Written by Grahame Russell
Wednesday, 06 December 2006

There are many reasons why Jose Chocoj Pan, a poor Mayan-Q’eqchi’ man, was severely beaten by the Guatemalan National Police (PNC) and left for dead in a forest near the Skye Resources mining company, a few kilometers from the town of El Estor, in eastern Guatemala.

The reasons are historical and on-going: systemic racism, exploitation and poverty; systemic repression and impunity of the Guatemalan “security” forces; and greed and impunity of large landowners, North American mining companies and the Guatemalan and Canadian governments that push relentlessly ahead with a big-business model of “development” behind the backs of and in detriment to the development needs of local populations and the environment.

The story of Jose’s story is sad and complicated, though it is a common story, and he is lucky to be alive.

In a hut on the edge of El Estor, I sit on a makeshift bed with Arnoldo Yat Coc, a Q’eqchi’ man working with the Defensoria Q’eqchi’, a community development and indigenous rights organization. The Defensoria Q’eqchi’ helped save Jose’s life and works throughout the impoverished Q’eqchi’ communities of this region, promoting community-controlled development and the environment, educating about and defending the rights of the indigenous communities. Over 90% of the population of El Estor are Q’eqchi’.

In great pain, Jose lies on a makeshift bed. His wife hovers near, talking to him quietly in Q’eqchi’, covering him with blankets, helping shift his body position to lessen the pain. With Arnoldo, I have come to learn how the police severely beat Jose and left him for dead in a forest. Arnoldo translates from Q’eqchi’ to Spanish.

The Institutions of Landlessness, Poverty and Repression

On September 19, 2006, Jose went with his family, and dozens of landless Q’eqchi’ families, to peacefully occupy a piece of land outside of El Estor known as “La Pista” – by the old landing strip of the Canadian Skye Resources nickel mining company.

In this region, the Q’eqchi’ majority lives in conditions of poverty and landlessness. Those that have land in dozens of isolated communities feel threatened by the renewal of nickel mining.

Like throughout Guatemala, the government does little to implement development and land policies owned and controlled by the majority poor. Like the poor in many parts of Guatemala, the Q’eqchi’ people are surrounded by vast tracks of unused lands or lands used for cattle production for export.

The largest landowners in this region are two Canadian nickel companies: Skye Resources and INCO. INCO began mining in this region in the 1960s. Just before INCO’s 40-year nickel mining concession ended in 2005, INCO sold its mining interests – not all its land – to Skye Resources, a company INCO helped create. INCO – recently bought by CVRD of Brazil – owns 12% of Skye.

INCO did this legal maneuver, many argue, to avoid pending legal responsibilities with respect to serious human rights violations associated with its mining operation – particularly in the late 1970s, early 1980s – and with respect to cleaning up environmental harms caused by its mining.

Will The Cycles Be Unbroken?

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