Mynor Padilla, Hudbay Mineral’s former head of security, found guilty on charges of mining-linked repression, including murder, in Guatemala on September 27, 2009.

Today, January 6, 2020, a judge will rule on the re-trial of Mynor Padilla, former head of security for Hudbay Minerals and Skye Resources (and former Lieutenant Colonel in the Guatemalan Army). Padilla has been on trial for the mining-related murder of Mayan Q’eqchi’ land and human rights defender Adolfo Ich, and the shooting and paralyzing of German Chub that same day, September 27, 2009.

This article by Nicholas Copeland is about the enormity of wealth and power, corruption and violence the Guatemalan people suffer from and fight to transform. The U.S., Canada and the E.U., global corporations, the World Bank and IMF, are fully complicit in, and benefit from this endemic corruption and lack of democracy, exploitation and violence.

Rights Action recommends this article (by T.J. Coles, Counterpunch, December 20, 2020) as a reminder and refresher about the enormity of wealth, power and violence the Honduran people are resisting and fighting to transform, and about the underlying role, responsibility and complicity of the U.S. and allies in the “international community”.

Teodora Chen – a Mayan Achi woman from the village of Rio Negro - was a surviving eye-witness of the “Xococ” (February 13, 1982) and “Los Encuentros” (May 14, 1982) massacres – two of four large-scale massacres of Rio Negro villagers in 1982.

"We live in a country of eternal emergencies. We have no time for anything else. U.S. and Canadian supported coup d’etats. Pandemics. Hurricanes and tropical storms. Rapacious, murderous and corrupt governments backed by the U.S., Canada and transnational companies. We need to construct another society and State."

- Miriam Miranda

Mynor Padilla – former head of security for Hudbay Minerals and Skye Resources, and former Lieutenant Colonel in the Guatemalan Army – is on trial for the mining related murder of Mayan Q’eqchi’ land and human rights defender Adolfo Ich, and the shooting and paralyzing of German Chub that same day, September 27, 2009.

“Holding a club in my hand, I prevented [Aura Minerals/MINOSA] from depositing my father’s remains in another tomb.” On April 11, 2018, Floresmira Lopez, Azacualpa community member, forced Aura Minerals/MINOSA to return the remains of her illegally dug up father to his resting place in the Azacualpa cemetery.