Some Courage with your Coffee?

Part 1 

ITT or Independent travel time is an OG time honoured tradition of temporarily abandoning its participants so they can stretch their legs and comfort zones independently while Trip Leaders get some well-deserved R&R. So, with everyone off on their own adventures in Belize and Petén, I got to shed some stresses in the tropical heat and cool waters of Rio Dulce. But after a couple days of repose I became restless and decided to return to El Estor to reconnect with anti-mining activists Raúl and María. Together we visited the barrio of La Unión and spoke with Germán. An amazing young man who had been shot by CGN (a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian corporation, Hudbay Nickel) security forces in 2009 and left for dead. Miraculously he survived but the bullet had cut through his back, severing his spinal column and paralyzing him from the waist down. Subsequently placed in Guatemala’s underfunded public health system, Germán developed an ulcer and again would have almost certainly died had it not been for the timely intervention of Transitions, a courageous and caring group of North Americans and Guatemalans dedicated to rehabilitating trauma victims. Since then, however, Germán’s life as become no less difficult. After 18 months of recovery in different hospitals and rehabilitation centres across El Salvador and Guatemala, the permanent paraplegic returned home to find his wife gone, leaving him and his poor family with sole responsibility for his infant son. Now 23 years old, Germán continues to live with his parents, and his little boy, in their small home in El Estor.

Germán Chub Choc

In September, shortly after my visit, Germán bravely spoke out and shared his story publicly for the first time. But while the truth is finally being told, no justice is likely to come for Germán, not in Guatemala and certainly not in Canada. So, although Raúl, María, and Rights Action can do little to assist in apprehending German’s would be assassin in a climate of corporate impunity they are helping the young man carve out a new life.  Accordingly, they are appealing on Germ'an behalf for $7,500 to sustain his on-going medical treatments as well as support his own initiative to construct a small corner store that he himself could own and operate, and through which provide his family with a sustainable living. 

German’s Appeal:

“I, GERMAN CHUB CHOC, 23 years old, ID card number Q 18-40,585, of the community of El Estor, Izabal, am sending out this appeal to the international community and good-hearted people. I am a victim of the actions of the CGN (Guatemala Nickel Company) located in El Estor, Izabal. I was left disabled on September 27, 2009, the day of the murder of ADOLFO ICH CHAMAN, our campesino leader in Barrio La Union, El Estor, Izabal.

I am a man of meagre means and my parents are unemployed. This is why I am submitting to you a request for the following items that will help me with my daily needs and my mobility…”

GERMAN’S STORE = $5,500

On the family property, German and his family will build a small store structure (think tiny, local, corner store). It will be mainly a wood structure – framing, floor, doors & walls. It will have tin roofing, shelves, a refrigerator and small freezer, etc. It will be a wheel-chair friendly facility with a large open front and counter (and wooden shutters), ramps, doors and locks. The budget was prepared by German, his family and local community leaders that have been supporting German since he returned to El Estor and can be provided upon request.

GERMAN’s HEALTH NEEDS = $2,000

German also requires the following items for his daily life:

• RUBBER GLOVES: 2 PAIRS A DAY
• LUBRICANTS: 1 TUBE PER WEEK
• TOILET PAPER: 2 ROLLS PER DAY
• 12 MG STERILE CATHETER: 1 PER MONTH
• 10MG BLADDER CONTROL PILLS: 1 PER DAY
• ANTIBIOTIC MEDICATION, CIRIAX, CIPROFLOXACINO: 1 PER MONTH
• CIREX PILLS: 2 PER WEEK
• SOAP: 2 BARS PER WEEK
• LIQUID DISINFECTANT SOAP: 1 CONTAINER PER WEEK
• CLORINE DISINFECTANT: 1 GALLON PER MONTH
• A QUICKIE “COMPLETA” ACTIVE LIFE STYLE ALUMINUM WHEELCHAIR

“All the parts of this wheelchair are made of aluminium and suitable for my personal needs. I really need your help with these items as they are very expensive and I am unable to purchase them for myself. I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide me with QUICKIE “COMPLETA” wheelchair. This brand is very sturdy and recommended by doctors.

I am asking for your help out of real need. I have no other option but to knock on the doors of members of the international community. I hope I can appeal to your hearts, as I feel abandoned and dejected. THIS IS ALL THE FAULT OF THE MINING COMPANY.”

To make a tax-deductible donation and help Germán…

1.    Make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:

UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887

CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8

2.    Make a donation via credit card at http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm

3.    Make stock donation by contacting info@rightsaction.org

Under certain conditions, we can also put donors in direct touch with local community leaders who work closely with German. Please contact me or Rights Action if you have any questions or comments.

Ben Sampson Program Coordinator, Operation Groundswell 416-505-4262 ben@operationgroundswell.com

Grahame Russell Co-director, Rights Action 860-352-2448 info@rightsaction.org www.rightsaction.org www.facebook.org/RightsAction

Part 2

After saying goodbye to Germán and another fond farewell to Raul and María the following morning, I continued west back across the rocky roads of the Porochic Fault and Minas Mountains to Lanquin, El Retiro Lodge, and the friendly company of Anna and Karen. Together with Allison, we celebrated Anna’s birthday complete with chocolate banana daiquiris and bar-top dancing. And the following day the four of us finally got our day at Guatemala’s natural spa, Semuc Champey, complete with a candle lit tour of the Kamba caves. That night, however, Allison and I had to say goodbye again, this time to Anna, Karen, and new friend, Francine. Francine was a big, black Scorpion (about the size of my hand) who had decided to inhibit my tent and seemed intent on sharing one last night together in my sleeping bag even it killed her, which, as it happened, it did but not before she got off one epic luv bite. The next day, having survived my all too intimate encounter, at 5am Allison and I were back on a micro and off to the Guatemala’s Western Highlands for a 2 day visit to Santa Anita La Unión and the Asociación de Productores de Café Santa Anita (APCASA). The organic coffee and banana growing cooperative was formed by ex-guerrilla combatants who fought during the 36-year internal armed conflict that ravaged Guatemala until 1996. The community is made up of 32 families who have worked together since the Peace Accords to construct two schools, a daycare centre, a pharmacy, and a public library. They have also initiated an ecotourism project and developed coffee roasting and exportation abilities. After, a brief stop in Xela to pick-up Nikki, the three of us continued north-west by Chicken Bus to Columba from where we took a pick-up to the community where we would be staying. Despite their amazing progress, the cooperative has recently fallen on hard times. A split with La Asociación Maya de Pequeños Agricultores (AMPA) motivated APCASA’s abandonment by American “fair trade” distributor, Cooperative Coffees, and caused the loss of their exportation licence. Allison, Nikki, and I stayed with families on the finca while learning about their continued toils. Community leader and cooperative director, Sergio, explained how difficult it was to trade their guns for machetes. He described how during the war they had only trained and taught the defensive and offensive tactics of war, but in its aftermath they needed to train and teach the strategies of producing and marketing coffee. He said that during the conflict there had been no hope of acquiring a title, a diploma, or a degree. And that’s why the 32 families who spoke 5 different languages and came from 5 different departments organized and traded their tools of war for tools of peace and the means of increased prosperity. Now the cooperative and surrounding community has, according to Sergio, become a school for coffee cultivation and commercialization where they no longer learn the art of war but rather the art of agriculture. In a country where exportation only exists in the vocabularies of big company’s and has become synonymous with exploitation, amazingly, Santa Anita La Unión is attempting to convince fellow producers of the value of one of the country’s most common commodities. APCASA’s argues that coffee, like cocoa and others, provides a symbol of “amistad,” of “solidaridad”, and a vehicle for exchange, not only of cash and crops, but of ideas; ideas that begin with a respect for each other and for the environment, both which are integral to Mayan cosmology and the practices of a primary commodities producer. In other words coffee has become, for these ex-guerrillas, the means to motivate a modern “pink” and peaceful revolution.

All That Glitters Isn't Gold: Part II

Beautiful Izabal

Before roads and railroads, Lake Izabal was what linked the Guatemalan interior to the rest of the world. Commonly referred to as "the store" in English, the name evolved to its present form due to Spanish-speakers style of pronunciation and spelling. What is now known as "El Estor" was the landing and trading post for cargo and travelers to journeying from the coast to Cobán and beyond. This strategic position is what made it an attractive location to set up shop.  Unfortunately, one of the first to do so was the United Fruit Company, who came to dominate the region by appropriating the agricultural lands and denigrating the local indigenous population to manorial labour. In the 1960’s and 1970’s under the fog of war, a civil war that the UFC helped start, the company quietly withdrew from El Estor. Yet, as misfortune had it “the store” was located on Central America’s single largest nickel deposit and almost as quickly as one feudal giant left, another one took its place. EXMIBAL was a subsidiary of Canadian nickel giant, INCO, and until the war ended and nickel prices crashed in the 1980’s, it, like United Fruit, continued to perform what Galeano described as neo-colonial alchemy. Finally, in the 1990’s, and for little more than a decade, relative peace reigned. However, in 1997, a new neoliberal Mining Law and rising mineral prices combined to produce a %1000 increase in extractive exploration and exploitation in Guatemala. One of the first places that was re-opened for business was “the store” and one of the first company’s interested in restarting its alchemy was INCO.

Building on what it had seen and heard in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, OGG traveled to Izabal to meet with anti-mining activists Raúl and María and visit the affected community of Lote Ocho.

María Choc addressing OG and the community in Lote Ocho
Photo courtesy of Laura Huddart.

Allison writes:

“Today we visited the community of Lote 8, it’s close to the mine run by HudBay Mineral, another Canadian company. This particular community is made up of about 25 families and they are going through hell. Their community is in constant threat of being evicted by the mining company. At one point their entire village was burned to the ground, but they returned and rebuilt because this is their home, their land. Recently they have moved their village an hour hike uphill so that they can keep watch on who is coming and try to defend themselves. A couple years ago, security forces came to the town and because all the men were away at work they distracted the children and violently gang raped a dozen women, one of those women was telling us her story and saying how difficult it is to talk about. The whole community came out to meet with our group; they are so strong, so connected. They are all going through the same struggle and are so supportive of one another. Men and women both feel comfortable to speak up and the woman translating Q’eqchi to Spanish for us was a powerful woman with a commanding presence. Her sister is Angelica Choc who is currently suing the mine in Canadian court for the assassination of her husband who was a prominent community leader. The most powerful part of the day was when the women asked us after hearing their stories, “What are you going to do about this?” Wow, we can no longer be apathetic.”

Late on Friday August 5, 2011, just two days after our visit to the area, HudBay Minerals announced that it had agreed to sell 100% of its interest in the Fenix Mining Project located in El Estor, Guatemala. HudBay reportedly sold its stock in the nickel mine for $170 million, a fraction of the $460 million that the Canadian company paid for the project just three years earlier.

So, why the costly corporate retreat? "We believe this sale was prompted in part by the severe human rights issues at HudBay's Fenix Project that dogged the company at every turn. The murder of Adolfo Ich, and the gang-rapes of Rosa Elbira and the 10 other women at Lote Ocho committed by mine security personnel are albatrosses that weigh heavily on the neck of HudBay," said Murray Klippenstein. Klippenstein is the Toronto based firm representing Angelica Choc in a lawsuit against HudBay for the 2009 targeted killing of her husband, Adolfo Ich, by CGN (HudBay's wholly owned subsidiary) private security guards. Klippensteins also happens to be representing the 11 Mayan-Qeqchi women from the community of Lote 8 who were gang-raped by police, soldiers, and the same CGN security forces, as part of an illegal, forced eviction in 2007. 

A memorial to Adolfo Ich. Since his murder his image has become symbolic of anti-mining movements across the country.

The impunity in Guatemala that allows for a complete disregard for human rights and the rule of law is a well-documented and devastating phenomenon that dates back generations but like Maude Barlow, Chair of the Council of Canadians noted on her recent visit to Guatemala, impunity “is not only a Guatemalan phenomenon. It is profoundly a Canadian phenomenon.”

Klippenstein hopes the recent sale and law suits serve “as a lesson to Canadian companies that ignoring concerns over risks of severe human rights abuse can be incredibly expensive." But while Murray’s clients “continue to vigorously pursue their claims against HudBay and HMI in Ontario courts to ensure these Canadian companies are held accountable for their past wrongful acts," in Canada, there remains little chance for success much less redress.

Canada, unlike other countries, has no legal provisions or precedents, criminal or civil, for foreign claimants to pursue cases against Canadian companies for crimes committed outside of Canada. And even modest legislative attempts to introduce increased corporate accountability have been confronted by a coalition of staunch status quo defenders and human rights offenders, among them major mining industry players, Barrack Gold, and Goldcorp, as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canada Pension Plan, and Export Development Canada. Between 2009 and 2010, their concerted lobbying effectively sabotaged Bill C-300, an Act Respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries. The same motley crew subsequently reunited to prevent the passing of Bill C-354, an initiative paralleling the American Alien Torts Claims Act that would have amended the Federal Courts Act to ensure the international promotion and legal protection of human rights.

However, in 2011, the crimes of HudBay, the environmental violations of Goldcorp, and the human rights abuses of Barrack Gold have again become popular press items and prominent public concerns. Consequently, C-354 has been resurrected in the form of private members Bill C-323, currently being re-tabled in the House of Commons. In this new context, the cases of Angelica Choc and the 11 brave women of Lote Ocho may just have the potential to haunt Hudbay long after its sale of the Fenix Mining Project.

Please show your support for Angelica, Lote 8, and all the other victims of Canadian corporate malfeasance by supporting Bill C-323 and other initiatives towards minimum and mandatory standards of corporate accountability.