Indigenous Leaders Protest Mining Project in Guatemala
The Guatemalan government puts town under Martial Law
HAVANA TIMES – In Guatemala, Indigenous leaders are denouncing the government’s enactment of a month-long, 12-hour curfew and a ban on public gatherings in the northern coastal town of El Estor in retaliation for protests against a nickel mining project. Some 500 soldiers have also been deployed to the region. Indigenous communities say they were never consulted on plans for the massive mining project, led by the Swiss-based Solway Investment Group. In recent days Guatemalan police and military have violently repressed peaceful protests led by Maya Q’eqchi’ Indigenous communities, who say the mine would have catastrophic impacts on the land, water and people.