Licda. María Consuelo Porras Argueta
Attorney General / Fiscal General de la República
Ministerio Público
15 Avenida 15-16 zona 1, Edificio Gerona 8º Nivel
Ciudad de Guatemala, 01001
Guatemala
July 24, 2022
Dear Attorney General Porras Argueta:
We are disappointed and angered to learn of the sentencing of María Magdalena Cuc Choc, a Q’eqchi translator and human rights defender, to two years in prison by the court in Puerto Barrios, Izabal Department, on June 27. Despite irregularities in the court process and inconsistent evidence, she was convicted for aggravated usurpation and given the option to pay 7,500 quetzales—about US $920—to commute her sentence. She has been facing an unjust criminalization process for several years for her support for and accompaniment of the Mayan communities of Izabal who defend their human, environmental, and territorial rights.
María Magdalena Cuc Choc is a supporter of the local resistance to the El Fénix nickel mine in El Estor, run by the Guatemala Nickel Company (CGN), formerly owned by the Canadian company HudBay Minerals, and now by Switzerland-based Solway Investments. For the past 15 years, CGN’s mining in El Estor has caused environmental damage. The contamination of Lake Izabal has negatively impacted the local fishing community. Residents of El Estor have been victims of land grabbing, arson, and repression.
In its ruling in 2019, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala resolved that the mining company had to suspend its mining activity because no prior consultation and consent had occurred with the local community. The company later carried out a “consultation” but excluded many key actors. Last January, the Guatemalan government restored the operating permit for the mine, which continues operating in defiance of the spirit of the 2019 court ruling.
María Magdalena Cuc Choc was first detained and unjustly criminalized in 2018 for the alleged crimes of threats, illegal detention and aggravated usurpation during the eviction of the community of Chab’il Ch’och’ in 2017. On June 27, the judge acquitted her of two crimes but sentenced her to two years for the charge of aggravated usurpation.
We strongly urge you to:
- call for the revocation of the unjust sentencing of María Magdalena Cuc Choc and release her immediately
- call for the suspension CGN’s mining license and stop all further mining operations promptly
- pursue legal action against CGN for their crimes against the community of El Estor over the past several years
- protect the residents of El Estor from unjust criminalization and damages to their lands and waterways
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai and Christine Stonebraker Martínez
Co-coordinators
copies:
Lic. Alberto Pimentel Mata, Minister of Energy and Mines (MEM) of Guatemala
Ing. Oscar Rafael Pérez Ramírez, Vice-Minister of Sustainable Development of MEM of Guatemala
Humberto Matheus, Director General of the Guatemalan Nickel Company (Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel, CGN) ~ via email
Alfonso José Quiñónez Lemus, Ambassador of Guatemala to the US ~ email, US mail
Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of Guatemala (PDH) ~ via email
IACHR: Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, Rapporteur for Guatemala and for Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ~ via email and US mail
OACNUDH: Mika Kanervavuori, Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos en Guatemala (OACNUDH) ~ via email
Switzerland: Solway Investment Group ~ via email
Embassy of Switzerland in the US ~ via email
US State Department: Guatemala Desk Officers in Washington, DC: Doug Choi, Moises Mendoza ~ vial email
US State Department: William Popp, US Ambassador to Guatemala, in care of human rights officer Sarahann Yeh ~ via email
US Senators Brown & Portman ~ via email
US Representatives Beatty, Brown, Gibbs, Gonzalez, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Ryan ~ via email
30 JUN 2022_IMDefensoras_Guatemala
