Esta semana, el
Vice-Presidente de Goldcorp, Brent
Bergeron, podría estar trabajando sobre su sueño de modernizar la
Legislación Minera Guatemalteca, tal como soltó en febrero durante la
reunión de una comisión parlamentaria.
Hace seis meses, Bergeron se presentó ante el Comité Permanente de Asuntos Exteriores y Desarrollo Internacional para hablar acerca del papel del sector privado en hacer realidad los intereses de Canadá en términos de la cooperación internacional, y manifestó ante el comité que:
“Me gustaría ver que en Guatemala se modernice la
normativa minera. Esto daría mayor estabilidad al ambiente donde
trabajamos en Guatemala. ¿Puedo ir como Goldcorp y dar capacitaciones en
el Ministerio de Energía y Minas? No puedo. No tendría credibilidad
hacerlo así. Sin embargo, creo que tendría mucho sentido si una
institución gubernamental viniera a Canadá para tomar de nuestra
experiencia – la experiencia del Ministerio de Recursos Naturales de
Canadá – y llevar dicha experiencia a Guatemala.”
La delegación viajará en “aviones de Goldcorp” a la Ciudad de Guatemala el día miércoles, y luego, en otro vuelo ese mismo día, continuará hacia la zona conflictiva de la Mina Marlin. El día jueves se quedarán por la Mina Marlin para reunirse con “funcionarios de la mina y de la comunidad”. El día viernes, planean retornar por vuelo a la ciudad capital para “reunirse con ministros” antes de regresar a Canadá.
El correo electrónico, firmado por el representante de Hill & Knowlton, el Honorable Don Boudria, P.C., anteriormente un diputado liberal del parlamento canadiense, indica que los únicos dos parlamentarios confirmados son el Diputado Conservador de Niagara-West Glanbrook, Dean Allison, jefe del Comité de Asuntos Exteriores, y el Diputado Conservador de Chatam Kent-Essex, el Sr. Dave Van Kesteren, que es miembro del mismo comité. También la invitación se hizo a miembros liberales y del partido NDP, pero Alerta Minera Canadá no pudo identificar que alguno había aceptado la invitación.
El momento en que se produce el viaje y las reuniones con ministros guatemaltecos coincide con la incertidumbre con respecto a la legislación minera del país. En el mes de junio, el Presidente Otto Pérez Molina hizo noticia a nivel internacional cuando propuso reformas a la normativa minera, cuando al inicio planteó el incremento de la participación estatal hacia un 40% en los proyectos mineros. Esa misma semana se desplomaron las acciones de Tahoe Resources, donde Goldcorp tiene una participación importante.
Luego, en el mes de julio, las organizaciones indígenas guatemaltecas presentaron sus argumentos, cuestionando la legislación minera actual en términos constitucionales al no haberse realizado una consulta previa con ellos acerca de los cambios legislativos que les afectan en sus derechos.
“Escuchar que un ejecutivo de Goldcorp propone cambios a la legislación minera de otro país, de donde extrae el 16% de su producción total, y sugerir que la participación del gobierno canadiense sería apropiado es algo que suena a un excesivo sentido de derecho propio”, dijo la Coordinadora del Programa para América Latina de Alerta Minera Canadá, Jen Moore. “Goldcorp es una empresa que es económicamente poderosa en el contexto guatemalteco y no debería hacer uso de su influencia de esta manera.”
“Los miembros del Parlamento que desean entender más acerca de los impactos de la minería en Guatemala y los desórdenes que ha causado, deberían organizar una delegación independiente para visitar al país centroamericano en vez de subirse a un avión de Goldcorp.”
http://www.miningwatch.ca/es/news/goldcorp-organiza-viaje-de-parlamentarios-canadienses-guatemalaGracias a Derechos en
Acción por la traducción a español.
***
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
Goldcorp
organizes junket for Canadian parliamentarians to Guatemala
Tuesday August 28,
2012
This
week, it appears that Goldcorp VP Brent Bergeron may be working on his
dream to modernize Guatemala’s mining law, which he floated at a
parliamentary commission meeting in February.
Six months ago, as a witness before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development about the role of the private sector in achieving Canada’s International Development Interests, Bergeron told the committee:
“In Guatemala, I would like to see them modernize their mining regulations. That would add to the stability of the environment within which we deal in Guatemala. Can I go as Goldcorp and start training the Ministry of Energy and Mines? I can't do that. The credibility behind that is not right. However, I think it makes a lot of sense to have a government institution come in to take our experience here in Canada—the National Resources Canada in terms of their experience—and bring that experience to Guatemala.”
According to an email leaked to MiningWatch Canada on Monday, which is signed by a Goldcorp lobbyist at Hill & Knowlton Strategies and written to a member of parliament, Bergeron and Goldcorp Chairman Ian Telfer will host “a fascinating visit” to Guatemala from Wednesday to Friday of this week. The delegation will travel by “Goldcorp aircraft” to Guatemala City on Wednesday and continue on to the conflict-ridden Marlin mine site on another flight the same day. They will spend Thursday around the Marlin mine to meet with “mine and community officials”. On Friday, they plan to fly back to the capital city for “meetings with ministers” before returning home.
The email, signed by lobbyist Honourable Don Boudria, P.C., a former Liberal MP, indicates that the only two confirmed parliamentarians were Conservative MP from Niagara-West Glanbrook Dean Allison, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Conservative MP from Chatam Kent-Essex Mr. Dave Van Kesteren, a member of the same committee. Liberal and NDP members were also invited, but MiningWatch was unable to identify any that had accepted the invitation.
The timing of the trip and meetings with Guatemalan ministers coincides with uncertainty over the country’s mining law. In June, President Otto Pérez Molina made international news when he proposed mining code reforms, which originally included ramping up state participation in mining projects to a potential 40%. Shares of Tahoe Resources, in which Goldcorp holds a large stake, plummeted that week. Then in July, Guatemalan indigenous organizations presented their arguments in a constitutional challenge to the current mining law for failure to consult with them over legislative changes that affect their rights.
“To hear a Goldcorp executive propose to change the mining law in another country from which they extract 16% of their overall production and to suggest that it would be appropriate for the Canadian government to get involved oozes with a sense of self-entitlement,” says the Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, Jen Moore. “Goldcorp is an economically powerful company in the context of Guatemala and should not be trying to wield its influence in this way.”
“Members of Parliament wanting to learn about the impacts of mining in Guatemala and the reasons for the turmoil it has caused, should set up an independent delegation to visit the Central American country rather than getting on a Goldcorp jet.”
Six months ago, as a witness before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development about the role of the private sector in achieving Canada’s International Development Interests, Bergeron told the committee:
“In Guatemala, I would like to see them modernize their mining regulations. That would add to the stability of the environment within which we deal in Guatemala. Can I go as Goldcorp and start training the Ministry of Energy and Mines? I can't do that. The credibility behind that is not right. However, I think it makes a lot of sense to have a government institution come in to take our experience here in Canada—the National Resources Canada in terms of their experience—and bring that experience to Guatemala.”
According to an email leaked to MiningWatch Canada on Monday, which is signed by a Goldcorp lobbyist at Hill & Knowlton Strategies and written to a member of parliament, Bergeron and Goldcorp Chairman Ian Telfer will host “a fascinating visit” to Guatemala from Wednesday to Friday of this week. The delegation will travel by “Goldcorp aircraft” to Guatemala City on Wednesday and continue on to the conflict-ridden Marlin mine site on another flight the same day. They will spend Thursday around the Marlin mine to meet with “mine and community officials”. On Friday, they plan to fly back to the capital city for “meetings with ministers” before returning home.
The email, signed by lobbyist Honourable Don Boudria, P.C., a former Liberal MP, indicates that the only two confirmed parliamentarians were Conservative MP from Niagara-West Glanbrook Dean Allison, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Conservative MP from Chatam Kent-Essex Mr. Dave Van Kesteren, a member of the same committee. Liberal and NDP members were also invited, but MiningWatch was unable to identify any that had accepted the invitation.
The timing of the trip and meetings with Guatemalan ministers coincides with uncertainty over the country’s mining law. In June, President Otto Pérez Molina made international news when he proposed mining code reforms, which originally included ramping up state participation in mining projects to a potential 40%. Shares of Tahoe Resources, in which Goldcorp holds a large stake, plummeted that week. Then in July, Guatemalan indigenous organizations presented their arguments in a constitutional challenge to the current mining law for failure to consult with them over legislative changes that affect their rights.
“To hear a Goldcorp executive propose to change the mining law in another country from which they extract 16% of their overall production and to suggest that it would be appropriate for the Canadian government to get involved oozes with a sense of self-entitlement,” says the Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, Jen Moore. “Goldcorp is an economically powerful company in the context of Guatemala and should not be trying to wield its influence in this way.”
“Members of Parliament wanting to learn about the impacts of mining in Guatemala and the reasons for the turmoil it has caused, should set up an independent delegation to visit the Central American country rather than getting on a Goldcorp jet.”