INDIGENOUS MAYAN, AYMARA, PEMÓN AND NON-INDIGENOUS WOMEN OF GUATEMALA, BOLIVIA, ECUADOR, PERU AND VENEZUELA FACED WITH VIOLATIONS TO INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE RIGHTS CARRIED OUT BY MINING COMPANIES AND GOVERNMENTS WITHIN THE TERRITORIES OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND PEASANT COMMUNITIES.

With the permission of Mother Earth we have met together in the International Conference:

“Beyond The Challenge: Women, Mining and Human Rights”

Guatemala 14th – 17th of March 2010,

In defence of our life and of Mother Earth, we hereby declare:

Reaffirming our commitments as peasant, indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, our vision is one of respect for Mother Earth because for us she is Sacred and is part of our Spiritual Trinity: Nature, Creator-Shaper and Human Being; as the One who gives and is the source of life for women, men and all living beings, her destruction and that of all her elements would lead to our death.

For this reason during the Conference we women exchanged information about the reality of mining in our countries and its direct impact on women’s lives. Thus we observe that:

Mining projects belong to policies promoting the expansion of mining in Latin America – policies which, with the complicity of governments and States, provide wealth by looting and stripping away the natural resources of our territories without free and informed prior consent of the communities, thus showing a lack of respect for the free determination of the peoples.

We denounce the fact that under the compliant gaze of our governments and States, mining seriously affects the lives of women and their children, preventing them from enjoying basic rights such as health, water, food sovereignty, personal security and integrity, as well as a healthy and ecologically balanced environment. These rights are fundamental to holistic development and to Good Living.

The victims and defenders who denounce the negative impacts caused by mining companies are persecuted, attacked, discredited, denigrated, put on trial and jailed. This criminalisation seeks to silence and intimidate the women who by their struggle and resistance defend not only individual and collective human rights, but also environmental, economic and cultural rights.

IN VIEW OF WHICH WE DEMAND:

That the mining companies withdraw from our territories and that States cancel the mining licenses and concessions, which they have granted to date.

That States and governments fulfill their obligation to guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples and peasant communities.

That ecosystems be protected and that environmental laws, as well as international environmental standards, be respected.

That there be an end to the persecution of human rights defenders and the criminalisation of their struggle.

That the ILO resolution, which orders a cessation of mining activity in San Miguel Ixtahuacan and San Juan Sacatepequez, be respected, and that this be extended to the licenses granted in Izabal in Guatemala.

That the Local Consultation carried out in Huancabamba, Peru is respected, and likewise the community consultations by the indigenous communities and peoples of Guatemala also be respected

That the corresponding institutions accept the recommendations by the People’s Ombudsman of Ecuador regarding the application of the Mining Mandate, the unconstitutionality of the mining law and the denunciations of violations of human rights.

We demand that the governments of those countries acting as a home-base for mining corporation headquarters abandon their protectionist behaviour towards the mining companies which, in flagrant violation of human rights, operate unregulated and with total impunity.

The UNIÓN LATINOAMERICANA DE MUJERES ULAM calls on women and on all peoples to remain vigilant about their rights, that they denounce violations of the same and that we join in raising a global and unified resistance in defence of life and Mother Earth.

Unión Latinoamericana de Mujeres por el Derecho a Defender Nuestros Derechos – ULAM – Movimiento de Mujeres Flores En Resistencia de San Juan Sacatepequez; Movimiento de Mujeres Indígenas en Resistencia de El Estor Izabal; Movimiento de Mujeres Indígenas en Resistencia de San Miguel Ixtahuacan; Derechos En Acción Guatemala; Frente de Mujeres Defensoras de Pachamama; Frente de Mujeres Guardianas de la Amazonía, Ecuador; Asociación de Mujeres Protectoras de los Páramos, Peru; Fundación de Mujeres del Agua de Venezuela; Movimiento de Mujeres Indígenas Aymaras Candelaria Patacamaya de Bolivia; Movimiento de Mujeres Indígenas Tz ununija; ACOGUATE; AJCHMOL; ADISMI; FUNDAMAYA; ADICSAM; STICH; Mesa Indígena Campesina; ASEDE; AMADI; UDEFEGUA; FREDEMI; MAMA MAQUIM,

And all other individual women and representatives of their movements with whom we shared this conference.

Guatemala, 16th of March 2010

LAMMP and the Union of Latin American Women (ULAM) hosted the first European Speakers’ Tour.

The Tour provided a forum for a number of rural and indigenous women activists from Latin America to voice their concerns and share their experiences with the European public and members of parliament.

The rural and indigenous women from Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru who took part in the European tour organised by LAMMP in October brought emblematic cases illustrating the range of obstacles faced by courageous women whose activism is grounded in environmental values and stems from a simple urge to survive.

Their stories show the immense influence of the extractive industry and its capacity to shape the destiny of the region. The women’s unsettling testimonies also emphasise that the expansion of the extractive industry in Latin America is happening at great speed and at the expense of rural and indigenous land.

At a general level, the women’s stories show political and corporate practices that have plagued the region for decades: lack of consultation and criminalisation of anti-mining activism. These are coupled with denial that the extractive industry has any impact on the environment or that it is linked to human rights abuses. The conclusion is that when it is easy to intimidate communities neither governments nor corporations seem willing to engage and obtain a social licence. The impact of these corporate practices on the erosion of democratic values cannot be exaggerated: they underpin people’s distrust of governments. The range and severity of the violence against women who oppose mining is remarkable. This probably explains why the women’s stories show that they are emotionally troubled and unable to deal with the human tragedy that they live within their families and in their communities.

For the women who participated, the European Tour had a significant impact on their lives and inspired them to continue their struggle “for the right to have rights”. The expressions of support were particularly welcomed by the indigenous women from Guatemala. They could not avoid contrasting the poverty of their communities, deprived of basic services, with the high standards of life of Europe and the wealth they saw in London and Brussels. Above all, many reported in admiration how good it felt to meet and talk at great length to members of foreign governments, MPs and MEPs. A meeting with a member of their government or a representative of a political party is something that in their countries is virtually impossible to obtain. On behalf of all the delegates, LAMMP would like to express our gratitude to all the people, organisations and funders who with their help and support made the tour such an outstanding success.

Read the complete LAMMP Report EuropeanTour

5 September is the International day of the indigenous women, in which the cruel death of Bartolina Sissa is commemorated in La Paz, Bolivia.

El 5 de septiembre se celebró el Día Internacional de la Mujer Indígena, instituido el año 1983 durante el Segundo Encuentro de Organizaciones y Movimientos de América, en Tihuanacu (Bolivia).

La fecha fue escogida porque un día 5 de setiembre muere Bartolina Sisa, una valerosa mujer quechua que fué descuartizada por las fuerzas realistas durante la rebelión anticolonial de Túpaj Katari en el Alto Perú, hecho sucedáneo de la gran rebelión que protagonizara Túpac Amaru y su valerosa compañera, Micaela Bastidas, en todo el sur andino (1780-82).

La mujer indígena es portadora vital de la herencia cultural, la que enseña la lengua ancestral a los hijos e hijas, la que continúa con las tradiciones, la que resiste las diferentes formas de violencia estructural precisamente por su condición de excluida: ser indígena y ser mujer.

La sobrevivencia de nuestros pueblos se debe en gran parte a la lucha anónima y tenaz de las mujeres indígenas; ellas desempeñan un papel fundamental en la lucha contra la pobreza, el hambre y la exclusión social y étnico-cultural, y hacen posible el mantenimiento de la unidad familiar.

Source: Mujeres Por La Selva Blog