'No to mining': activists demand closure of Guatemala gold mine
By AFP
Published April 19, 2024
Activists from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras hold a protest on Lake Guija against a Canadian-owned gold mine - Copyright AFP Marvin RECINOS
Oscar BATRES
Waving banners and shouting “no to mining,” environmental activists gathered in small boats on a lake between El Salvador and Guatemala on Friday calling for the closure of a Canadian-owned gold mine.
Residents fear that the Cerro Blanco site, which has been granted permission by Guatemala to convert from an underground to open-pit mine, will contaminate Lake Guija.
“All these extraction projects do is sell out our environment and our future,” said Claudia Rodriguez, a 41-year-old member of an association of women environment defenders.
“The goal is for Cerro Blanco to close, even if we have to give our lives for it,” she said.
The previous Guatemalan government in January gave approval to Canadian owner Bluestone Resources to turn Cerro Blanco into an open-pit mine, just days before right-wing president Alejandro Giammattei left office.
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/no-to-mining-activists-demand-closure-of-guatemala-gold-mine/article