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Marlin gold mine - San Miguel Ixtahuacan, San Marcos Department, Guatemala
According to the Mayan cosmovision,
which is our way of seeing the world and our cosmic relationship,
humain beings and humanity are one of the existential elements.
we do not own the earth and the land,
we coexist with other brothers and sisters
which are plants, animals, air and water.
Consequently there is a respectful relationship
and we live together in harmony.
Mining in our opinion is not sustainable
economically and environmentally.
Economically because we know that 99% of the profits
are retained by the transnational companies
that distribute a mere 1% to the population.
Environmentally because the mines are polluting the water
and causing health problems for the people.
There is a plundering of ressources
and they use the land, the water, the air and the energy
as private property.
We have information that in excess of 100 mining concessions
were awarded by the Governement to transnational companies
without the people's consent or prior consultation.
History in the mining companies is marked by death
and the destruction of the planet.
It's a clash between ways of thinking and means of coexistence.
They do not know about our relationship
and respect for our mother earth.
Mother earth has her own rights.
We believe that our response, our struggle, is peaceful
and very democratic.
We are using our peoples' ancestral ways
to make decisions about our territories
because we believe we have a historic right over our lands.
We are not looking for violence,
those who are responsible for violence are the State and the companies
because they are causing damage and division
and are also entering onto our territories, they are invading us.
Produced by Parachute Pictures for the ITUC