted dialogue on the conditions necessary to fufill the Constitutional Court ruling on the requirement to conduct a consultation process with the Xinka people affected by the Escobal mine (see Legal Action entitled, “2017- Judicial Suspension of Tahoe’s Mining Licences“). In October, afterContinue reading “2020- Guatemalan Government and the Xinka Parliament initiate pre-consultation over Escobal”
2008-2013 Constitutional Challenges against Guatemalan Mining Laws [Marlin]
On 19 June 2008, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala declared seven provisions of the 1997 Mining Law unconstitutional based on a failure to comply with Guatemala’s environmental laws. In particular, the court agreed with the Centre for Environmental and Socio-Legal Action (CALAS) that the following aspects of the Mining Law breached the state’s obligation toContinue reading “2008-2013 Constitutional Challenges against Guatemalan Mining Laws [Marlin]”
2008-2018 Constitutional Challenges against Guatemalan Mining Laws [Escobal]
On 19 June 2008, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala declared seven provisions of the 1997 Mining Law unconstitutional based on a failure to comply with Guatemala’s environmental laws. In particular, the court agreed with the Centre for Environmental and Socio-Legal Action (CALAS) that the following aspects of the Mining Law breached the state’s obligation toContinue reading “2008-2018 Constitutional Challenges against Guatemalan Mining Laws [Escobal]”
2011-2018 Constitutional Challenge of Draft Regulation on Indigenous Consultation Processes [Escobal]
On 23 March 2011, Guatemala’s Western Peoples’ Council of Mayan Organizations (CPO) brought an action before the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of a draft regulation, entitled “Regulations regarding the Consultation Process under the International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries”, which included a 30-day notice period fromContinue reading “2011-2018 Constitutional Challenge of Draft Regulation on Indigenous Consultation Processes [Escobal]”
2013 IACHR Petition filed by Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples [Escobal]
In September 2013, the Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples filed a petition against Guatemala before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for systemic violation of the collective rights of indigenous peoples in Guatemala. This petition was filed in response to the Constitutional Court’s 2013 decision, dismissing an action brought by Guatemala’s Western Peoples’Continue reading “2013 IACHR Petition filed by Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples [Escobal]”
2008-2013 Moratoriums on Metallic Mining [Escobal]
In 2008, the Government of Guatemala, then led by President Álvaro Colom Caballeros of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, instituted a moratorium on issuing new mining licences. This moratorium was triggered by a successful constitutional challenge in 2008 of the country’s General Mining Law, which was raised in the context of opposition toContinue reading “2008-2013 Moratoriums on Metallic Mining [Escobal]”
2005- Community Consultations Processes [Escobal]
Between 2005 and 2016, approximately 80 community consultations (consultas comunitarias), also known as popular consultations (consultas populares or consultas), were held across Guatemala, resulting in a large majority of citizens voting against mining and other commercial activities in their territories (Ardon, 2016). The “consulta movement” in Guatemala began in 2005 in response to a hydroelectric project in RíoContinue reading “2005- Community Consultations Processes [Escobal]”
2010 ILO Criticizes Guatemala on Mining and Indigenous Communities [Escobal]
In 2010, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) released a report criticizing Guatemala for, despite earlier comments made in 2005, 2006, and 2007, continuing to issue mining licences without consultation with indigenous communities and for failing to compensate indigenous communities for damages sustained or “makeContinue reading “2010 ILO Criticizes Guatemala on Mining and Indigenous Communities [Escobal]”