Guatemalans Go to the Top of the World Bank
14 December 2005
Meeting with President an opportunity to voice concerns about mining project.
An indigenous leader of the community of Sipacapa and a representative of Oxfam America’s partner Madre Selva met with the President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, and top officials of the International Finance Corporation last week in Washington. On the agenda at the meeting was the Marlin Mine, an open-pit mine nearing completion in the western highlands of Guatemala and funded with some $45 million from the IFC, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank.
Mario Tema, representative of the community of Sipacapa, voiced multiple concerns of the people of his village, located 10 miles from the new mine. One key perspective he related was that of the indigenous Maya people, who hold the earth sacred and consider open-pit mines to be disrespectful toward the Mother Earth and their religion. Tema also discussed a referendum held by the citizens of Sipacapa, which overwhelmingly rejected mining on their community lands. They also discussed a recent report by the IFC investigating consultations with the community by the mining company Glamis Gold. The IFC report found the community consultation process lacking, and cast doubt on whether the environmental impact of the mine was adequately assessed as well as the larger question of whether the mine will contribute to poverty reduction in the area.
Magali Rey Rosa of the environmental organization Madre Selva spoke about concerns Guatemalans have about the advent of mining in the country, and whether new mining projects will help the economy grow or simply contribute to political corruption and pollution of the land and water. She alleged that mining interests are discouraging critics of specific projects from speaking out, leading to a climate of intimidation in Guatemala.
Tema asked Wolfowitz to join the community of Sipacapa in calling on Glamis to withdraw from the community, and to work with the town to develop community-led development strategies.
Keith Slack, Senior Policy Advisor at Oxfam America attended the meeting. “This was an important opportunity to highlight the need to obtain the prior consent of affected communities for Bank-funded oil and mining projects,” he said afterwards. “We urge Mr. Wolfowitz to ensure that this right is respected in all future extractive projects, and that the Bank follows through on his personal commitment to resolving local concerns about the Marlin project.”
