VIOLENT EVICTIONS AT EL ESTOR, IZABAL, GUATEMALA

On January 8th and 9th 2007, five indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi' communities were violently evicted from their ancestral lands near El Estor, Guatemala, at the best of Canadian mining company Skye Resources (since purchased by Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals). The mining company paid workers a nominal sum to destroy people's homes. With the force of the army and police, company workers took chainsaws and torches to people's homes, while women and children stood by. The mining company claimed that they maintained "a peaceful atmosphere during this action."

The mining company claims ownership of the land, but locals dispute that, saying that it was illegally taken from them in 1965 by the military dictatorship ruling the country at the time, which granted the land to Canadian mining company INCO, then killed, disappeared and forcibly displaced the local Mayan Q'eqchi' population to clear the way for INCO's activities. Skye acquired its claimed rights to the land from INCO in 2004. In the fall of 2006, descendants of those who were displaced in the 1960s and 70s returned to inhabit areas that were sitting idle, seeking a small plot of land to live and grow food to sustain themselves and their families. They say that the land is rightfully theirs, and they have nowhere else to go.

Watch a 10 minute video of the illegal evictions:

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Read about the evictions in The Dominion and This Magazine.

See James Rodriguez's photo-essays on the region.

CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO GUTAEMALA RESPONDS TO THE VIDEO

Shortly after this video was posted and began circulating online, Canada's ambassador to Guatemala, Kenneth Cook, spread misinforming about the video, suggesting that it lacks credibility. He informed people that the Mayan Q'eqchi' woman at the center of the video is actually an actress who had been paid to "perform" in this manner, and that the photos shown are actually old images from the Guatemalan civil conclift of many years ago.

On February 28, 2007, various parties -- Rights Action included -- sent a public letter to various politicians and members of the media calling for an investigation into the ambassador's conduct.
Read the letter here.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) also called for an investigation.
Read their letter here.

CBC Radio's "As It Happens" first covered the situation on March 15, 2007, interviewing filmmaker Steven Schnoor and human rights advocate Kathryn Anderson, who was misinformed by the ambassador about the video.

Listen to the segment:

Transcript

On March 19, 2007, Skye Resources' president/CEO was also interviewed on "As It Happens," offering his response to the March 15th interview and the surrounding issues.

Listen to the segment:

Analysis of his interview here

LAWSUIT AGAINST CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO GUATEMALA AND GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

After both Ambassador Cook and the Government of Canada refused to respond to requests for an explanation and apology regarding the ambassador's false statements, the filmmaker decided that a defamation lawsuit against both parties was a necessary and more effective way to defend both his film and the voices of the indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi' that Canada has marginalized.

The trial was held in Toronto in June, 2010. The judge ruled in Schnoor's favor, finding the ambassador guilty of slander and harshly rebuking the Canadian government for refusing to deal with this matter.

For information on the lawsuit, see Schnoor Versus Canada.

Rights Action's bulletin on the case can be found here.

MEDIA TREATMENT OF THE LAWSUIT

April 17, 2010 - CTV's W5 episode, "Paradise Lost"

June 17, 2010 - Toronto Star, "Former Canadian Ambassador Guilty of Slander"

June 18, 2010 - CBC Radio, "As It Happens"

Transcript

September 1, 2010 - New Internationalist, "Canadian Ambassador to Guatemala Guilty of Slander"

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