San Marcos gold mine and SJC involvement

In the spring of 2004 Ernie Schibli of the Social Justice Committee visited San Marcos, Guatemala, a region inhabited mainly by indigenous people, in response to concerns there about open pit gold mining that was beginning in the area and the impacts it would have on their communities. People in the area felt they did not have adequate support from the government to respond to concerns about the use of enormous amounts of water, toxic substances, and the socio-economic impacts of mining.

Groups in the area, like the Movimiento de Trabajadores Campesinos (MTC), indigenous groups and other grass roots organizations, formed the "Frente por la Vida" coalition as part of their efforts to be part of the decision making process.

Seeking support in the international community, the MTC asked the Social Justice Committee to assist the efforts of the Frente por la Vida to reach three objectives:

• the suspension of activities in respect to this mine until the government of Guatemala conducts a consultation with the people that will be affected by open pit mining, as called for by Convention on Indigenous Peoples (C169)of the International Labour Organization,
• a change of the current mining law to make it compatible with Convention 169 of the ILO, and
• a moratorium on the granting of exploration and exploitation licenses until the present mining law is changed.

The SJC responded by writing an open letter to the President of Guatemala indicating our support of the demands by Frente por la Vida for respect of their rights, collecting signatures from organizations around the world.

Ernie Schibli returned to San Marcos in November to present the letter at a press conference in Guatemala City and in the community itself, alongside local organizations.

International responsibility

The International Financial Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, agreed in June 2004 to a $45 million loan to Glamis Gold, a US-Canada company, for the mining project in San Marcos, despite a request from an indigenous organization asking the IFC to postpone the decision in view of the communities' concerns.

Glamis Gold is a trans-national corporation registered in Canada, so there is a level of responsibility for the Canadian government described by the OECD Guidelines for International Enterprises. These Guidelines are a corporate responsibility instrument that states: "Governments adhering to the Guidelines are committed to continual improvement of both domestic and international policies with a view to improving the welfare and living standards of all people." In its General Policies the Guidelines maintain that enterprises should "respect the human rights of those affected by their activities consistent with the host government's international obligations and commitments"

The state of Guatemala signed on (in 1996) the Convention on Indigenous Peoples (Convention 169) of the International Labour Organization, which states that Indigenous Peoples "have the right to decide their own priorities for the process of development as it affects the lands they occupy or otherwise use,"and that "they shall participate in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of plans and programmes for national and regional development which may affect them directly."