US Deports Former Guatemalan Soldier Wanted in 1982 Massacre
On Wednesday, August 10th, Santos Lopez Alonzo was deported by the United States to Guatemala. Alonzo, a Guatemalan military official who served during the internal armed conflict, is wanted for his participation in the Dos Erres massacre of 1982 in which over 200 residents of Dos Erres were brutally murdered.
Illegal Arrest of Guatemala Indigenous Authority Sparks Outrage
Oscar Sanchez, an Indigenous authority from the town of San Pablo in the San Marcos department, was reportedly arrested without a warrant on August 4th on the charges of kidnapping and illicit association. Sanchez’s arrest follows a pattern of Indigenous rights activists facing trumped-up legal charges against them because of their work on behalf of their community and because they have also been vocal opponents of hydroelectric projects in the region.
Guatemalans’ Fight Against Rogue Canadian Mining Giant Heats Up
This week, California-based NGO the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), and the Guatemalan Diocesan Committee in Defense of Nature (CODIDENA), provided the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with a report that provides evidence that the mining company Tahoe Resources had lied to investors. The report showed that the company had failed to acknowledge to investors that the company’s mining project in Guatemala had been continually opposed by Indigenous communities.
