Gold is the international measure of wealth; it is where investors have always turned when their faith in the local currency is tarnished. Since the 1970’s the value of gold has held around 300 dollars an ounce, with only temporary spikes and drops in value. Today the value of gold is at an all time high around 1,300 dollars an ounce.
Guatemala is a poor country, poor in infrastructure and poor in governmental protection of human and environmental rights. If gold is an international measure of wealth, Guatemala, with its large natural deposits, should be a wealthy country. First the gold has to be accessed, accessed and extracted. This is where the problems started for Guatemala. Gold mining is a dangerous practice. Heavy explosives tear apart the land where the gold is deposited, harsh chemicals are used to extract the gold, and the damage done to the surrounding area is severe. Large corporations such as Gold Corp. Inc. have managed to secure government and political control. This has been possible because the country’s leaders have a business agenda and want to open doors to foreign investments and infrastructure through business agreements.
In class on Thursday we watched the film, The Business of Gold: The Chronicle of a Conflict Foretold. It depicts the struggle that native people in Guatemala have undergone ever since the first plans for the Marlin mine in San Miguel were initialized. Spokesmen for the company came to give information to the people who would be affected by the mining process. When questions about environmental and health dangers arose in the conversation, the people were lied to, told that there existed no dangers and reminded of the job opportunities that would come instead. The spokesmen did not tell of the open-pit, cyanide-leaching gold mine that would replace their mountainous backyards. They did not mention that explosives would shake the earth and crack the homes of natives who have worked their entire lives to provide such homes for their families. There was no mention of the health and societal effects that would take place such as, the opening of 39 new bars in the area or the 3 cases of anencephalic births.
Without proper, prior information of these risks some residents sold their land to Gold Corp with promises of 1% of the royalties of the extracted gold. The Guatemalans who sold the land did not have sole rights to it and when the water sources started drying up and became contaminated beyond use, other Guatemalans began to speak out against these incriminations against their rights. There has been a huge outpouring of voices against the mining, stories of skin rashes, hair loss and new diseases that have never before existed in the community. Gold Corp. maintains that the allegations against them are false and there are no contaminants beyond those that are safe for exposure. As a corporation, with enough money to buy the politicians blindness and support, no one in Guatemala, with sufficient power, will stand up for the rights of the environment or the people.
This forced the people to look outside their country and contact the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The IACHR asked the Guatemalan government to suspend mining in San Miguel. Gold Corp. refused stating there was no merit to the claims against them and the Guatemalan government went along with them. Because there have been many activists, intending to impede the progress of the mining, Gold Corp. started filing law suits against the people. The judicial system is just as susceptible to the corporations’ power as the government is and so far progress for rights in Guatemala are at a stand still.
There are only a few ways to successfully fight an enemy. One is to have knowledge of the enemy’s next move and bring stronger counter measures to the battle. When fighting with an entity as ambiguous and powerful as a corporation, survival tactics have to be varied. The people of Guatemala are using many different tactics, one of which is to have scientific data that counters the claims from the corporation; another tactic is rallying the people and getting the collective voices heard on the international level. With luck, there may be a success story at the end of this uphill road.
References:
The Business of Gold: The Chronicle of a Conflict Foretold
Gold Corp. Reports Action Against Marlin Mine www.earthtime.org
www.usagold.com/dailyquotes
Alarming Levels of Arsenic Found in Rivers Near Goldcorp Mine www.intercontinentalcry.org
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