Take Action


DEFENSORA FOLLOW-UP - WHAT CAN YOU DO?

After watching Defensora people ask us “what can I do to help the Mayan Q’eqchi people?” The film is meant to inspire action and there are many ways to be involved. We are encouraging people to take any or all of the actions listed below and share your progress with us, or create your own action idea and share. These are the best ways to help raise awareness about Canadian mining related harms in Guatemala.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Become a Social Media Ambassador for Defensora

Please ‘like’ our posts on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Defensora) and share them with your friends. This keeps us connected to you and helps us reach diverse audiences.

Sample Posting to Share on Your Social Networks:

“Dear friends, you have to check out this new documentary film called Defensora (www.defensorathefilm.com). Maude Barlow calls it “a deeply moving testimony to incredible courage in the face of wanton brutality and a shining tribute to the human search for justice.” The film documents the struggles of Mayan Q’eqchi communities in eastern Guatemala, who are resisting the illegal and violent incursions of global (mainly Canadian) mining companies, while seeking justice and remedy in Canadian courts against Hudbay Minerals for human rights violations suffered in 2007 and 2009 when Hudbay was trying to operate its "Fenix" mine. For more information visit Defensora’s facebook page at www.facebook/Defensora, and ‘like’ it so you receive updates and screening locations.”


2. Buy the DVD and Plan More Screenings of Defensora

In your community (high schools, colleges, community centers, places of worship, etc.) plan more screenings of Defensora.  North Americans need to be made aware of these types of stories and struggles that look critically at harms and violations being caused by North American resource extraction companies around the world.

Invite Your MP To A Screening:
Most particularly, Canadian Members of Parliament need to know about what Canadian mining companies are doing around the world, and what is being done to hold them accountable. Invite your MP to a screening.


3. Join an Educational Solidarity Trip

Form your own group of interested people and plan a fact-finding trip, with Rights Action, to Guatemala and Honduras to learn more about these resource extraction issues and struggles.


4. Become an Activist and Educate Others

Become involved, in your own community, in work (including shareholder activism, investor and pension fund activism, street protests, campaigning) to bring about political, economic and legal changes in Canada and the U.S., so as to hold our companies and investors (including public pension funds, like the Canada Pension Plan and the U.S. Social Security) accountable for human rights violations and environmental and health harms that our companies cause in other countries and that our investment and pension funds benefit from.


5. Write a Letter to Hudbay Minerals, your own MP and local media demanding that Hudbay take all measures necessary to protect and defend the plaintiff's rights to a fair trial, without threats, intimidation or coercion.

Sample Letter:

Hudbay Minerals Inc.
Dundee Place, Suite 2501
1 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON, M5C 2V9, Canada

Compania Guatemalteca De Niquel
Ave. Reforma 9-55, zona 10, Edifício Reforma 10, 6to nível, oficina 603,
Guatemala City, Guatemala

To Whom It May Concern:

As a concerned citizen, I call on Hudbay Minerals and CGN to take every step necessary to ensure that none of their company personnel - whether employees or contracted workers - participate in threats or intimidations against the plaintiffs in the 3 suits filed in Canada against Hudbay and CGN.

I also ask that Hudbay and CGN state publicly that they will do everything necessary to respect the rule of law and including the plaintiffs' and defendants' rights to a fair trial.

I call on the government of Guatemala to ensure that these threats and intimidations are investigated to the full extent of the law, and that measures are taken to protect the rights and physical well-being of the plaintiffs.

I also call on the government of Canada, via its embassy in Guatemala, to make a public statement in support of the rule of law in Canada, and that the plaintiffs' and defendants' rights to a fair trial must be respected and protected.


6. Make Tax-Deductible Donations (Canada & U.S.)

To support the community, environment and human rights defense struggles of the Mayan Qeqchi people in Guatemala, make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
United States:  Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
Canada:  (Box 552) 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
Credit-Card Donations Can Be Made (Canada & U.S.): 
Be a monthly credit card donor (Canada & U.S.) and to donate stock, contact: info@rightsaction.org

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For More Information / Questions

Defensora: 



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