La Puya
Beginning in 2012, first Radius Gold (Canadian company), then US-company KCA (Kappes Cassiday & Associates) began trying to illegally operate a gold mine in the municipalities of San Jose del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc, north east of Guatemala City. As with all mining-resistance struggles in Guatemala (and Honduras), community members opposing this ‘bad development’ project suffered: government and company repression, including killings; criminalizations on trumped up charges; health and environmental harms; other human rights violations.
Near the entrance to the mine, community members established a permanent encampment - “La Puya” (the thorn) - where they have courageously withstood years of corruption and attacks by police, military and private guards. The mine is suspended indefinitely, but the ill-gotten license has not be cancelled and KCA is “suing” the Guatemalan government (that it had partnered with) for $300 million in “lost potential earnings.”
