Victimization -the Exmibal Story
Published by MAC on 2002-05-23Victimization -The EXMIBAL Story
EXMIBAL processing plant, closed since 1981, but hazardous waste remains.
By: Betsy Rakosy
Nickel mining in El Estor began in the 1950s when a local rancher sent highly promising soil samples to the Hanna Mining Company. After allowing mining executives to virtually rewrite the national mining code in 1965, the Guatemalan government granted a 40-year nickel mining concession to EXMIBAL, a subsidiary of the Canadian International Nickel Company (INCO Limited of Canada).
The concession covers 385 square kilometers in the El Estor area, with an initial investment of $238 million. The mine, constructed in the mountains in indigenous Q'eqchi territory, included a residential complex of 700 houses, numerous offices, a hospital, a small strip mall, a school, a golf course, and a large industrial processing area.
Popular protests soon erupted in response to the concession. An ad hoc commission of lawyers and university professors began investigating the circumstances around the concession, opposing what they felt to be the governments' sale of non-renewable resources for political gain. The protests grew, and the government declared a state of siege and eventually occupied the Universidad San Carlos in November 1979. Professor Julio Camey Herrera was killed that day, and his colleague Alfonso Bauer Paiz was later severely wounded by machine gun fire by unknown assailants, in the presence of witnesses. Both were on the commission investigating the actions of EXMIBAL.
Protests continued on a local level and culminated in the notorious massacre of more than 100 Q'eqchi during a peaceful protest. The same day as the massacre, protesters traveling from El Estor to Panzós by foot were fired upon by men in EXMIBAL trucks.
Citing rising oil costs and falling nickel prices, EXMIBAL ceased its operations in El Estor in 1981.
AEPDI's president has personally visited the head of INCO, the parent company, to ask that INCO allow members of the community to use the land which currently houses the ghost town from the mine. AEPDI has also looked into the environmental rehabilitation of the land, which is now significantly scarred by the strip mine. They have two primary concerns: getting indigenous people access to their former lands, and making the land useable again.
AEPDI and the Atlantic Petroleum Company (APC)
In 1998 the government of Guatemala granted an area of 320,000 acres, including Lake Izabal, to the Atlantic Petroleum Company (APC) to drill for oil for a period of 25 years. The negotiations with APC were carried out in a closed forum without the consultation or participation of local authorities or local communities who would be affected by the deal.
AEPDI invoked international covenants on indigenous rights and the recommendations left by the Guatemalan Truth Commission to form a strong legal argument for the rights of local communities to keep APC off their lands. Working with a network of environmental, indigenous and local organizations, they joined together and were able to bring enormous political pressure to bear against the operation.
On May 23, 2002, Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo revoked the oil concession which had threatened the municipality of El Estor. The decision was a victory for the thousands of people who would have suffered from oil extractions in their communities, and for the preservation of precious biodiversity.
New Threats in El Estor
A sign on road leading to mountains outside of El Estor reads "Attention: This highway is property of EXMIBAL, constructed for the extraction of minerals and for use by EXMIBAL. It is subject to rules put in place by the company."
By: Betsy Rakosy
In February 2003, INCO announced a sales agreement of the EXMIBAL concessions to another Canadian company, Geostar Metals Inc. which is preparing for a new phase of nickel mining in El Estor. According to company sources, mining would be conducted by opening several small strip mines over a large area, threatening the environment and livelihoods of thousands of Q'eqchi.
APC's concession for the area along the Río Sarstún, a Q'eqchi area on the border with Belize, remains intact. AEPDI is hoping to win the support of President Portillo for the overturn of the concession, citing the same arguments which won the revocation of the Izabal concession.
On another front, Minera Maya América, a new nickel mining subsidiary of Chesbar Resources, Inc., has several active mining operations in Guatemala, and is looking to expand.
AEPDI met with Tom Koenigs, the head of the United Nations Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) and succeeded in obtaining a declaration from MINUGUA that the oil concessions were in violation of international treaties that Guatemala has signed. They are also in conversations with James Lambert, the Canadian Ambassador to Guatemala, who has committed to meeting with the companies' representatives, and is insisting compliance with Guatemalan and international laws and treaties.
The people of El Estor are significantly more equipped and better trained to confront these threats to their community than they were when EXMIBAL first arrived in 1965. However, the situation in Guatemala continues to deteriorate. MINUGUA departs this year, leaving behind its declaration that the country has failed to implement the peace accords. Unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent, common crime and drug trafficking are on the rise, and political corruption is rampant. Now more than ever, the work of AEPDI is crucial to preserve the rights of the Q'eqchi people, and the fight against extractive industries is a key part of that battle.
Read the full article at Oxfam America