{"id":612,"date":"2015-03-05T18:42:03","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T18:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entremundosrevista.wordpress.com\/?p=612"},"modified":"2015-10-15T22:57:45","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T22:57:45","slug":"cantel-vota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politica\/cantel-vota\/","title":{"rendered":"Cantel Vota"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Primer — Primer plano de la mina en el Valle de Palajunoj. Foto por Patricia Mac\u00edas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
*Por Richard Brown —<\/em><\/p>\n*
23,391 en contra, 139 en favor. As\u00ed vot\u00f3 en una consulta comunitaria el municipio de Cantel, cercana a Xela, el 9 de noviembre del 2014; sobre si est\u00e1n de acuerdo con la exploraci\u00f3n y explotaci\u00f3n minera en su municipio. Se convoc\u00f3 a la consulta porque hay una solicitud de la transnacional Bogot\u00e1 (originalmente de capital colombiano) de exploraci\u00f3n y explotaci\u00f3n en un \u00e1rea enorme de 97 kil\u00f3metros cuadrados. Abarca partes de los municipios de Cantel, Zunil, Almolonga, Quetzaltenango, Totonicap\u00e1n y Santa Catarina Ixtahuac\u00e1n y Nahual\u00e1 en Solol\u00e1. Organizadores de la consulta dicen que la empresa busca piedr\u00edn y otros recursos similares. <\/span><\/p>\n
Josu\u00e9 Sacalxot, miembro del Grupo Juvenil y miembro del Consejo Permanente para la defensa de la vida y el territorio de Cantel, resumi\u00f3 el porqu\u00e9 del resultado: \u2018No es que se est\u00e9 en contra del progreso\u2026 la cuesti\u00f3n ac\u00e1 es que, los beneficios solo son para pocas personas, para unas empresas, para unas familias, pero el da\u00f1o es para la poblaci\u00f3n.\u2019 Cantel es el primer municipio que lleva a cabo una consulta sobre este megaproyecto; pero ahora parece que Zunil se est\u00e1 preparando para seguir su ejemplo.<\/span><\/p>\n
Pero \u2018no fue f\u00e1cil,\u2019 dijo Mart\u00edn Aguilar, fundador de una academia de idioma y cultura k\u2019iche\u2019 en Cantel (municipio mayoritariamente maya k\u2019iche\u2019) y subcoordinador de la comisi\u00f3n de informaci\u00f3n para la consulta. Las primeras reuniones para denunciar la propuesta minera fueron organizadas un a\u00f1o antes de la consulta, por miembros del Consejo Maya K\u2019iche\u2019 originarios de Cantel. El proceso de planificar la consulta llev\u00f3 seis meses, y requiri\u00f3 un esfuerzo intenso, prolongado, y comunitario. De hecho, la consulta fue una expresi\u00f3n de tres fen\u00f3menos que reflejan cada vez m\u00e1s al pa\u00eds. El primero es el alto nivel de organizaci\u00f3n social en Cantel, con mucha participaci\u00f3n comunitaria en varias organizaciones sociales y en radios y otros medios comunitarios. El segundo es la creciente desconfianza social en el modelo de desarrollo promovido por el estado. Esta desconfianza generalizada oblig\u00f3 a la municipalidad de Cantel a proporcionar Q33,000 al proceso de la consulta, y convenci\u00f3 a la organizaci\u00f3n guatemalteca Serjus para proporcionar otros Q45,000. El tercero es la disposici\u00f3n de tantos vecinos para sacrificar su tiempo y energ\u00eda de manera voluntaria por el bien com\u00fan. Estos tres factores muestran el poder creciente de la sociedad civil rejuvenecida, aun recuper\u00e1ndose del conflicto armado y enfrentando nuevas presiones.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\u2018La cuesti\u00f3n ac\u00e1 es que, los beneficios solo son para pocas personas, para unas empresas, para unas familias, pero el da\u00f1o es para la poblaci\u00f3n.\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Alcaldes comunitarios y otros l\u00edderes convocaron a las primeras reuniones entre los miembros de las varias organizaciones sociales de las comunidades de Cantel. Esto incluye a los comit\u00e9s de agua, que se encargan de la conservaci\u00f3n de agua, tuber\u00edas, y los proyectos de reforestaci\u00f3n; los cocodes; las organizaci\u00f3nes de mujeres; las comisi\u00f3nes de salud; el grupo juvenil; la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica; y varias iglesias evang\u00e9licas.<\/span><\/p>\n
Crearon cuatro comit\u00e9s: informaci\u00f3n, finanzas, jur\u00eddica, y log\u00edstica. Las responsabilidades fueron repartidas seg\u00fan la experiencia y disponibilidad de los participantes. Ning\u00fan compromiso ten\u00eda remuneraci\u00f3n alguna. Estos comit\u00e9s se coordinaron para organizar y dar a conocer decenas de asambleas populares en las diversas comunidades de Cantel para sensibilizar a la poblaci\u00f3n sobre los riesgos de la miner\u00eda en Cantel percibidos por los organizadores. Y a cada asamblea, cientos de vecinos asistieron. Estos riesgos inclu\u00edan amenazas contra los nacimientos de agua en las monta\u00f1as y bosques espesos, tanto como para los cultivos del municipio. La mayor\u00eda de las familias de Cantel se ganan la vida con sus cultivos. El valle alto en que Cantel se ubica es sumamente f\u00e9rtil, y su aire es igual de fresco. Hay varias iniciativas de reforestaci\u00f3n en Cantel porque los vecinos saben que los \u00e1rboles descontaminan el aire e impiden las inundaciones. <\/span><\/p>\n
En los meses antes de la consulta, el Consejo Permanente se enfoc\u00f3 en la concienciaci\u00f3n, en espa\u00f1ol y k\u2019iche\u2019, a trav\u00e9s de mantas, volantes, afiches, televisi\u00f3n y sobre todo, las radios comunitarias locales. Serjus, una organizaci\u00f3n de acompa\u00f1amiento jur\u00eddico y log\u00edstico para el desarrollo y lucha comunitaria, proporcion\u00f3 materiales sobre la miner\u00eda en las asambleas, y ofreci\u00f3 capacitaciones sobre la planificaci\u00f3n, evaluaci\u00f3n, y estrategia.<\/span><\/p>\n
El gobierno suele ignorar las consultas comunitarias. Por eso, el Consejo Permanente sigue reuni\u00e9ndose cada 15 d\u00edas. Llama a todas las organizaciones de Cantel para que se sumen a la lucha de defensa del territorio.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
**Cantel Votes<\/b><\/p>\n**
***By Richard Brown<\/em><\/p>\n***
139 for, 23,391 against. This was the vote-count on November 9th, 2014, in Cantel\u2019s consulta comunitaria, organized by local government and civil society so that Cantel could vote on whether it approved of mining and mining-related exploration in its territory. Cantel is a collection of communities of around 40,000 people located just southeast of Xela. The vote was called because international mining giant Bogot\u00e1 has requested a license to explore and mine in an area of 97 square kilometers that includes parts of Cantel, Zunil, Almolonga, Xela, Totonicap\u00e1n, Santa Catarina Ixtahuac\u00e1n, and Nahual\u00e1. Organizers say the corporation is looking for gravel and similar construction resources.<\/span><\/p>\n
$\"Vista$ <\/a>
Vista del Valle de Palajunoj y la mina. Foto por Patricia Mac\u00edas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Josu\u00e9 Sacalxot, member of the local Youth Collective and the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Life and Territory of Cantel, explained the vote\u2019s result: \u2018It\u2019s not that we\u2019re against progress\u2026 The problem here is that the gains are for only a few people, a few businesses, a few families, but the harm is for the population.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n
Cantel is the first area to organize a vote on the megaproject, and now Zunil may be preparing to follow Cantel\u2019s example.<\/span><\/p>\n
But, \u2018it wasn\u2019t easy,\u2019 said Mart\u00edn Aguilar, founder of a K\u2019iche\u2019 language and culture academy and subcoordinator of the consulta\u2019s information committee. The first meetings to publicize the possibility of mining activity in Cantel were organized a year before the vote by local members of the Consejo Maya K\u2019iche\u2019. The process of organizing the consulta took six months, and required an intense, prolonged, and community effort. In fact, the consulta was an expression of three phenomena that increasingly reflect other parts of the country. The first is the high level of social organization in Cantel, with much community participation in civic groups and in community radio and other local media. The second is the willingness of so many community members to sacrifice time (in many cases hundreds of hours for the consulta) to volunteer for the common good. The third is the growing social mistrust of the development model promoted by the Guatemalan government. This broad mistrust, combined with the other two factors, obliged Cantel\u2019s central authorities to provide Q33,000 to the process of the vote, and convinced the Guatemalan NGO Serjus to provide another Q45,000. The combination of these three factores illustrates the growing power of Guatemala\u2019s civil society, which is facing new pressures while still recovering from the 36-year civil war that ended in 1996.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
***\u201cThe problem here is that the gains are for only a few people, a few businesses, a few families, but the harm is for the population.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n***
Community mayors and other leaders organized the first meetings by calling on members of the various civic groups of Cantel\u2019s communities to participate. These included local water committees that manage water supplies, plumbing systems, and reforestation campaigns; local cocodes<\/i>, or development councils that are part of the formal government structure; women\u2019s organizations; health committees; youth groups; the Catholic Church; and various evangelical denominations.<\/span><\/p>\n
The first meetings created four committees to move forward: information, finance, legal, and logistics. Responsibilities were assigned based on the experience and availability of those in attendance. No position came with any pay. These committees organized and publicized dozens of popular assemblies in Cantel\u2019s communities to raise awareness about the risks they perceived of mining activity in Cantel. Hundreds of people attended each assembly. The risks raised included pollution of the mountain springs that water Cantel, and of crops and air.<\/span><\/p>\n
The majority of Cantel\u2019s residents make their living from their crops. There are various reforestation projects in Cantel because locals know that trees clean the air and prevent floods. In the months before the vote, the Permanent Committee focused on publicity in Spanish and k\u2019iche\u2019, using banners, flyers, posters, local television spots, and, especially, community radio stations. Serjus, an NGO that provides legal and logistical support to community movements, provided materials on mining and provided community organizing training in planning, strategy, and other areas. <\/span><\/p>\n
The Permanent Committee is still meeting every 15 days to support the vote and to systematize a permanent defense of Cantel. They consider this necessary to defend their territory from the aggressions of Guatemala\u2019s polico-economic system. Many other similar consultas have been ignored by the government and industry. They call on all organizations in Cantel to join the struggle for the defense of its territory, and national and international organizations to stand in solidarity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Por Richard Brown — 23,391 en contra, 139 en favor. As\u00ed vot\u00f3 en una consulta comunitaria el municipio de Cantel, cercana a Xela, el 9 de noviembre del 2014; sobre si est\u00e1n de acuerdo con la exploraci\u00f3n y explotaci\u00f3n minera en su municipio. Se convoc\u00f3 a la consulta porque hay una solicitud de la transnacional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[378],"tags":[30,41,47,65,90,92,107],"class_list":["post-612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politica","tag-cantel","tag-consultas-comunitarias","tag-derechos-humanos","tag-guatemala","tag-minas","tag-mineria","tag-quetzaltenango"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1001,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions\/1001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}