Contact:
Ernie Schibli, Public Education Coordinator
Tel.: (514) 933-6797
Home: (514) 481-6544
Email: ernie@s-j-c.net

Guatemalan community leader and Marlin mine resister Juan Tema to speak in Montreal.

Montreal- 26 April 2006 – Juan Tema, an indigenous leader from Sipakapa, Guatemala, will visit Montreal this weekend to speak about his community’s resistance to the Marlin mine, which is run by Canadian-registered mining company Glamis Gold Ltd. Mr. Tema is currently on a Canadian tour raising awareness about the mine’s negative effect on both indigenous communities and the environment.

Mr. Tema will offer two presentations on Saturday, April 29. First, he will speak at Café Utopik (552 Ste. Catherine East) at 2 p.m. as part of a special screening of the video-documentary “Sipakapa: Not For Sale”. This presentation is in Spanish with French translation provided. Mr. Tema will then speak at 6 p.m. at St. John’s United Church (98 Aurora Ave., Pointe Claire). He will present in Spanish with English translation. Finally, Mr. Tema will be the guest speaker at the Social Justice Committee’s annual general meeting on Monday, May 1st at 7:30 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Congress Hall (454 René Lévesque Blvd. West). He will address all attendees in Spanish with English translation. For more information on these events, or to request an interview with Mr. Tema, please call the Social Justice Committee.

Juan Tema’s Montreal visit is sponsored by the Social Justice Committee, CUSO-Québec, Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala, and Rights Action.

These organizations continue their awareness campaigns surrounding the widely criticized activities of the Marlin mine in Guatemala. They point out that local communities affected by the Marlin mine were not adequately consulted before it was constructed, and that many Guatemalans are opposed to the mine on social, environmental, and human rights grounds.