Blood of Extraction

by Todd Gordon

  424 Yagenova, “Guatemala 2012,” p. 142.

  425 S. Granovsky-Larsen, “Timeline: The Return of the Guatemalan Military,” Briarpatch, July 1, 2012. Available online at: http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/the-spoils-of-an-undeclared-war. Accessed on August 19, 2013. For more background on agrarian conflicts in neoliberal Guatemala see S. Granovsky-Larsen, “Between the Bullet and the Bank: Agrarian Conflict and Access to Land in Neoliberal Guatemala,” Journal of Peasant Studies, 40, 2, 2013, pp. 325–350.

  426 Zibechi, “Guatemala: Resisting the New Colonialism.”

  427 For reasons of space, this chapter limits its focus to Guatemalan resistance centred on Canadian mining imperialism. One other area that deserves more attention is that of migrant worker protests. Approximately 4,000 Guatemalans work in Canada’s agricultural sector each year, facing extremely exploitative working conditions. In one inspiring sign of resistance among many, there was a march of temporary migrant workers and their allies to the Canadian embassy in Guatemala City on September 1, 2010 to protest their working conditions, the violation of their limited rights by employers, and the systematic failure of the Canadian government to address those violations. See United Food and Commerical Workers, “Migrant Workers Protest at Canada’s Embassy in Guatemala,” Market Wired, September 1, 2010. Available online at: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/migrant-workers-protest-at-canadas-embassy-in-guatemala-1312972.htm. Accessed on September 2, 2010.

  428 Prensa Libre, “Disputa minera militariza región en San Rafael Las Flores,” Prensa Libre, June 1, 2013. Available online at: http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/comunitario/Disputa-militariza-San-Rafael-Flores_0_929907247.html. Accessed on July 15, 2013.

  429 Sandra Cuffe, “State of Siege: Mining Conflict Escalates in Guatemala,” Upside Down World, May 2, 2013. Available online at: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/guatemala-archives-33/4270-state-of-siege-mining-conflict-escalates-in-guatemala. Accessed on July 10, 2013.

  430 Ibid.

  431 Personal interview, San Rafael las Flores, Santa Rosa, Guatemala, July 9, 2012.

  432 Prensa Libre, “Disputa minera militariza región.”

  433 Rodriguez, “Goldcorp’s Legacy.”

  434 Quotation in Cuffe, “State of Siege.”

  435 S. Yagenova and R. Garcia, “Indigenous People’s Struggles Against Transnational Mining Companies in Guatemala: The Sipakapa People vs. GoldCorp Mining Company,” Socialism and Democracy, 23, 3, 2009, p. 158.

  436 Ibid., p. 157.

  437 Ibid., p. 158.

  438 L. Urkidi, “The Defence of Community in the Anti-Mining Movement of Guatemala,” Journal of Agrarian Change, 11, 4, 2011, pp. 567–568.

  439 Yagenova and Garcia, “Indigenous People’s Struggles Against Transnational Mining Companies in Guatemala,” p. 161.

  440 K. Patterson, “Open Veins: Conflicts Erupting around the World over Canadian Mines,” Ottawa Citizen, October 1, 2005; W. Stueck, “Clashes reported in Guatemala over Glamis mining project,” Globe and Mail, January 13, 2005, p. B14.

  441 Rights Action, “Goldcorp 7,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, June 19, 2009.

  442 Rights Action, “Trial of ‘Goldcorp 7’ Begins Monday, November 12,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, November 10, 2007; Intercontinental Cry, “Goldcorp Seven Verdict is in… Justice in Guatemala?” Intercontinental Cry, December 17, 2007. Available online at: http://intercontinentalcry.org/goldcorp-7-verdict-is-injustice-in-guatemala/. Accessed on January 12, 2008.

  443 Urkidi, “The Defence of Community,” p. 569.

  444 Yagenova and Garcia, “Indigenous People’s Struggles Against Transnational Mining Companies in Guatemala,” pp. 163–164.

  445 Urkidi, “The Defence of Community,” p. 569.

  446 Personal interview, Sacmuj, Guatemala, July 13, 2012.

  447 Urkidi, “The Defence of Community,” p. 565.

  448 A. Hoffman, “Goldcorp bested by Mayan mother,” Globe and Mail, July 10, 2008, p. B1; Foreign Affairs and International Trade, “Secretary of State Guergis to Visit Belize and Guatemala,” July 10, 2008, Global Affairs Canada. Available online at: //w01.international.gc.ca/MinPub/Publication.asp?Language=E&publication_id=386372&docnumber=159. Accessed on July 10, 2008.

  449 Rights Action, “After Goldcorp illegal tried to take control of more lands, Maya Mam people of San Miguel Ixtahuacan are threatened with more ‘criminalizatin’and repression,” Rights Actions, Electronic Bulletin, June 12, 2009.

  450 Rights Action, “Another Possible Attempt against 4 Community Leaders of San Miguel Ixtahuacan,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, August 9, 2009.

  451 Rights Action, “Shooting of Mayan Woman Linked to Goldcorp’s Mine in Guatemala,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, July 10, 2010.

  452 G. Russell, “Goldcorp in Guatemala: Despite the Despites, the Struggle for Human Rights and the Environment Continues,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, September 22, 2010. In addition to opposition to Marlin, Goldcorp has been targeted by anti-mining marches at its Cerro Blanco mine. See Valladares, “Goldcorp Mining Project in Guatemala Faces Cross Border Opposition.”

  453 Personal interview, San José Nueva Esperanza, Guatemala, July 13, 2012.

  454 G. Russell, “Gang Rapes, Forced Evictions and the Endless Nightmare of Nickel Mining in Guatemala,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, May 27, 2010.

  455 D. Balkissoon, “Canadian Ambassador guilty of slander,” Toronto Star, June 17, 2010. Available online at: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/824518--former-canadian-ambassador-guilty-of-slander. Accessed on May 1, 2012. The judge is quoted in R. Olivera, “Cook feels the heat,” New Internationalist, September 1, 2010. Available online at: http://newint.org/columns/currents/2010/09/01/cook-canadian-ambassador-guatemala/. Accessed on September 8, 2010.

  456 Rights Action, “Mining and the Death of a Mayan Teacher,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, October 18, 2009; G. Russell, “The Second Killing of Pablo Bac,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, April 14, 2010.

  457 Behrens, “Nickel For Your Life.”

  458 Mining Watch, “Award Winning Mining Company Being Sued for Violent Death of Community Leader,” Mining Watch, December 2, 2010. Available online at: http://www.miningwatch.ca/news/award-winning-mining-company-being-sued-violent-death-community-leader-industry-out-step-canadi. Accessed on May 16, 2012.

  459 Indian Law Resource Center “Guatemala Court Makes Landmark Ruling in Indigenous Rights Case,” February 8, 2011. Available online at: http://indianlaw.org/content/guatemala-court-makes-landmark-ruling-indigenous-rights-case. Accessed on April 21, 2011.

  460 See Choc V. Hudbay, May 22, 2012. Available online at: www.chocversushudbay.com. Accessed on May 22, 2012.

  461 Dougherty, “The Global Gold Mining Industry, Junior Firms, and Civil Society Resistance in Guatemala,” p. 3; Llewellyn, “Gold flows as the wells run dry.”

  462 Llewellyn, “Gold flows as the wells run dry.”

  463 International Labour Organization, C169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Convention, 1989. Available online at: http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C169. Accessed on December 24, 2015.

  464 Quoted in Urkidi, “The Defence of Community,” p. 573.

  465 A. Koehl, “Billions, Millions, and the Peasant,” Mining Watch, January 18, 2006. Available online at: www.miningwatch.ca/index.php?/Glamis_Gold/Koehl_billions. Accessed on July 10, 2007; K. Patterson, “Canadian Mine Strikes Lode of Unrest,” Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2005, p. C3.

  466 International Labour Conference, Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (International Labour Office: 98th Session, 2009), 680.

  467 Personal interview, San Rafael las Flores, Santa Rosa, Guatemala, July 9, 2012.

  468 For one important historical contextualization, see
J. Dunkerley, The Long War, London: Verso, 1982.

  469 S. Wolf, “Subverting Democracy: Elite Rule and the Limits to Political Participation in Post-War El Salvador,” Journal of Latin American Studies, 41, 3, 2009, pp. 430, 444–445; A.C. Holland, “Right on Crime? Conservative Party Politics and Mano Dura Policies in El Salvador,” Latin American Research Review, 48, 1, 2013, pp. 44–67.

  470 Wolf, “Subverting Democracy”; D. Albiac, “Los ricos de El Salvador,” Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 612, 1999, pp. 841–64; C. Paniagua, “El bloque empresarial hegemónico salvadoreño,” Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 645–646, 2002, pp. 609–93.

  471 Wolf, “Subverting Democracy,” p. 430.

  472 B. Bull, “Diversified Business Groups and the Transnationalisation of the Salvadorean Economy,” Journal of Latin American Studies, 45, 2, 2013, pp. 265–295.

  473 R.J. Spalding, “Civil Society Engagement in Trade Negotiations: CAFTA Opposition Movements in El Salvador,” Latin American Politics and Society, 49, 4, 2007, pp. 85–114.

  474 Dougherty, “The Global Gold Mining Industry, Junior Firms, and Civil Society Resistance in Guatemala,” p. 10.

  475 Dalby, “Canada-El Salvador Commercial Relations,” Ottawa: Foreign Affairs and International Trade, February 2001, Access to Information, file A-2011-02152.

  476 I. Pérez, “Organizaciones sociales piden la salida immediata de Pacific Rim,” La Página, July 22, 2010. Available online at: http://www.lapagina.com.sv/nacionales/36319/2010/07/22/Organizaciones-sociales-piden-la-salida-inmediata-de-Pacific-Rim. Accessed on July 27, 2010; T. Sosa, “Implicaciones socio-ambientales de la minería en Centroamérica,” América Latina en Movimiento, March 2012, pp. 19–20.

  477 Comunicado de Amigos de la Tierra, “Transnacionales cometen crímenes ecológicos,” La Jornada, November 20, 2012. Available online at: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/11/20/sociedad/037n2soc. Accessed on August 1, 2013; Alerta Minera, “Expertos y colectivos socials reflexionan sobre el agua y los impactos de la minería del oro.” Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/13058-expertos-y-colectivos-sociales-reflexionan-sobre-el-agua-y-los-impactos-de-la-mineria-del-oro. Accessed on August 1, 2013; Voces, “Antimineros de todo el mundo debatieron sobre la defense del agua en El Salvador.” Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/13061-antimineros-de-todo-el-mundo-debateiron-sobre-la-defensa-del-agua-en-el-salvador. Accessed on August 1, 2013.

  478 G. Zucker, “El Salvador: Mining the Resistance,” Monthly Review, 62, 2, June 2010, p. 41; K. Lydersen and J. Wallach, “Is Free Trade a Gold Mine?” The Progressive, July 2010. Available online at: http://progressive.org/news/2010/07/145875/free-trade-gold-mine. Accessed on July 29, 2010.

  479 R. Broad and J. Cavanagh, “Like Water for Gold in El Salvador,” The Nation, July 11, 2011. Available online at: http://www.thenation.com/article/water-gold-el-salvador/. Accessed on July 19, 2011.

  480 Lydersen and J. Wallach, “Is Free Trade a Gold Mine?”

  481 E. Ayala, “Most Water-Stressed Country in Central America,” Inter Press Service, December 9, 2010. Available online at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/12/el-salvador-most-water-stressed-country-in-central-america/. Accessed on December 16, 2010; R. Cavooris, “Obama’s Final Stopover: Ignoring CAFTA Protests in San Salvador,” Council on Hemispheric Affairs, March 23, 2011. Available online at: http://www.coha.org/obama%E2%80%99s-final-stopover-ignoring-cafta-protests-in-san-salvador/comment-page-1/. Accessed on April 14, 2011.

  482 Zucker, “El Salvador: Mining the Resistance,” pp. 42–47; Z. Dyer, “El Salvador Faces CAFTA Suit Over Mine Project,” NACLA Report on the Americas, February 6, 2009. Available online at: https://nacla.org/news/el-salvador-faces-cafta-suit-over-mine-project. Accessed on February 13, 2009; J. Wallach, “Pacific Rim Silent in Wake of Violence against Anti-Mining Protesters in Cabañas, El Salvador,” Upside Down World, August 5, 2009. Available online at: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2037/1. Accessed on August 6, 2009.

  483 Zucker, “El Salvador: Mining the Resistance,” p. 42; Wallach, “Pacific Rim Silent in Wake of Violence Against Anti-Mining Protesters.”

  484 Council of Canadians, Common Frontiers, MiningWatch Canada, “Murder in El Salvador Calls Canadian Mining Interests into Question,” Communiqué. Available online at: http://www.miningwatch.ca/news/murder-el-salvador-calls-canadian-mining-interests-question. Accessed on August 1, 2013; Jennifer Moore, “Corporate Rights Over Human Rights: Canadian Mining in Central America,” Discussion paper prepared for a public event hosted by Territorio Libre: Canada’s Dirty Gold Rush in Central America, University of Ottawa, January 12, 2011. Available online at: http://www.miningwatch.ca/article/corporate-rights-over-human-rights-canadian-mining-central-america. Accessed on August 1, 2013.

  485 Radio Mundo Real, “Testimonio del padre Neftalí Ruíz sobre la Resistencia a la minería en Cabañas.” Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/11658-testimonio-del-padre-neftali-ruiz-sobre-la-resistencia-a-la-mineria-en-cabanas. Accessed on August 1, 2013; La Mesa Nacional frente a la Minería Metálica de El Salvador, “Asesinato de ambientalista sin esclarecer y la megaminería en pie,” Communiqué, June 17, 2012. Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/10307-asesinato-de-ambientalista-sin-esclarecer-y-la-megamineria-en-pie. Accessed on August 1, 2013.

  486 Collins, “The Failure of Socially Responsive Gold Mining,” Journal of Business Ethics, 88, 2009, p. 262.

  487 Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), “CISPES Action Alert,” January 31, 2011. Available online at: www.cispes.org. Accessed on February 3, 2011; D. Mackey and T. Simon, “Threats and Violence Continue against Salvadoran Environmentalists,” Upside Down World, January 26, 2012. Available online at: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/el-salvador-archives-74/3428-threats-and-violence-continue-against-salvadoran-environmentalists. Accessed on August 1, 2013.

  488 Quoted in El Diario, “El Salvador y las agresiones a la lucha antiminera,” El Diario, July 23, 2013. Available online at: http://www.eldiario.es/desalambre/minería-manifestaciones-El_Salvador-represion_0_156784975.html. Accessed on August 1, 2013.

  489 Lydersen and Wallach, “Is Free Trade a Gold Mine?”

  490 Colectivo de Derechos Humanos, “A Canadian Mining Company Making a Killing in El Salvador … Again,” Rights Action, Electronic Bulletin, December 23, 2009; G. Montalvo, “Fallen Anti-Mining Activists Honored With Vigil,” Upside Down World, January 14, 2010. Available online at: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/el-salvador-archives-74/2314-solidarity-with-environmentalists-killed-in-el-salvador. Accessed on January 14, 2010.

  491 Globe and Mail, “Pacific Rim arbitration on El Salvador mine begins,” Globe and Mail, June 1, 2010, p. B10. The case was heard at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, D.C. See also, HispanTV, “Denuncian agresión económica contra El Salvador por transnacional canadiense.” Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/12655-denuncian-agresion-economica-contra-el-salvador-por-transnacional-canadiense. Accessed on August 2, 2013; Gloria Moronta, “La minera Pacific Rim demanda 315 millones de dólares al Estado salvadoreño,” Conflictos Mineros, April 4, 2013. Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/12656-la-minera-pacific-rim-demanda-315-millones-de-dolares-al-estado-salvadoreno. Accessed on August 2, 2013.

  492 Reuters, “Canadian miner’s complaint can proceed under El Salvador law,” Reuters, June 2, 2012. Available online at: http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-pacificrimmining-idUKBRE8510FY20120602. Accessed on June 2, 2012.

  493 Contrapunto, “Organizaciones reaccionan ante demanda Pacific Rim,” Conflictos Mineros, April 4, 2013. Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/12660-organizaciones-reaccionan-ante-demanda-pacific-rim.
Accessed on August 2, 2013.

  494 Quoted in ibid.

  495 “Lanzan en El Salvador Movimiento Mesoamericano contra la Minería Metálica (M4),” Conflictos Mineros, April 25, 2013. Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/10034-lanzan-en-el-salvador-movimiento-mesoamericano-contra-la-mineria-m4. Accessed on August 1, 2013.

  496 Wolf, “Subverting Democracy,” pp. 447–450.

  497 H. Perla Jr. and H. Cruz-Feliciano, “The Twenty-First Century Left in El Salvador and Nicaragua: Understanding Apparent Contradictions and Criticisms,” Latin American Perspectives, 40, 3, 2013, p. 84.

  498 La Mesa Nacional frente a la Minería Metálica de El Salvador, “Comunidades y organizaciones rechazan resolución emitida por asesinatos de ambientalistas,” Communiqué, April 26, 2012. Available online at: http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/14-el-salvador/10038-comunidades-y-organizaciones-rechazan-emitida-por-asesinatos-de-ambientalistas. Accessed on August 1, 2013.

  499 J. Wallach, “Another Anti-Mining Activist Shot in Cabañas El Salvador, Hitman Tied to Pacific Rim is Detained,” Upside Down World, August 13, 2009. Available online at: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/el-salvador-archives-74/2049-another-anti-mining-activist-shot-in-cabael-salvador-hitman-tied-to-pacific-rim-is-detained. Accessed on August 14, 2009.

  500 A. Bebbington, “Underground Political Ecologies: The Second Annual Lecture of the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers,” Geoforum, 43, 2012, p. 1154.

  501 M. Hill, “El Salvador intends total ban on mining,” Mining Weekly, August 6, 2010. Available online at: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/el-salvador-intends-total-ban-on-mining---report-2010-08-06. Accessed on August 12, 2010; E. Achtenberg, “El Salvador: Funes Opposes Mining, But Legal Ban Uncertain,” NACLA Report on the Americas, July 8, 2011. Available online at: https://nacla.org/blog/2011/7/8/el-salvador-funes-opposes-mining-legal-ban-uncertain. Accessed on July 11, 2011.