Over the past month, Guatemalan “security” forces have attacked demonstrators who are seeking to halt the advance of a number of Canadian and US-owned mining projects. According to a statement issued by Rights Action: “The North American governments and resource extraction companies maintain profitable economic and military relations with the Guatemalan elites, almost always turning a blind eye to repression, violence and impunity that are the norm in Guatemala. It is up to the people of Canada and the USA to say ‘no more business and politics as usual.”
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12054&l=1.
Among companies operating in Guatemala is Goldcorp, a Canadian company with British investment. Among Goldcorp’s major investors are British-based AXA Investment Managers UK Ltd., Blackrock Commodities Income Trust plc and City Natural High Yield Trust plc.