(Washington, D.C.) -- After more than two years of delay, the Guatemalan Minister of Energy and Mines (MEM) announced on Wednesday, April 3, that it had approved the exploitation licence for Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine in San Rafael Las Flores, Guatemala. The announcement comes less than two weeks after four indigenous Xinca leaders were abducted while returning from a community referendum in El Volcancito, in which more than 99 percent of people voted against the Escobal project. One of those abducted was found dead the next day.

This one-day conference on Canada’s current extractivist development strategy took place on March 16 at Carleton University. Co-organized by MiningWatch and Studies in Political Economy, it brought together over 100 participants to asses the extractivist model and propose alternatives that are more just, responsible and sustainable.

Background: On Sunday, March 17, 2013, at around 8 pm, the President of the Xinca Indigenous Parliament and three other Xinca leaders were abducted by a group of heavily armed masked men while on their way home from observing a public referendum on Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine in El Volcancito, San Rafael Las Flores, in the department of Santa Rosa. This comes only two days after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called on the Government of Guatemala to protect human rights defenders.

News release: Ottawa – MiningWatch Canada was pleased to learn that on March 15, Cliffs Natural Resources and the federal government lost their bid to exclude expert evidence from a court challenge launched by Matawa Tribal Council. Matawa is challenging the federal government’s decision to conduct a bare-boned environmental review of Cliffs’ proposed open pit chromite mine, 350 km long access road into the Hudson Bay Lowlands, and ferrochrome processing facility. Cliffs and the Attorney General of Canada took issue with affidavits from experts on wildlife, water quality, and environmental assessment.

News release: A recent Guatemalan Constitutional Court decision regarding the 1997 Mining Law contradicts the country's international human rights obligations to respect Indigenous rights and is a step back from earlier jurisprudence. US, Canadian and Guatemalan organizations are asking how Canada's obligations to promote respect for Indigenous rights might also have been contravened.

News release: Today, the Algonquins of Barriere Lake are re-affirming their opposition to the proposed exploration activities of the junior mining company Copper One (TSX-V: CUO) within their unceded traditional territory. Copper One’s Rivière Doré project is within the area of an existing co-management agreement that Barriere Lake signed with Quebec and Canada in 1991 (the Trilateral Agreement).

Press Release: Tuesday night, Ottawa organizations and Aluna Theatre will co-present a play about the final moments in the life of Guatemalan land rights activist, Adolfo Ich Chamán, right before his brutal murder at the hands of private security contracted to a Canadian mining company. The staged reading, The Last Walk of Adolfo Ich, juxtaposes quotes from government and company websites with transcribed interviews with a Toronto lawyer and Adolfo’s widow. The murder is the subject of historic hearings taking place this week in an Ontario courthouse.

Open Letter: Canadian and US civil society organizations are calling for the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to open an investigation to determine who is responsible for recent violence surrounding Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine site in order that the case be brought to justice. They flag deep concern that the current investigation could be prejudiced and that public allegations against community members defending their right to live in a healthy environment could put them at risk of further violence or otherwise subject them to groundless legal actions.

Media advisory: (St. John’s, Newfoundland) The federal Fisheries Act was intended to protect fish and fish habitat in part by prohibiting the dumping of harmful substances into fish-bearing waters. The intent of the Act has been diluted by regulations that give the mining industry an exemption to allow the conversion of pristine lakes, wetlands, and streams across Canada into mine waste dumps. Among these is Sandy Pond, a lake near Long Harbour, Newfoundland, that was known for its trophy trout.

News Release: Join us for a unique evening of theatre and discussion about environment and indigenous rights. A staged reading The Last Walk of Adolfo Ich recalls the murder of a Mayan community leader in context of a Canadian mining conflict with dialogue drawn from statements, interviews, and government and public websites. Guatemalan guests Lolita Chávez from the Indigenous Women’s Association ‘Voice of Resistance’ and Antonio Catalán from the Human Rights Defenders Unit will enrich the panel to follow.