Good afternoon. My name is Aleisar Arana. I am from Quesada, in the department of Jutiapa in Guatemala.
I am currently the president of the Xinca Parliament of the people of Guatemala. In 2012, I was also elected as president of the Xinca indigenous community of Quesada. In 2014, I was elected president of the Xinca Parliament, and I am representing that parliament here today.
I am very proud of the land that I love with all my heart.
The Xinca Parliament is made up of 13 communities. We bring together more than 500,000 people. We have our own communal lands. We have title to those lands, and we administer them according to our ancestral knowledge. The Parliament's purpose is to protect our land and to respect the free determination of our peoples. Our land, our territory, our people are seeing their rights violated with a number of extractive projects, in particular, by Tahoe Resources. Without consulting us—and we as a people have a right to be consulted—Tahoe has arrived to impose extractive industry projects on our communities. It is worth mentioning that in many of our communities we have organized our forces, have consulted internally, and have the right to be consulted. The municipal bylaw in article 64 states that we are entitled to be consulted.
In Quesada, in my community, we held a consultation. We asked the municipal council to organize it. It requires a procedure, which is also laid out. It requires 10% of the signatures of all those concerned, namely the voters, on a petition that is presented to the municipal council. With those signatures, the municipal council authorizes the consultation. It was authorized by the municipal council and took place on May 8 of last year. The result of the consultation was an outright “no” to mining. More than 99% of the population said no. Only 0.7% said yes.
This consultation process has also taken place in another seven municipalities, where the entire population have said no. Why is that? Well, it is because we oppose the development of our communities in this way because these projects affect us. The natural resources that we have.... And as indigenous peoples, we have a very strong link to nature, because nature gives us life. There is the right to water, which is a right that we must all have. It is a right that we must all fight for. What Guatemala is doing, what Central America is doing, what a number of countries in the world are doing, is fighting for that right.
I also want to say that it's not just the Xinca people, because the Xinca people are a minority in Guatemala. There are also the Maya people. The Maya represent more than 70% of the Guatemalan population, and they are also against these mining projects.
These projects and their imposition have led to the persecution of community leaders. In many cases there have been criminal charges against our leaders. They have been put in jail. Others are being persecuted and are in hiding, so that they aren't caught.
The outcome of all this has been a conflict, and it's growing, because we rely on agriculture for our livelihoods. We produce food, we have livestock, and we produce milk. With the mining licences that are granted, there are 60 of them for an area that is very small. That is where they would like to set up mining, and leave us without land for agriculture. That is why the Xinca people are advocating, so that the resources there can be part of the right to the life we need.
I can also tell you that the former president of the Xinca Parliament was under an arrest warrant. He was persecuted. He was in hiding for a long time. Then he went to the authorities and stood before a judge, and they had no evidence against him. The prosecutor did not have any crimes to charge him with, so they released him. Who ended up persecuting him was the former minister of the interior, López Bonilla. I think you know about this. He's being accused of corruption and drug trafficking.
In the former administration of Otto Perez Molina, there was an entire team—you could even say a team of criminals—that persecuted our people.
We are here to speak to you and ask you to take a closer look, as much as possible, at Canadian companies, particularly Tahoe Resources, because these companies are causing a great deal of harm and a great deal of pollution. They are creating a situation in which we do not know what we will do, because our communities are resisting. We are resisting peacefully, because we are not a violent people. We are a people who love peace, a people who are seeking to be respected and have their rights respected.
I can also tell you that the well-being of countries like mine—developing countries seeking progress for their people—depends on you. We know that we do need projects, but please, they should not be mining projects and iron ore extraction projects. The situation in Guatemala is a terrible one. We are being threatened. Our resources are being lost. The forests are on the verge of disappearing. That is why we wish to say a resounding “no” to these companies.
Thank you very much.