Absolute rejection and compromise in communities affected by the extractive industry in Guatemala: The case of the Marlin mine

• In Event: Colloquium on socio-economic aspects of resource extraction industries (part 3 of 3)

Abstract

The indigenous resistance to the extractive industry in rural San Marcos, Guatemala has become a symbolic victory around the country. Even before gold was extracted at the Marlin Mine site, communities were organizing community consultations to take advantage of multicultural legislation and preemptively determining their own future through. The autonomous organization of consultations was a watershed moment that has propelled the ongoing struggle against the mine. While the consultations were a direct confrontation with the mining issue, the ongoing mobilization of indigenous communities occurs through a position that seeks to defend life and human rights. Through involvement in international organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations Office of the High Commission on Human Rights, communities have mediated the progress of the mine and its impact on their lives. Organizations and political authorities operating in San Miguel Ixtahuacan, the municipality where the majority of the mine is located, have used a variety of organizational tactics and capacity building to ensure their continued involvement with transnational organizations, the Guatemalan state, and mining company. These broader organizational tactics are contrasted with the everyday life practices of people on the ground who are pressured to sell their land, have had their water contaminated or their wells go dry, and are enticed into working with or for the mine. This paper analyzes the everyday lives of the areas inhabitants to argue that communities use absolute rejection and compromise to navigate complex relationships among political entities at various scales.

Author

• Samantha K Fox, Binghamton University