San Mlguel lxLahuacan, San Marcos, CuaLemala

16 AugusL 2014
!"#$ &'()*" +,-".- /- 0)- 1/23"4 56*)73)8)-
1he largesL and mosL producLlve gold and sllver mlne ln CenLral Amerlca operaLes ln San Marcos, CuaLemala. 1he Marlln
Mlne, ln Lhe munlclpallLy of San Mlguel lxLahuacan, uses cyanlde leachlng Lo exLracL mlneral deposlLs from crushed
earLh. 1hls meLhod of mlneral explolLaLlon requlres large quanLlLles of waLer. Accordlng Lo Madre Selva, Lhe company
uses 230,000 llLers of waLer every hour. ln comparlson Lhe Lyplcal famlly uses 60 llLers of waLer each day. 1he waLer
used ln Lhe cyanlde leachlng process ls Lhen senL Lo a Lalllngs pond, where lL slLs laden wlLh cyanlde and heavy meLals.
1he waLer changes colors from a vlvld green Lo a murky grey dependlng on when Lhe wasLewaLer ls released lnLo Lhe
pond.
Workers aL Lhe mlne have reporLed LhaL
Lhe waLer ls released perlodlcally durlng
Lhe nlghL lnLo Lhe 8lo Cullco so LhaL Lhe
people do noL know whaL ls happenlng.
1he 8lo Cullco ls where people wash
cloLhes and chlldren swlm. lL ls also
used for Lhe lrrlgaLlon of LomaLo, onlon,
corn, and beans. 1he conLamlnaLlon of
Lhe 8lo Cullco has been Lhe source of
conLroversy. Several famllles ln Lhe
!"#$%&' of SleLe laLos (a communlLy
composed of around 100 houses) have
experlenced a varleLy of allmenLs. 1hey
llve dlrecLly downsLream from Lhe mlne where conLamlnaLed waLer has led Lo halr loss and skln welLs. 1here are nlne
chlldren ln Lhe communlLy of SleLe laLos LhaL have been affecLed by Lhe conLamlnaLed waLer. MosL noLably ls a famlly
LhaL has seven chlldren, where every boy ln Lhe famlly has succumbed Lo an unknown lllness LhaL paralyzes and
dlsflgures Lhe body. lurLher, Lhelr menLal sLaLe has deLerloraLed and Lhe boys have Lrouble communlcaLlng. 1here are
Lhree Lheorles on Lhe cause of Lhe allmenL: one ls a dlsease called nehoponla," a second explanaLlon ls LhaL Lhe slckness
ls a geneLlc lnherlLance, and Lhe flnal explanaLlon ls LhaL Lhe slckness ls relaLed Lo Lhe conLamlnaLed waLer.
We saL ln fronL of Lhe famlly's home, where Lwo of Lhe boys were playlng whlle we dlscussed Lhelr condlLlon. 1he small
area ln fronL of Lhe home conLalned Lhree wheelchalrs, effecLlvely useless ln Lhe uneven Lerraln of Lhe mounLalnous
landscape. 1he Lhree boys had become
paralyzed aL varlous polnLs ln Lhe pasL
Lwo years. 1helr names are Saul !alme
uomlngo 8amlrez, Armando uomlngo
8amlrez, and 8olando uomlngo
8amlrez. 1he famlly reporLs LhaL Lhe
boys were compleLely healLhy prlor Lo
becomlng paralyzed. Saul, 13, came
down wlLh Lhls condlLlon Lwo years ago,
Armando, 12, has had Lhe condlLlon for
one year, and 8olando, 10, for flve
monLhs. Whlle 8olando can sLlll geL
along scooLlng on Lhe ground, Saul and
Armando are effecLlvely lmmoblllzed.
1helr communlcaLlon skllls have
deLerloraLed as well. 1hese are
sympLoms of some sorL of nervous
sysLem dysfuncLlon buL Lhe orlglns are as yeL unknown.
lrom Lhe perspecLlve of Lhe resldenLs of SleLe laLos, Lhe problems experlenced ln Lhls famlly are dlrecLly relaLed Lo Lhelr
exposure Lo Lhe conLamlnaLed waLer of Lhe 8ul Cullco. CommunlLy leaders have conflrmed LhaL such lllnesses have
never before been experlenced ln Lhls reglon. 1he famlly also conflrms LhaL such lllnesses have never been seen before.
ln San !ose lxcanlche and San !ose nueva Lsperanza, whlch boLh border Lhe mlne and are dlrecLly affecLed by mlnlng
acLlvlLles, Lhere are famllles LhaL have been excluded from Lhe beneflLs of precauLlonary measures lssued by Lhe lnLer-
Amerlcan Commlsslon on Puman 8lghLs LhaL obllgaLes Lhe sLaLe of CuaLemala Lo adopL necessary meLhods LhaL wlll
make avallable poLable waLer Lo Lhe communlLles whose wells have drled up and whose waLer has been dlverLed. ln
San !ose nueva Lsperanza, Lhe acLlons Laken by Lhe CuaLemalan sLaLe dld noL lnclude all members of Lhe communlLy. As
an example, ulodora Pernandez was noL Laken ln Lo accounL ln resolvlng Lhe waLer lssue LhaL led Lhe lACP8 Lo lssue
speclal measures and belleves LhaL lL ls because of her adamanL sLance ln opposlLlon Lo Lhe mlne and ln defense of llfe.
1he mlnlng company, MonLana Lxploradora of ColdCorp, calls Lhe poslLlon of ulodora and oLhers llke her anLlmlnlng, buL
Lhe communlLles prefer Lo say human rlghLs defenders and defenders of llfe.
ln Lhe second week of AugusL 2014 ln Lhe communlLy of San !ose lxcanlche,
Lhere was a meeLlng LhaL lncluded Lhe alcalde munlclpal (munlclpallLy) of
San Mlguel lxLahuacan, MonLana Lxploradora's managers, and
admlnlsLraLors from Lhe lnsLlLuLo naclonal de lomenLo Munlclpal (naLlonal
lnsLlLuLe for Munlclpal uevelopmenL) of CuaLemala LhaL soughL Lo begln Lo
lnlLlaLe Lhe pro[ecLs LhaL wlll address speclal measures Lhe governmenL ls
obllgaLed Lo lmplemenL accordlng Lo Lhe lACP8 agreemenL. Accordlng Lo
Lhe agreemenL, Lhe Lhree aforemenLloned enLlLles are obllgaLed Lo work
coheslvely Lo ensure Lhe adequaLe supply of poLable waLer, safe for
drlnklng, conducLlng dally acLlvlLles, and free from rlsk, Lo affecLed
communlLles. 1he volces of nearly 70 famllles from San !ose lxcanlche were
sysLemaLlcally excluded from lncluslon ln Lhe pro[ecL presenLed as a producL
of Lhe precauLlonary measures. Agaln, Lhe lssue appears Lo be LhaL people
are belng excluded from parLlclpaLlon ln Lhelr communlLles due Lo Lhelr
sLance on mlnlng and Lhelr defense of llfe.

1herefore, we are calllng for Lhe supporL for Lhe observance of Lhe respecL of human rlghLs ln all aspecLs of llfe from Lhe
followlng sLaLe and non-sLaLe enLlLles:
resldenLlal Commlsslon of CuaLemala
Puman 8lghLs Cmbudsman
Puman 8lghLs Cmbudsman for lndlgenous eoples
naLlonal Commlsslon on 8aclsm and ulscrlmlnaLlon
Cfflce Cf Lhe Plgh Commlsslon of Lhe unlLed naLlons of Puman 8lghLs ln CuaLemala
Luropean Commlsslon on Puman 8lghLs ln CuaLemala
Cfflce of Lhe lnLernaLlonal Labor CrganlzaLlon ln CuaLemala
naLlonal And lnLernaLlonal Puman 8lghLs CrganlzaLlons
1o lndlgenous communlLles and supporLers ln all Lhe world


lrom San Mlguel lxLahuacan,
lamllles and CommunlLles ln 8eslsLance
Asoclaclon AulSMl
asoclaclonadlsml[gmall.com
SamanLha lox
samanLhakfox[gmall.com