The case will be filed by the groups Frente de Defensa Miguelense, Collectif Guatemala (France), Aid of the Norwegian Church and Solidarity Sweden-Latin America.

Goldcorp’s project also violates the right to health, to the protection of the environment and access to water.
Marlin I mine is in San Miguel Ixtahuacan and Sipacapa municipalities, in San Marcos department. The mine is operated by Goldcorp’s subsidiary in Guatemala, Montana Exploradora. Some of the rights violated by the mine are protected under ILO’s 169 Convention, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Guatemalan Constitution.

The plaintiffs say the actions of Goldcorp have had the complicity of the Guatemalan state and of several European pension funds, which are shareholders of the Canadian corporation. There are funds from Sweden worth 31,2 million dollars, the foreign pension fund of Norway with 86,6 million and the National Fund of Pension Reserves of Ireland, with three million.

The Guatemalan state is blamed for creating a legal framework that favors corporations, for not informing or consulting the people of Sipakapa and San Miguel before granting the mining permission and for deploying security forces in the area. They also said that the state has used the judiciary to criminalize the social struggles.

Also, the case filed before the Permanent Peoples Tribunal provides that the World Bank has funded the construction of roads and electric wire lines for the mine’s operations, without making the necessary consultations.

Besides, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have pressured
the Guatemalan state to develop a new legal framework to attract foreign investment, especially in the mining sector. “The European states as members and donors to the World Bank are accomplices in these violations”, says the document submitted to the Tribunal.

The Frente de Defensa Miguelense, Collectif Guatemala (Francia), Norwegian Church Aid and Solidarity Sweden – Latin America demand the European parliament to ask the Swedish, Norwegian and Irish governments that their pension fund administrators act fast in response to the accusations of the communities and social organizations. They are also pressuring so that the affected peoples are compensated, that their demands are met and that the Guatemalan state respects the ILO’s recommendations.

The Experts Commission in compliance with the conventions and recommendations of the organizations, called for the immediate suspension of the operations of Marlin I Mine in February. It expressed its concern because the government “quotes the information already submitted according to information of the Network of Telesur Collaborators – Guatemala. The experts demanded new studies, a prior consultation process with local communities and detailed information.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindy47452/