Long-form News Articles on Latin America
Annand, Amanda. 2019. “The Pit of San Pedro: The Life and Death of a Canadian Mine in Mexico.” The Narwhal, June 22.
The town of Cerro de San Pedro was named after an iconic hill that — after two decades of mining — has been transformed into an open pit. As the Canadian-owned mine moves into its closure phase the community is grappling with the legacy of both development and disruption left in its wake.
Arsenault, Chris. 2020. “Canada not walking the talk on its miners’ abuses abroad, campaigners say.” Mongabay, July 24.
Canada is home base for nearly half of the world’s mining companies, but the country’s efforts to improve corporate accountability for environmental and human rights violations have fallen short, observers say.
Binks-Collier, Max. 2020. “Evicting Lote Ocho: How a Canadian Mining Company Infiltrated the Guatemalan State.” The Intercept, September 26.
The campaign culminated in two waves of evictions targeting several Indigenous villages on January 8, 9, and 17, 2007. Eleven women from Lote Ocho were allegedly gang-raped by police officers, soldiers, and CGN’s security during the last eviction. Ich is one of those women.
Brown, Alleen. 2019. “She defended her land against a mine in Guatemala. Then she fled in fear for her life.” The Intercept, June 23.
In response to the anti-mining movement in San Rafael, Tahoe hired firms run by U.S. and Israeli ex-special forces veterans to protect the project and lobbied the Guatemalan government to quash the resistance. Over the course of the 12-year conflict, mine opponents have been shot, imprisoned, and even killed.
Clynes, Tom. 2021. “The Violent Cost of Conservation.” Audubon.
Each year more people die while attempting to protect the world’s most biodiverse places. It’s a trend poised to devastate the planet itself. How can we stem the rising tide of attacks to ensure a safer future for us all?
Cuffe, Sandra. 2021. “Indigenous mine opponents targeted in raids during state of siege in Guatemala.” Mongabay, November 15.
In the midst of a long conflict and recent protest over a nickel mine in El Estor, in eastern Guatemala, police have carried out more than 40 raids and 60 arrests, and the government has declared a 30-day state of emergency.
Dávila, María Claudia. 2021. “The Women Who Stand Against Fracking in the Middle Magdalena Valley.” GRID-Arendal, August 21.
Engler, Yves. 2021. “Canada’s Mining Industry Is Spreading Havoc Around the World — With Justin Trudeau’s Support.” Jacobin, May 7.
Three-quarters of the world’s mining companies are headquartered in Canada. Canadian mining firms are mired in corruption and human rights abuses around the world, yet Justin Trudeau has reneged on pledges to regulate them and end the abuses.
Hylton, Annie. 2017. "Is Canada to Blame for Human Rights Abuses in Guatemala?" The Walrus.
Canadian mining firms are not held responsible for horrors inflicted on Indigenous communities by foreign subsidiaries. But a Toronto court could change that. With the help of Canadian attorneys at the Toronto-based Klippensteins law firm, German Chub Choc, Angélica Choc (the widow of Adolfo Ich Chamán), Rosa Coc Ich, and ten other women from Lote Ocho are suing Hudbay in Canada for negligence, and seeking damages. The case is likely the first of its kind in Canadian courts.
“Introduction: Consulta Previa in Chile, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru.” Americas Quarterly.
Between August 2013 and January 2014, an Americas Quarterly research team traveled to four countries in Latin America—Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru—to study the varied implementation of consulta previa across the Americas.
The four countries we studied have all ratified International Labour Organization Convention 169 (ILO 169), a binding international treaty that establishes the right of Indigenous and tribal peoples to be consulted when a policy or project affects their culture or heritage. With support from the Ford Foundation and local researchers in the four countries, we spoke to Indigenous and Afrodescendant leaders, company representatives, government officials, lawyers, and NGOs to better understand their experiences, successes and frustrations with consulta previa.
Navarro F., Santiago and Renata Bessi. 2021. “A License to Pollute at Fortuna Silver Mines in Oaxaca.” NACLA, March 29.
Canadian-owned Minera Cuzcatlán was implicated in a 2018 waste spill in Oaxaca State. Key documentation was kept under wraps, letting Fortuna off the hook.
Orellana López, Aldo. 2021. “Neoextractivism and state violence: Defending the defenders in Latin America.” TNI Longreads.
The commodities boom in the early 2000s extended the frontiers of extractivism and has relied on state violence, making Latin America one of the most dangerous and deadly places for indigenous peoples and frontline community defenders. Focused on Peru and Colombia, this essay explores dynamics of state violence and strategies for effective resistance.
Pazzano, Jasmine. 2021. “Trudeau government backpedals on investigating human rights complaints against mining companies.” Global News, February 26.
Claims of this nature about the actions of a Canadian company operating internationally are not unique. Human rights advocates say there are a number of communities, including Indigenous groups, around the world that allege they are suffering similar abuses linked to Canadian companies from sectors that include the mining and garment industries.
Watts, Jonathan, 2019. "Resource extraction responsible for half world's carbon emissions." The Guardian
Extractive industries are responsible for half of the world’s carbon emissions and more than 80% of biodiversity loss, according to the most comprehensive environmental tally undertaken of mining and farming.